Mail Application: Stores ALL data from email?

Why don't you just password protect your account and lock it/shut down when not in use?

 

This is how desktop mail clients work.

 

You should lock down your computer regardless of who/how often other people get their hands on it.

The others are correct, this is how desktop mail clients work. The data is stored locally; it's been like this since e-mail GUI programs (Mail User Agents) have appeared 20+ years ago.

Some people still telnet/remote shell into a server and read their e-mail remotely using command line tools such as pine. You'd need to set up and administer a server to collect your Gmail account mail, noting that the mail would be locally cached on that mail server.

You could use Gmail in a web browser, although you would want to be assiduously careful in logging out each time and clearing your browser's cache/history/etc. each time you loaned out your machine.

There's really no complete security when you A.) lack physical security (i.e., letting others touch your machine) and B.) you are on a network.

However, one practice that you have apparently ignored is creating a limited access, guest account on your computer. That's one of the basic ideas behind UNIX, the multi-user system.

Create a guest account, then assiduously log out every time someone needs to use your system. The way you are currently going about it, your system is no safer (maybe even less) than a public computer at the library.

 

Create a second account (without admin privs) for use when sharing your computer. Put any classwork that needs to be shared into a shared folder on your computer so that it can be accesses from that second account.

I would never even imagine keeping my computer unlocked and password protected. That is a perfect example of "identity theft waiting to happen".

/Jim