- admiralteal ( @admiralteal@kbin.social ) 78•8 months ago
“Smart Features” in the Messages app have always been explicitly processed only on-device. This is a big change if it is different than that.
I’m betting they’ll make this opt-out, which is fucking shady as hell. And worse, I bet opting out your own messages doesn’t stop someone else that is opted in from unknowingly/unintentionally transmitting all your messages that they received. Ugh.
- LordBelphegor ( @LordBelphegor@lemm.ee ) 21•8 months ago
Or use a third party sms app. I use fossify sms from F-droid.
- ryannathans ( @ryannathans@aussie.zone ) 18•8 months ago
Then you lose RCS?
- Possibly linux ( @possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip ) English3•8 months ago
What was the benifit again?
- ryannathans ( @ryannathans@aussie.zone ) 1•8 months ago
End to end encryption if both parties are using google’s implementation, delivered/read indicators, far better data limits for media, works without phone signal over data, message limits increased, free and international, fallback to sms if recipient doesn’t support it
There is no open source implementation of RCS.
- ryannathans ( @ryannathans@aussie.zone ) 1•8 months ago
No open source implementation of our phone radio firmwares either but yet here we are
- Miss Brainfarts ( @miss_brainfarts@lemmy.blahaj.zone ) 5•8 months ago
I bet opting out your own messages doesn’t stop someone else that is opted in from unknowingly/unintentionally transmitting all your messages
On a somewhat related note, this is my main gripe with Beeper, or Matrix bridges in general. Someone could be using it, giving encryption keys to a third party, letting them handle your chats with them, and all of this without you ever even knowing.
- Possibly linux ( @possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip ) English37•8 months ago
“Start”
- macniel ( @DmMacniel@feddit.de ) 29•8 months ago
It really should be up to the user if they want to use AI for wiping their butt, not up to big tech ffs.
- Landsharkgun ( @Landsharkgun@midwest.social ) English23•8 months ago
I’m sorry, is the article quoting a fucking LLM as the interviewee? What the fuck is this? I feel like I’m taking crazy pills.
- DeafeningDistance ( @DeafeningDistance@feddit.ch ) 16•8 months ago
I assume using a third party messager app (qksms for example) solves this privacy problem?
- CalicoJack ( @CalicoJack@lemmy.dbzer0.com ) 12•8 months ago
Yeah, this is specific to the Google Messages app. For now, anyway.
- bdonvr ( @bdonvr@thelemmy.club ) 7•8 months ago
Kinda, but they’re still reading the messages you send to users who are using it
- Possibly linux ( @possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip ) English3•8 months ago
I think everything on a google phone goes to google.
- rebul ( @rebul@kbin.social ) 8•8 months ago
So if an Android user texts with an iPhone user, Bard has data on both users. Great. /s
- emmie ( @emmie@beehaw.org ) 1•8 months ago
Is this even legal? I mean let’s say you send some kind of trade secret to your friend with google sms app and they gather it with AI.
Also you never agreed to their terms and conditions as an external user! There’s some slippery legal ground here I feel
- iheartneopets ( @iheartneopets@lemm.ee ) 6•8 months ago
This alone would make me more likely to switch back to iPhone, as much as I hate the walled garden. “Just switch to a private messenger app” doesn’t really work when no one else uses them. I’ve even gotten all of my family to try Signal, but they dropped it in favor of going back to imessage. It’s extremely frustrating, far from ideal, but it is what it is.
Google reading my messages at all, even if it’s “oPt OuT”, is a complete non starter.
Use another messager app through FDroid. Literally, an app that handles your texts. You can change that.
- iheartneopets ( @iheartneopets@lemm.ee ) 4•8 months ago
Thank you for this! Didn’t know it was a thing, I’ll do that.
- Possibly linux ( @possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip ) English3•8 months ago
Why can’t you use a mix if SMS and Simplex chat or signal/molly? I guess I don’t understand the love of imessage
Also you don’t need google to use android
- scoobford ( @scoobford@lemmy.zip ) 2•8 months ago
Having a unified app that supports your message protocol with SMS fallback is legitimately great. I’m still bitter signal canned that feature.
