Google Unveils Upcoming Online Protection Tools for Android Users
Google recently announced that it’s bringing over two new real-time protection features for user safety when going online. Google says that the new features will be available on Pixel phones first, and will arrive for more Android devices soon.
First up is the Scam Detection feature, which uses on-device AI to let users know if they’re interacting with potential scam calls in real-time. For example, Scam Detection will be able to analyze conversation patterns which are usually associated with scam calls, such as those pretending to be from financial institutions and such. It’s currently in beta, and users can choose whether or not to activate it on their phone once it rolls out.
Meanwhile, Google Play Protect will be able to detect patterns pertaining to the use of permissions and interactions with other apps and services. With live threat detection for instance, harmful apps will prompt the system to notify users with a real-time alert, allowing them to remove potentially-malicious apps that try to hide their behavior.
Live threat detection will also focus on “stalkerware”, otherwise known as code that may collect personal or sensitive data for monitoring purposes without a user’s knowledge. Google says that this is made possible via the Private Compute Core, which allows us to protect users without collecting data.
Source: Google