The concern around data privacy is today more important than ever in this online age.
How do companies use the user information to drive in sales and campaigns?
Companies collect personal information to create successful marketing campaigns. The concern was again brought to light this time, and the culprit is no one other than our trusted Google.
The news was first reported by The Wall Street Journal and created a frenzy among the Gmail users. The report said that it was a common practice for third-party app developers to have access to user’s email accounts. They could read and also analyze the content of the messages which definitely goes against privacy rights.
Google Defends its Move
Google posted a response on their website in a blog post and defended themselves. They did not throw any new light on the event which is quite common among the tech giants. But they did mention the presence of tools and options that a user or business organization can take to uphold their security and privacy.
Google might defend its Gmail access privacy but users surely have a question too many. For one, users are asking if their information can be compromised in any way if they are using the email service.
Google states users do not have to worry. The company stressed that they were for protecting the privacy of users and evaluate all the apps that could access any sensitive Gmail data. The blog post from the company mentioned that a wide range of non-Google apps contributes towards the full utilization of a Google account. But before any app is published or permitted to be integrated with Google services, it must go through strict scrutiny.
Such measures include manual and automated assessment of the developer, the evaluation of the privacy policy and landing page of the app for validating its legitimacy and rounds of in-app testing. Only after the multi-stage review an app is allowed to be published and should work as it has mentioned in the description.
The blog post was written by the director of Google’s Security, Trust, & Privacy department leading Google Cloud, Suzanne Frey.
How Can You Keep your Data Safe?
The blog post presented some options to secure your privacy and keep the data among the trusted circle. Users should check the permission requests of non-Google apps and allow them only if the app is from a trusted source. They should also use the Security Checkup application from Google to determine the devices connected to their account. The application will also notify users about the apps connected with Gmail accounts and their granted permissions.
The review process of Google also ensures that apps can only get access to the data they asked for in the permissions and there are no chances of any misinterpretation.
As a user, you can be vigilant about the information you share and the information you give access to any company. Before clicking ‘I Agree’, do note what you are signing up for!