But it isn’t that big of a deal to just use two apps. It’s what I’ve had to do for a while now. Anyone I actually know goes into signal, and I use SMS for my boss, my dad, and various companies.
- Kairos ( @LodeMike@lemmy.today ) 6•8 months ago
That webpage has an uncrossable pop-up that shows me the button to save the article. It covers up the majority of the first paragraph.
https://gitlab.com/magnolia1234/bypass-paywalls-firefox-clean/
Forgive formatting…
Google has just unveiled a game-changing AI upgrade for Android. But it has a darker side. Google’s AI will start to read and analyze your private messages, going back forever. So what does this mean for you, how do you maintain your privacy, and when does it begin.
Smartphone privacy is about to change forever
Google’s AI to begin analyzing private messages on Android smartphonesgetty
There’s understandable excitement that Google is bringing Bard to Messages. A readymade ChatGPT-like UI for a readymade user base of hundreds of millions. “It’s an AI assistant,” says Bard, “that can improve your messaging experience… from facilitating communication to enhancing creativity and providing information… it will be your personal AI assistant within your messaging app.”
But Bard will also analyze the private content of messages “to understand the context of your conversations, your tone, and your interests.” It will analyze the sentiment of your messages, “to tailor its responses to your mood and vibe.” And it will “analyze your message history with different contacts to understand your relationship dynamics… to personalize responses based on who you’re talking to.”
And so here comes the next privacy battlefield for smartphone owners still coming to terms with app permissions, privacy labels and tracking transparency, and with all those voice AI assistant eavesdropping scandals still fresh in the memory. Google’s challenge will be convincing users that this doesn’t open the door to the same kind of privacy nightmares we’ve seen before, where user content and AI platforms meet.
There will be another, less contentious privacy issue with your Messages requests to Bard. These will be sent to the cloud for processing, used for training and maybe seen by humans—albeit anonymized. This data will be stored for 18-months, and will persist for a few days even if you disable the AI, albeit manual deletion is available. MORE FOR YOU Trustworthy AI: String Of AI Fails Show Self-Regulation Doesn’t Work The Best Record Players For Beginners To Spin Vinyl Music The Technological Marvel Behind A Real Bug s Life MORE FROM FORBESGoogle Issues New Incognito Guidance For Chrome Users By Zak Doffman
Such requests fall outside Google Messages newly default end-to-end encryption—you’re literally messaging Google itself. While this is non-contentious, it’s worth bearing in mind. Just as with all generative AI chatbots, including ChatGPT, you need to assume anything you ask is non-private and could come back to haunt you.
But message analysis is different. This is content that does (now) fall inside that end-to-end encryption shield, in a world where such private messaging is the new normal. Here the push should be for on-device AI analysis, with data never leaving your phone, rather than content uploaded to the cloud, where more processing can be put to work.
This is where the Android Vs iPhone battlefield may well come into play. Historically, Apple has been much stronger when it comes to on-device analysis than Google, which has historically defaulted to the cloud to analyze user content.
Unsurprisingly, Apple’s own moves to bring generative AI to iPhone users will take that approach—on-device analysis as the default when it comes to user content, albeit with a carve-out for its request architecture. And there’s building excitement as to what might be on offer with this fall’s iOS 18.
“Apple is quietly increasing its capabilities,” The FT reported this week, “to bring AI to its next generation of iPhones… Apple’s goal appears to be operating generative AI through mobile devices, to allow AI chatbots and apps to run on the phone’s own hardware and software rather than be powered by cloud services in data centres.”
For its part, Bard says that “Google has assured that all Bard analysis would happen on your device, meaning your messages wouldn’t be sent to any servers. Additionally, you would have complete control over what data Bard analyzes and how it uses it.”
You will have to judge whether this gives you comfort enough to let Bard loose on your private content. A word of caution. There’s a difference between what can’t be done, such as breaching end-to-end encryption, and what isn’t being done, such as policies as to where content analysis takes place. I would urge strong caution on opening up your content too freely, unless and until we have seen proper safeguards.
