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posted by martyb on Sunday April 22 2018, @04:29PM   Printer-friendly
from the Uou-say-good-bye-and-I-say-Allo-Allo-Allo dept.

Google is 'pausing investment' in Allo

If you've been using Google's messaging app, Allo, it's probably a good time to start thinking about switching to something else. The app isn't getting dropped in a Google-style "Spring Cleaning," but development on the app is being "paused." Specifically, the new head of the communications group at Google, Anil Sabharwal, has made the decision to "pause investment" in Allo and move that team over to focus on Android Messages.

As we explain in our exclusive feature, the move is necessary because Google is going all in on Rich Communication Services, or RCS. The service will be branded "Chat" once carriers launch it, and Google wants to apply as many resources as possible to make sure that this time, finally, Android has a successful messaging app.

Amnesty International has criticized the move:

Responding to Google's launch of a new messaging service for Android phones, Amnesty International's Technology and Human Rights researcher Joe Westby said:

"With its baffling decision to launch a messaging service without end-to-end encryption, Google has shown utter contempt for the privacy of Android users and handed a precious gift to cybercriminals and government spies alike, allowing them easy access to the content of Android users' communications.

Following the revelations by CIA whistleblower Edward Snowden, end-to-end encryption has become recognized as an essential safeguard for protecting people's privacy when using messaging apps. With this new Chat service, Google shows a staggering failure to respect the human rights of its customers.

"Not only does this shockingly retrograde step leave Google lagging behind its closest competitors - Apple's iMessage and Facebook's WhatsApp both have end-to-end encryption in place by default - it is also a step backwards from the company's previous attempts at online messaging. Google's own app Allo has an option for end-to-end encryption but the company says it will no longer invest in it."


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  • (Score: 2) by crafoo on Sunday April 22 2018, @06:33PM (13 children)

    by crafoo (6639) on Sunday April 22 2018, @06:33PM (#670425)

    Another chat app and protocol? Great? Why are we still reinventing this particular wheel?

    What's that trend of naming something that it isn't? "Rich" Communication Services. Undoubtedly it will not serve you primarily, but instead advertisers and the NSA. "Rich" in this context probably means restrictive and lacking real features that would Serve you (such as encryption).

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 22 2018, @06:45PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 22 2018, @06:45PM (#670435)

    Wikipedia [wikipedia.org]:

    Rich Communication Services (RCS)[1] is a communication protocol between mobile-telephone carriers and between phone and carrier, aiming at replacing SMS messages with a text-message system that is richer, provide phonebook polling (for service discovery), and transmit in-call multimedia.

    So, basically, this sentence from the summary:

    Google is going all in on Rich Communication Services, or RCS.

    should be read as:

    All your data are belong to Us.
                 —Authoritarians

  • (Score: 5, Insightful) by Arik on Sunday April 22 2018, @07:33PM (5 children)

    by Arik (4543) on Sunday April 22 2018, @07:33PM (#670453) Journal
    They're trying to plant the thought that text isn't "rich" enough.

    Of course it's BS. Those who forget IRC are doomed to reinvent it, poorly.
    --
    If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?
    • (Score: 0, Flamebait) by Ethanol-fueled on Sunday April 22 2018, @08:23PM (3 children)

      by Ethanol-fueled (2792) on Sunday April 22 2018, @08:23PM (#670466) Homepage

      I thought the gimmick with Signal was muh privacy and security, and it was designed by a guy who is as ugly as he is intelligent and as his nickname is stupid. Apparently it's just more Jewgle data collecting bullshit.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 22 2018, @11:15PM (2 children)

        by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 22 2018, @11:15PM (#670516)

        Yet another stupid comment from you. Quit that!

        • (Score: 2, Funny) by Ethanol-fueled on Sunday April 22 2018, @11:28PM (1 child)

          by Ethanol-fueled (2792) on Sunday April 22 2018, @11:28PM (#670523) Homepage

          Your comments suck. Whenever i read them, I feel like Fox McCloud listening to Peppy.

          • (Score: 2) by chromas on Monday April 23 2018, @01:08AM

            by chromas (34) Subscriber Badge on Monday April 23 2018, @01:08AM (#670558) Journal

            You're becoming more like your father.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 22 2018, @08:25PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 22 2018, @08:25PM (#670468)

      Those who are circumcised are doomed to circumcised sex.

  • (Score: 2) by bradley13 on Monday April 23 2018, @06:40AM (5 children)

    by bradley13 (3053) on Monday April 23 2018, @06:40AM (#670642) Homepage Journal

    "'Rich' Communication Services. Undoubtedly it will not serve you primarily, but instead advertisers and the NSA."

    Exactly right. End-to-end encryption is specifically *not* part of the protocol.

    AFAIK, the problem is that carriers keep creating their own apps. They don't want to be just "dumb pipes", they want to own and sell user data, have a bite of those yummy advertising dollars, etc.. Meanwhile, does Google has a interest in seeing a common platform develop. However, they also want to harvest data and target ads - hence, they support RCS precisely because it is unencrypted.

    Meanwhile, most consumers have no clue...

    --
    Everyone is somebody else's weirdo.
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 23 2018, @06:49AM (4 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 23 2018, @06:49AM (#670646)

      They aren't you compatriots; the proles don't matter. Worry about protecting your intellectual kin.

      • (Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Monday April 23 2018, @11:46AM (1 child)

        by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Monday April 23 2018, @11:46AM (#670693) Journal

        They came for the Jews, and I said nothing, because I am not a Jew.

        So, tell me, Mr. Intellectual - while you conspicuously stand apart from the proles, don't you worry that they may one day come for you? Maybe you act the submissive little servant at work, and address law enforcment officers as "Sir" - but you remain conspicuous because you use uncommon tools that the proles don't understand. You are on the radar, Mr. Intelligentsia.

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 23 2018, @05:03PM

          by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 23 2018, @05:03PM (#670796)

          That's why you said nothing.

      • (Score: 1) by r_a_trip on Monday April 23 2018, @12:55PM (1 child)

        by r_a_trip (5276) on Monday April 23 2018, @12:55PM (#670715)

        You seem to forget that the proles aren't targetted. It's you and your face that the socio-political machine will stamp a boot on for eternity. Better start loving Big Brother.

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 23 2018, @06:48PM

          by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 23 2018, @06:48PM (#670831)

          I have not forgotten that fact, and there's no way you can draw that conclusion from what I've said.

          What you have forgotten is that the Big Brother doesn't care about the proles because they are no threat and do not matter; it's pointless to worry about them.