Google announced recently that a new feature on Gmail – Meet and Chat – allows users to opt-out of these apps’ smart features, which uses their data to make a range of suggestions such as Smart Compose and Smart Reply.
Although there was the possibility of switching between the ON and OFF toggle for each feature, the new toggle will disable the background data processes that authorize their access.
Users had the ability to do these things before. Only that now, Google is bundling the full feature and making it more user-friendly. The company said users now have a straightforward choice over the data processing that made them possible.
“This new set is designed to reduce the work of understanding and managing that process, in view of what we’ve learned from user experience research and regulators’ emphasis on comprehensible, actionable user choices over data,” Google said.
Google said this new feature would be launched in the coming next weeks. In an image posted on its blog, Google said Gmail users would see a dialog box that displays the data processing. The smart features you can find in Gmail includes automatic email filtering/categorization, Smart Compose, summary cards shown above emails, and managing event details to create entries for the calendar.
However, suppose users opt-out of the data processing that authorizes their operation, they won’t be able to access these features anymore, ZDNet reports.
On the other hand, the second dialog box to pop up enables users to opt-out of having their Gmail, Chat, Meet power Google’s other range of products, such as Assistant, Maps, and GPay’s loyalty cards and tickets. If you decide to toggle them off, you can still switch them back on in Gmail’s settings.
Google said it would still offer this new setting alongside other existing options to enable or disable each of the features individually. However, users will not be allowed to access the data processing controls behind the separate features. In essence, you cannot continue using Smart Compose while opting out of automatic email filtering/categorization. The company said this is because the same data is powering these features.
The search engine giant said that users were very much in control of their data and that the smart features offered were as a result of an automated algorithm and not manual review.
“And, Google Ads are not based on your personal data in Gmail, no matter which choice you make,” it stated.
The company said, supposed users decide not to use the smart features, they’re still able to use Gmail and other range of Google’s products. Google said it aimed to provide a more modern approach to data analytics and measurement with this new step.
Source: theverge.com
