Google Messages and Google Telephone are among the everyday applications of US companies on Android smartphones. For good reason, they are self-installed on millions of devices around the world. Unfortunately for their users, these applications do not seem to value GDPR because they are explicitly used by Google to collect information without their permission.
However, this emerges from a study that identified Registration. Led by Douglas Leith, a professor of computer science at Trinity College, Dublin, Google used its Google Messages SMS application and its Google Dialer phone application to collect and send data about users’ communications to Google services. Google Firebase Analytics Service.
The data collected in this way contains the hash of the messages sent by Google, which allows the sender and the recipient of the message to be connected, but the incoming calls and the outgoing time and duration, which in turn allows the US company to establish a link between the sender of the call and the recipient. Google may have recovered the relevant phone numbers.
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The problem is that Google does not inform its users at any time about the collection of this data, and does not offer any solution to disable the collection of this information by its services.
In his study, the professor noted that although pre-installed versions of these two applications require Google to use third-party applications, there is no privacy policy that justifies the collection of this data.
He also explains that the Google Takeout service, which downloads copies of all personal data held by Google to a user, does not include data collected by these two applications.
However, Google Play Services states that some data was collected to control fraud and for security purposes, but the study explains, without always describing which data is collected and how it is used.
Source: Registration, Douglas Leith
Beatrice Ashford is a contributor at Nintendo-power.com, covering a wide range of topics including news, politics, business, technology, sport, entertainment, and lifestyle. She focuses on delivering clear, balanced reporting and useful information that helps readers stay informed about current events and emerging developments. Her work highlights stories that matter to everyday audiences, with an emphasis on accuracy, relevance, and accessible journalism that keeps readers connected to the issues shaping the world around them.