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Say hello to Google Allo: a smarter messaging app

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Re: Say hello to Google Allo: a smarter messaging app

#471

Post by pyre »

pjmlp wrote: post #270
matt4077 wrote: post #230

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As much as people like a good conspiracy, that would be a pretty pointless one. There are tens of thousands people at google who could look at the source code, many of them with a left-wing/civil liberties attitude. To get all of them to stay silent, and to evade analysis of the binary is, if not impossible, simply not worth whatever they could get out of reading my messages (esp. considering their uninterrupted stre…

Yeah right. http://www.theverge.com/2016/9/21/12994362/allo-privacy-mess... "Allo messages will still be encrypted between the device and Google servers, and stored on servers using encryption that leaves the messages accessible to Google’s algorithms." [....] "The decision will also have significant consequences for law enforcement access to Allo messages. By default, Allo messages will now be accessible to lawful w…

> The version of Allo rolling out today will store all non-incognito messages by default — a clear change from Google’s earlier statements that the app would only store messages transiently and in non-identifiable form. The records will now persist until the user actively deletes them, giving Google default access to a full history of conversations in the app. Users can also avoid the logging by using Allo’s Incognito Mode, which is still fully end-to-end encrypted and unchanged from the initial announcement.

> Like Hangouts and Gmail, Allo messages will still be encrypted between the device and Google servers, and stored on servers using encryption that leaves the messages accessible to Google’s algorithms.

Translation:

- Incognito messages will not be logged, and will be encrypted end-to-end.

- Non-incognito messages will transit over SSL, and be stored on Google's servers in an encrypted form that they will have access to (presumably this "encryption" is to prevent hackers gaining a DB dump from getting everything in plaintext).

- Non-incognito messages will be logged indefinitely, unless a user explicitly deletes them. (This is a change from what was previously announced at Google I/O)

Correct me if I'm missing something.

Re: Say hello to Google Allo: a smarter messaging app

#472

Post by pyre »

lucb1e wrote: post #289
matt4077 wrote: post #230

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As much as people like a good conspiracy, that would be a pretty pointless one. There are tens of thousands people at google who could look at the source code, many of them with a left-wing/civil liberties attitude. To get all of them to stay silent, and to evade analysis of the binary is, if not impossible, simply not worth whatever they could get out of reading my messages (esp. considering their uninterrupted stre…

> many of them with a left-wing/civil liberties attitude. Well they seem awfully quiet about all the privacy invading stuff Google does, considering the number you claim they're in.

It's probably easy to dismiss/justify some of those things when you can view the code yourself to see that nothing "bad" is happening (at least at the current time). It's a little harder to rectify Google blatantly lying about something e2e encryption even if nothing "bad" is happening with it.

Re: Say hello to Google Allo: a smarter messaging app

#475

Post by jpadkins »

Pxtl wrote: post #362
MrPatan wrote: post #319

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For SMSs too? On my Android, the new(ish?) message app ("Messenger") now wanted control of SMSs back from hangouts. Another silly reversal, and another silly messaging app from Google. Fourth time lucky? On that topic, when is the inbox app replacing the gmail app? Maybe never and that's good, given that sometimes I cannot download attachments with the inbox app that I can happily download from the old gmail app righ…

I still can't figure out how to find archived messages in Inbox.

search?

Re: Say hello to Google Allo: a smarter messaging app

#476

Post by biocomputation »

Waterluvian wrote: post #10

Why isn't it always end to end encryption? I'm getting really paranoid and crochety in my old age of 29, as all I see is a tool to make me the product.

Totally agree. I've already dropped GMAIL and Google Search. Thinking about pulling the plug on FB as well.

Tired of feeling like a product.

Re: Say hello to Google Allo: a smarter messaging app

#477

Post by vocatus_gate »

whizzkid wrote: post #417

As long as they(Google) don't study why WhatsApp is the most popular messaging app, I don't think they will ever dominate this market. Here are the most important 2 things in my opinion that made whatsapp #1 messaging app. - WhatsApp tried to reach everyone from the beginning. Founders knew that not everyone in world has enough money to buy a shiny phone every year. - WhatsApp uses minimal bytes possible to send your…

That's literally the reason I even heard of or installed WhatsApp a few years ago. I was spending time doing work with my church in el Salvador and a bunch of the locals there used WhatsApp because it avoided the insane SMS fees the telco charged. I installed it just to chat with them internationally.

Now almost all my friends are on it and it's great. I love the cross-platform ease of use, E2E encryption, and easy web interface. I'm just scared of how Facebook will ruin it.

Re: Say hello to Google Allo: a smarter messaging app

#478

Post by TheBeardKing »

bmaupin wrote: post #304
soylentcola wrote: post #300

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is exactly why so many of my friends and family use Hangouts née Gmail Chat. We can use it in the browser at work just by keeping Gmail open in a tab. No IM applications to install or concerns about whether we're running Windows, OSX, or whatever. Then the conversations follow when you log off whatever desktop or laptop you're on via the mobile app. About half of us use Android so it either comes standard or you…

> We can use it in the browser at work just by keeping Gmail open in a tab. There's also https://hangouts.google.com/

The hangouts chrome extension is even handier while keeping your browser minimized.

Re: Say hello to Google Allo: a smarter messaging app

#479

Post by SysArchitect »

kbenson wrote: post #459
lwf wrote: post #433

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm able to use hangouts.google.com in both my personal Google Apps domain and my work's Google Apps domain. Almost certainly a setting buried somewhere deep in the Admin Console. :(

Thanks for the heads up. Not that I know it's at least possible, I'll spend some time and did a little deeper. I'm interested in seeing how it compares to Slack (basically, how well it uses the defined groups and membership in them that are already configured).

Non-existent... at least in my experience with my Google Apps account.

Re: Say hello to Google Allo: a smarter messaging app

#480

Post by biocomputation »

mastazi wrote: post #43
Waterluvian wrote: post #10

Why isn't it always end to end encryption? I'm getting really paranoid and crochety in my old age of 29, as all I see is a tool to make me the product.

I am like you. In the past I wouldn't pay attention to privacy issues and I would enjoy free services such as Google Drive or Facebook Messenger, but that recently changed. In my case, the trigger was exactly the thought that you expressed so effectively: > All I see is a tool to make me the product. I think you're right, and you're not paranoid at all. I'm now using only open source tools both on PC and on Android (…

>> First world problems? Maybe, but I don't like to be sold in exchange for free-of-charge services.

Switched from Chrome to Firefox as well. I switched to Microsoft cloud products ( Office, 'SkyDrive' or whatever it's called now ) to get away from Google, or at least from having so many eggs in the Google basket.

I don't like being sold either. It makes me feel like a slave.

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