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Clark Howard's Tips

May 30, 2008

Fortune magazine has discovered that Yahoo! and Gmail are good for their promise that your e-mail account and your contacts are your private property.

MSN's HotMail and MSN Messenger, meanwhile, take the opposite position. They argue that anything you do online belongs to them, including your contacts list. So you may want to consider firing MSN for e-mail and IM purposes.<

On a related note, your employer owns everything if you use Outlook at work. Obviously you shouldn't use your work account to hunt for a new job or harsh on the boss!

Finally, beware of unsolicited e-cards. They may contain viruses that turn your computer into a bot. If you don't know the sender, do not open that e-card.

Consumer advice courtesy of