While most people probably take security and privacy settings on their apps and services for granted, it’s actually pretty important that we be aware of all the protection that these companies are offering us. Google in particular has been pretty active these past few years in bringing improvements to this aspect, given the fact that we entrust a lot of our data to their whole eco-system. The latest new things coming soon to our accounts and apps include security alerts across all Google apps, guest mode on Google Assistant, and an easier way to access our security settings.
Usually, when Google detects a security issue with one of the Google apps, you get an alert but you’ll have to open your email in order to get more information or to fix the issue. But soon you’ll be getting a redesigned critical alert which will show on whatever Google app you’re using currently to be able to fix it. It’s also resistant to spoofing so you know the alert is only coming from Google. It’s coming to iOS first but will be expanding more broadly to other platforms early next year.
If you don’t want to save your Google Assistant activity for a limited, you will soon get a guest mode on your home devices. When you turn it on by saying, “Hey Google, turn on guest mode”, all your activity after that will not be saved to your Google account. You can always turn off guest mode anytime so you can get “the full, personalized Google Assistant experience again”. It will start rolling out to Nest devices in the next few weeks.
Soon you will also be able to edit your Location History in your Timeline, meaning you can add and delete places you’ve visited or those places you don’t want Google to store in your account. You will also be able to access your security and privacy settings by asking questions like “Is my Google account secure?”. You’ll get a summary of your settings where you can also easily edit the ones you want to change.
The Safety Center website has also been refreshed so you’ll see all the privacy and safety tools available across 13 Google products. This includes Gmail, Chrome, YouTube, Android, Pixel, etc. More products will also be added soon so your whole Google ecosystem will remain secure and manageable.
