Google Cofounder Draws Wrath with Personal E-Mail Service.

Byline: Hiawatha Bray

Apr. 26--Even the smartest people have a knack for overlooking the obvious. That's how Sergey Brin, cofounder of the Internet search service Google, has lately earned the wrath of the same computer users who once idolized him.

Brin takes the credit, or the blame, for Google's plan to offer Gmail, a new, free Web-based e-mail service that can hold up to a gigabyte of personal e-mail messages--a lifetime's worth for most people.

"It was originally designed for me, basically," said Brin, who wanted a more convenient way to deal with the roughly five gigabytes of e-mail in his own inbox.

But the idea has infuriated Internet privacy groups like London-based Privacy International, which has filed complaints with the European Union and 16 European nations in an effort to force major changes in the service. Gmail's critics say that in its present form, Gmail will lead to a vast concentration of personal information onto a single Internet service.

Brin said he was caught by surprise by the flood of criticism. "In retrospect, obviously I shouldn't have been," he said.

Indeed, the outcry over Gmail has alerted many Internet users to a truth that should have been obvious all along:…