Actually, it was not always part of the deal. Back when i signed up for the service, it was still in private beta. They had a cheesy little counter with how much space you were granted (1GB to start with). Terms of Sevice were an afterthought, and sure as hell there was not a clause to sift through your mail. I remember when they put that clause in their ToS finally a few years later and it was a HUGE deal.

And look where we are now. Not only is it expected (!!) but people are telling us to suck it up, this is how it’s always been (it wasn’t) and it’s our own fault because we didn’t read the ToS. When did this become the norm, and when did it even become acceptable??