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The search giant Google has rejected criticism of its security policies this week, claiming that the power to deny third-party applications access to their email has always been in the hands of users individuals
. On Monday, Google allows hundreds of external software developers to read and store personal information from millions of customers, provided they have consented.
Smartphone users are getting used to blindly clicking on the new authorization request. In many cases, it is necessary to request access to the user's Gmail account, but often to control cameras, microphones and even access contact lists.
Google – With Its 1.4 Billion Gmail Users – Is a Frequent Target In the past, the journal's report prompted Suzanne Frey, Director of Security, Trust and Privacy "We are constantly working to validate developers and their applications that integrate with Gmail before opening them for general access," Frey said, "and we give both businesses and individuals transparency and control over how their data is used. "
In addition to describing the process of validating third-party applications by the company, Frey has moved the notion that Google "read" somehow the emails of its users.
"To be absolutely clear" Frey said: "No one at Google reads your Gmail except in very specific cases where you ask us and give your consent, or when we need it for security reasons, such as investigate a bug or abuse. "
policies of the origin of the company. Since its launch in 2004, Google's algorithms routinely scanned incoming emails and used the information they contained to personalize the content of the ad, which allowed the company to earn more money. 39; money.
But the company stopped doing it years ago. "We're showing ads in consumer Gmail," said Frey, "but these ads are not based on the content of your emails."
Google claims that all new apps available on its app store are verified. applications do not distort their intentions and only ask for permission to access data or services related to their main function.
But that does not mean that abuse does not happen. According to Neal Bearse, director of marketing at the Smith School of Business at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, damage control efforts "are clearly a response to the increased scrutiny we have seen since the Cambridge Analytica scandal of Facebook ". ] In this story, the company in question was criticized when it was revealed that up to 87 million Facebook users worldwide could have had their private information removed on Facebook via third-party apps and used to create targeted ads before 2016 The presidential election and the Brexit vote
The resulting scandal resulted in a significant liquidation of Facebook's actions, an appearance before Washington lawmakers by founder Mark Zuckerberg and the disappearance from Cambridge Analytica itself as a company. says that it is Google, Facebook or someone else, technology consumers are not as scrupulous as they should be when it comes to protecting their own. data.
"I know that Mr. Bearse says that the question has been the subject of further examination since the law on the protection of privacy in Europe has begun to force the companies to be more demanding.
diligent about their storage of users' personal data.
He chooses the example of a company, Unroll.me, which has come forward as a way to help users unsubscribe from various messaging services. "What they did not tell you, was that they were selling your data to the back of the truck as part of a marketing research venture," notes Bearse. .
The company is now facing lawsuits related to its previous data policies. "With such an application, Bearse says," you trust them to always do good things with your data. "
" But sometimes it's not worth the risk. "
Although Bearse says that he uses Gmail himself, points out that there is a difference between the use of individual services and the blind transfer of global permissions.
" There's a difference between using Gmail, "says Bearse," and clicking "I'm allowing" each third-party application to read my email every day. "
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