The search giant's new WhatsApp competitor combines messaging with a digital assistant to allow you to chat like never before—but those who care about their privacy and mass surveillance should steer clear of the app, Edward Snowden said in a series of tweets.
Free for download today: Google Mail, Google Maps, and Google Surveillance. That's #Allo. Don't use Allo. https://t.co/EdPRC0G7Py— Edward Snowden (@Snowden) September 21, 2016
What is #Allo? A Google app that records every message you ever send and makes it available to police upon request. https://t.co/EdPRC0G7Py— Edward Snowden (@Snowden) September 21, 2016
Google has received much criticism for changes it made to Allo upon its release, as opposed to what privacy features it said the app would have when it was first announced back in May. Then, Google said the app would have end-to-end-encryption in "Incognito Mode" and store messages only for a limited time. However, when the app was released to the public, it did not use end-to-end-encryption and reportedly stores user messages indefinitely—which law enforcement could access with a warrant.
So, what messaging app should you use if you're worried about privacy? Snowden says the best messenger app is Signal.
Use Tor. Use Signal. https://t.co/VLvBsbVHKs— Edward Snowden (@Snowden) September 21, 2016
[Image: Google] MG