Google says it is bringing a ‘guest mode’ to the Google Assistant, which will ensure not every voice query is synced back to a users’ personal Google account and saved in their history.
The privacy-centric mode, akin to the Chrome browsers Incognito Mode, will be manually enabled by saying “Hey Google, turn on guest mode,” informing the Assistant that subsequent requests remain free from association with the user’s Google profile.
Once you’re done asking those sensitive questions, you can always disable the guest mode, so your requests once again benefit from the personalised responses based upon the massive array of things Google knows about you.
In a blog post outlining a range of privacy and safety improvements, Google says “there are times you may not want your Assistant interactions saved to your Google Account.
“That’s why in the coming weeks, we’ll be introducing Guest mode—a new way to use your Google Assistant on home devices. With an easy voice command, you can turn on Guest mode, and your Assistant interactions while in this mode won’t be saved to your account.”
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Google also says it’s possible to delete the previous requests with your voice, as usual, if you don’t wish to frequent the guest mode.
Elsewhere, the company says it’s about to debut a redesigned critical alert interface, which will provide a new way of displaying notifications about suspected hacks and suspicious activity on the account.
The firm adds: “When we detect a serious Google Account security issue, we’ll automatically display an alert within the Google app you’re using and help you address it—no need to check email or your phone’s alerts. The new alerts are resistant to spoofing, so you can always be sure they’re coming from us. We’ll begin a limited roll out in the coming weeks and plan to expand more broadly early next year.”
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.