Automating email deletion after 3 months could result in the accidental purging of significant records, Robert Freeman, the head of New York's Committee on Open Government told Capital. Freeman's comments come as New York Governor Cuomo's administration have established an email deletion system in which emails in the inboxes of lower level employees are purged automatically after 90 days.

Most consumers like getting email marketing offers, according to a new survey from Marketing Sherpa. The report found that 91 percent of U.S. adults said that they like getting regular marketing emails from companies that they do business with. Among those consumers that like email, 86 percent say they'd prefer getting monthly emails and 61 percent said they'd like to get them at least weekly.

The U.S. Department of Justice has charged two Vietnamese citizens and one Canadian with fraud for allegedly stealing 1 billion email addresses. The accused also allegedly used the email list to send spam messages promoting knockoff software. The DOJ did not reveal who the victims of these attacks were, but according to Reuters, email marketing firm Epsilon was among the victims.

Google has updated its iPhone app for Gmail, bringing in new interactive notifications and optimizing the experience of sending and viewing attachments. The update allows users to reply or archive emails from lock screen mode, a functionality that supports Apple's iOS 8 update from last year. The update also lets users send a photo, link or file from within the app by selecting Gmail from the share menu.

Google has revealed plans for a new contacts tool in Gmail. The new feature shows contacts in their order of importance with "starred" contacts appearing at the top of the list, followed by frequently contacted people. The tool includes more information that just name and email address. They feature contact cards with social details and highlights from recent conversations. Yahoo Mail also unveiled a new contacts tool this week, with similar features.

The Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group has confirmed that its properties have been the victims of credit card breach. The upscale hotel chain did not reveal how many customers were affected in the breach and which, if any other data was exposed. Data breaches of this nature often expose customer names, email addresses and home addresses.

Details of Hillary Clinton's private email use while Secretary of State have been emerging this week. The latest detail in the story is that Clinton had her own email alias @clintonemail.com which lived on a server based at her home in New York. According to insiders, having an email address with the alias was considered a status symbol. Aside from Clinton herself, only the likes of Chelsea Clinton and top aide Huma Abedin had accounts.

Marketers walk a tightrope when it comes to data collection. More than half of marketers (53 percent) want more customer information, according to Infogroup's third annual "Big Data's Big Payday" report, and 10 percent of marketers feel they collect too much data. Only about a third of the marketers surveyed feel that they have the right mix. The report also revealed that 47 percent of brands reported seeing positive ROI from data-related investments.

News International, the former British news organization owned by Rupert Murdoch, has settled a legal claim that the paper was hacking into email accounts. Terms of the settlement between the news organization and British-Irish Rights Watch (BIRW) are confidential.

The police in the UK have been briefed on how to properly write an email. The 211-word document explains how to send an email from the very core. The guide points out the importance of a subject line and the role of editing. "Write as you would speak - the words we use every day are words people can easily understand," explains the guide.