Bard agrees. “While Google assures on-device analysis,” it says, “any data accessed by Bard is technically collected, even temporarily. Concerns arise about potential leaks, misuse, or hidden data sharing practices. The extent of Bard’s analysis and how it uses your data should be transparent. Users deserve granular control over what data is analyzed, for what purposes, and how long it’s stored.” MORE FROM FORBESHow To Change Your Google Maps Settings After Street View Warning By Zak Doffman
Bard also warns that such data analysis might bias its results. “AI algorithms can perpetuate biases present in the data they’re trained on. Analyzing messages could lead to unintended profiling based on language, demographics, or social circles.”
This integration of generative AI chat and messaging will transform texting platforms forever, it will quickly open up a new competitive angle between Google, Apple and Meta, whose smartphone ecosystems and apps run our lives.
“While an exact date is still unknown,” Bard says, “all signs point towards Bard’s arrival in Google Messages sometime in 2024. It could be a matter of weeks or months, but it’s definitely coming.” Meanwhile, what we’ve seen thus far remains buried deep inside a beta release and subject to change before release.
When it is live, think carefully before you unlock your Messages privacy settings. “Ultimately,” says Bard, “the decision of whether to use message analysis rests with you. Carefully weigh the potential benefits against the privacy concerns and make an informed choice based on your own comfort level and expectations.”
The analysis of your message history isn’t the only word of caution here. This deployment of Bard is just part of the shift from browser-based to directed search, and you will need to be increasingly cautious as to the quality of the results you’re being given. Bard isn’t a chat with a friend. It’s a UI sitting across the world’s most powerful and valuable advertising and tracking machine.
On which note, Bard left me with a final thought that might be better directed at its creators than its users: “Remember, you have the right to demand clarity, control, and responsible AI development from the companies you trust with your data.”
- Kairos ( @LodeMike@lemmy.today ) 13•8 months ago
We need an antitrust law that defines a monopoly by size/revenue of company statically by percent of US GDP, US wealth, or revenue in a particular industry. Not something g that allows the “well it feels fine” kind of defense these companies can pull.
- Lemongrab ( @Lemongrab@lemmy.one ) 6•8 months ago
Including parent/subsidiary companies
- Kairos ( @LodeMike@lemmy.today ) 2•8 months ago
Yes.
- Zoop ( @Zoop@beehaw.org ) 5•8 months ago
Thank you very much for posting this here! Good on you for getting the word out on this.
- helenslunch ( @helenslunch@feddit.nl ) 5•8 months ago
As soon as someone makes an SMS app that can filter the 5 spam texts I get every day, I’ll delete my Google account.
- Possibly linux ( @possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip ) English2•8 months ago
If you don’t share your number and don’t give any indication you are a person they will go away.
Its been a long time since I received spam.
- helenslunch ( @helenslunch@feddit.nl ) 1•8 months ago
This is 1000% not true.
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They don’t care if you don’t answer. It costs them $0 to text you.
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My profession makes me a target for a wide variety of advertising and my phone number is required by law to be listed publicly.
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I already don’t. Mostly because Google Messages filters them in a way that I never even see them unless I’m actively looking. It was only when I got an iPhone that I realized exactly how horrific it is.
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- tiredofsametab ( @tiredofsametab@kbin.social ) 4•8 months ago
Well, that’s something I’ll want to turn off, though all they’ll get from me is random appointment reminders and confirmation codes.
- Sir_Kevin ( @Sir_Kevin@lemmy.dbzer0.com ) English3•8 months ago
I’ll just continue to use Textra…
- bl4kers ( @bl4kers@lemmy.ml ) English2•8 months ago
Still no RCS support though, yeah? Google seems to be keeping it hostage
- GrappleHat ( @GrappleHat@lemmy.ml ) English3•8 months ago
What the actual fuck
- Showroom7561 ( @Showroom7561@lemmy.ca ) 2•8 months ago
Here the push should be for on-device AI analysis, with data never leaving your phone…
But then they couldn’t spy on you or charge extra for this “cloud service” whenever they decide to.
- Hirom ( @Hirom@beehaw.org ) 2•8 months ago
I had to start using Google Messages recently because Signal dropped SMS support. It sounds like it’s time to switch SMS app yet again. Sigh.
- Zerush ( @Zerush@lemmy.ml ) 1•8 months ago
No need for AI for this, Google already do it since years https://tech.eu/2024/01/28/no-one-is-coming-to-save-us-from-big-tech/