Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google, in behalf ofs to the media before the opening of the Berlin representation of Google Germany in Berlin on January 22, 2019.
Carsten Koall | Getty Concepts News | Getty Images
Google CEO Sundar Pichai addressed the privacy concerns surrounding his company on Tuesday, and announced developers what they can expect in upcoming products.
“Our work on privacy and security is never done, and we want to do multitudinous to stay ahead of constantly evolving user expectations,” Pichai said in his keynote address at Google I/O, the company’s annual developer congress. “We’ve been working on a significant set of enhancements.”
Those include an auto-delete feature — triggered by tapping on your profile illustrate — which lets users choose how long they want their data to be saved. They can choose a ease between three and 18 months, or manually delete their data immediately.
Google is also launch under cover mode to Google Maps later this year, allowing users to keep Google from saving facts after they search for locations or use the service for navigation.
It’s been a tumultuous couple years for Google, as criticism hither the way the company tracks users has made its way to lawmakers and regulators. Last year, the company acknowledged to a U.S. Senate committee that it had “indulged mistakes in the past” on privacy matters. Separately, Google was sued for allegedly storing the location data of users equable when they turn off the location history setting.
Facebook, Google’s biggest rival in online ads, is facing a subtle of up to $5 billion from the Federal Trade Commission related to its alleged failure to gain explicit consent to deal user data.
New Devices
Google’s announcements on Tuesday came as the company launched a number of new devices in its effort to lessen its dependence on internet search and ads.
The company is introducing two new Pixel phones — the Pixel 3A and the 3 XL — starting at $399. Google parent Alphabet enfranchised a disappointing earnings report two weeks ago and said that smartphone sales declined from the prior year. With the tawdriest current Pixel phone priced at $800, Google is now trying to reach a broader audience.
“We want to offer hands to people at a bunch of different price points,” said Rick Osterloh, Google’s senior vice president of gubbins and services. “We see that as a great opportunity to use some of our core strengths as a company in software and AI and make that available for the mid-range expenditure.”
Google also launched a new home device called the Google Nest Hub Max, which has a smart display with a camera you can use for video hails. The home product, which will be available this summer for $229, joins an already crowded and competitive competition of smart home products. It’s also the first time Google has merged its Home products with Nest, which it procured in 2014 for $3.2 billion.
“We’re renaming all of our products and unifying them under the Nest brand,” said Osterloh.
Notice of: Facebook is facing a $5 billion fine from the FTC