Its lawyers said anyone communicating via Gmail had no right to complain if the company used the contents for targeted adverts.
It was like someone sending a letter and a business colleague opening it for them, they argued in court.
Google makes around $42 billion a year, mostly from advertising. A class-action lawsuit, filed in a district court in San Jose, California, accuses Google of breaching wire-tapping laws by scanning emails sent to Gmail and using the details to dictate advertising.
In a bid to dismiss the case, which is ongoing, Google said 'a person has no legitimate expectation of privacy when turning over information voluntarily to third parties'.
Google said: "Just as a sender of a letter to a business colleague cannot be surprised that the recipient's assistant opens the letter, people who use web-based email cannot be surprised if their emails are processed by the recipient's (email provider)."
John Simpson, of US campaign group Consumer Watchdog, said the analogy was "wrongheaded", adding: "Sending an email is like giving a letter to the Post Office. I expect the Post Office to deliver the letter based on the address. I don't expect the postman to open my letter and read it."
A spokesperson for Google told news.com.au that it takes users privacy and security "very seriously".
"Recent reports claiming otherwise are simply untrue," the spokesperson said. "We have built industry-leading security and privacy features into Gmail -- and no matter who sends an email to a Gmail user, those protections apply."
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