Last October, Google officially unveiled five new security features coming to its messaging app. Among these, the Mountain View firm presented a warning system that automatically triggers when sensitive or unwanted content is detected in a received message. This optional feature is currently being rolled out to Google Messages.
Optional for adults, default for younger users
These sensitive content alerts in Google Messages are not mandatory. At least not for adults. The feature is in fact disabled by default and must therefore be set up manually. For minors, however, it is automatically enabled. However, there are two scenarios. For supervised users (via Family Link parental controls), the function cannot be disabled by the user. Only parents have control over it. For unsupervised users (teens aged 13 to 17), the function can be disabled directly from the Google account settings.
Concretely, these sensitive content alerts will manifest themselves in several ways. First, there are the images automatically blurred by Google Messages, because they potentially contain nudity. In this specific case, several measures can be taken. You can choose to delete the content directly before viewing it. Google also offers to find out why these images may be harmful to you, and will suggest blocking the sender's number. If you still choose to view the image, it will always be possible to blur it again.
The other type of warning sent by Google Messages to users is to remind the senders of these somewhat "racy" messages of the risks associated with sending nude images. They will then have to confirm whether or not they really want to send "nudes" to their recipient.
Still a hole in the net
While this new security feature is welcome, it is not without flaws. While it applies to photos, it does not support videos, at least not for now. To detect sensitive content, Google Messages relies on the Safety Core system module. Note that the detection of this content is done entirely locally on the device. No data passes through Google servers.
For now, the feature only appears to be available in the beta version of Google Messages. You can find it by going to the Settings of the Message app, then in the Protection and security section, by selecting the option Manage sensitive content warnings.
Source: 9to5Google
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