Privacy and security of consumer data has become paramount in this age of technology. This is not only important in collaborative tools such as Zoom but social media platforms and cloud services as well. To that end, Google has announced some new ways at its I/O event today, which will ensure that your privacy is maintained when you entrust the company with your data.
First up, Google is offering you more control over your data. Now, you can make use of a "quick delete" option in your Google Account Menu to delete the last 15 minutes of your search history using a single click.
"Locked Folders" is a new configuration in Google Photos. As the name suggests, this is a private space where you can passcode-protect your sensitive photos, and they won't be available in the image grid either. This capability is coming to Pixel phones soon and will make its way to other Android devices later this year.
Since people are concerned about what permissions they're giving to various companies when it comes to their data, whenever you see that Maps Timeline has your travel history, Google will automatically remind you that this is because you turned on Location History. Users will be able to quickly turn it off should they wish to do so.
When it comes to Android 12, a new Privacy Dashboard will show you a clear timeline of which apps made use of your device location, camera or microphone. Users will be able to accordingly disable access using toggles.
Although Google is looking forward to a password-free future, the reality of the situation right now is that a lot of people share passwords across multiple websites. So, for now, Google is enhancing its Password Manager with the following features:
- A new tool that makes it easy to import passwords from other password managers.
- Deeper integrations with Chrome and Android to seamlessly fill your passwords across sites and apps, regardless of whether you’re on desktop or on mobile.
- Password Alerts that automatically warn you if we detect one of your saved passwords has been compromised via a third party breach.
- A smart way to fix compromised passwords in Chrome with a simple tap. For supported sites and apps, whenever Password Manager finds a password that may have been compromised, you’ll see a "change password" button from Assistant. When you tap the button, the Assistant will not only navigate to the site, but also go through the entire process of changing your password. This feature is available on Android devices and will be rolling out to more sites and apps in the future.
Google says that it will continue working on more tools and technologies such as Android's Private Compute Core, Federated Learning, Differential Privacy, and Privacy Sandbox to further improve the security and privacy of consumer and customer data.
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