Gmail recently announced a change to the way it handles images in your emails by default. You used to have to opt in to see images embedded in your incoming messages by clicking a "Display images below" or "Always display images from (address)" link at the top of each message. Now, all images in your messages will load automatically.

Google is hyping the enhanced security of this new way of doing things, primarily because all emailed images will now be cached on the company's own servers. That means that when they're opened, only Google will be able to see your IP address and device details, not some potential spammer or nefarious e-buddy. It also means that Google is now copying every image sent through Gmail to its own servers.

Some argue that this new "cache and load" approach will help keep you from being tracked by marketers. Others argue that it will allow marketers to track your habits even more effectively, in some cases letting them know when you've opened and read their messages.

Either way, there are clear benefits to the old way of opting in to view messages. You can decide what to open on a case-by-case basis, and it'll make your inbox load a lot faster. It won't keep all those images off Google’s servers, though. It'll just hide them by default.

To switch back to "opt-in" images, just open the full-browser version of Gmail and do this:

1. Click on the Gear icon and select “Settings” from the drop-down menu.

2. In the "General" tab, scroll down to “External content.”

3. Click the radio button next to “Ask before displaying external content.”

Note: If you want to switch back to showing images by default, just choose the button next to "Always display external content (such as images) sent by trusted senders."

Homepage Image: Mario Antonio Pena Zapatería/Flickr