Will Google Let Your Boss Read Texts and SMS From Your Phone? Here’s What We Know | Tech News

Google’s enterprise Android version is getting this privacy breaking update

Google has issued a new update for its Messages app that could become a nightmare for people who use phones given by their office. The new feature is being criticised for possible snooping by bosses but the company claims these privacy-centric additions are there to protect businesses who deal in confidential matters and archiving or tracking them is important for the nature of their work. 

Having people access your messages is a problem especially if it can be read by your bosses and Google surely has to make it more secure than what we’re reading. 

Google’s Snooping Update: What We Know 

The more you read about this special update for the Messages app, the more scary and worrying it sounds. The new feature is applicable for any Pixel phone or an Android phone set up as an enterprise device where all the messages, chats and more can be archived automatically by the company.

The good thing is that your personal phone is not part of the setup, or any work profile that you use on the same device. So why is Google bringing this change? The company says businesses in select fields have the need to archive contents for compliance and legal reasons. 

And the company says even the third-party apps can link their chat archival through the Google Messages app. The level of encryption on these devices is as strong as we know, however, when the message actually reaches its receiver, the IT people at the company can see it. 

Having these changes will make people think twice before going for an office issued device. Google could mask this feature as a part of its compliance and legal terms, but privacy is right at the centre of the update and the company could face regulatory questions about its integration especially when the so-called encryption becomes pointless when the messages reach the device. 

There are two ways to see this move, where businesses are worried about the communication happening through its network and insider trading being a big concern. However, it feels the snooping move is the bigger evil of the two.

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