<p>In an unusual move, Google is responding directly to former TechCrunch editor Michael Arrington's allegation that it accessed his Gmail account to root out his source for a major story.</p><p>"A few years ago, I'm nearly certain that Google accessed my Gmail account after I broke a major story about Google," wrote Arrington on his personal blog Uncrunched. "I certainly freaked out when this happened, but I never said anything about it because I didn't want people to be afraid to share information with TechCrunch. But I became much more careful to make sure that communications with sources never occurred over services owned by the companies involved in the story."</p><p>Google denies that charge.</p><p>"Mike makes a serious allegation here that Google opened email messages in his Gmail account to investigate a leak," Kent Walker, Google general counsel, said in a statement. "While our terms of service might legally permit such access, we have never done this and it's hard for me to imagine circumstances where we would investigate a leak in that way."</p><p><a href="http://recode.net/2014/03/25/google-general-counsel-to-arrington-allegation-we-dont-snoop-on-gmail-to-find-leakers/">Keep reading...</a></p><p>Read also:</p><p><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/25/gmail-tips-and-tricks_n_4959413.html?ir=Technology">8 Super-Specific Steps To Dealing With Gmail Overload</a> (Huffington Post)</p><p><a href="http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2455410,00.asp">Gmail Test Gives Promotions Tab a Pinterest-Like Makeover</a> (PC Magazine)</p><p><a href="http://techcrunch.com/2014/03/25/new-gmail-experiment-displays-promotional-emails-in-an-image-heavy-grid-view/">New Gmail Experiment Displays Promotional Emails In An Image-Heavy Grid View</a> (TechCrunch)</p><p>Explore: <a href="http://news.google.com/news/more?ncl=dapoRI8qGFn2nwMA7arT0oVzNIuvM&authuser=0&ned=us">46 additional articles.</a></p>