Google has recently confirmed that the automatic spam protection within the default Android Messages app has finally started rolling out to some users. The release was first spotted by Android Police. After displaying a notification to let the user know that the feature has been enabled, the app will begin analyzing messages that are sent to you in order to detect and proactively block spam messages. However, privacy concerns have been raised about the way the feature stores the associated phone numbers.
Automatic spam protection, which is opt-out by default, can be turned off from within the advanced settings menu. Google was unable to provide an exact timescale for the rollout of the new feature, but it said that it’s currently being released gradually in a few countries, and the company plans to release it more widely in the coming months.
A spokesperson from Google said in a statement: To help identify spammers, Google temporarily stores the phone numbers of people sending and receiving messages with you and the times they messaged with you, but does not store your phone number or the content of these messages.
The new auto spam protection feature comes just weeks after the Federal Communications Commission voted to reclassify text messages as information services in an attempt to fight phone spam. The regulator argued that this was necessary in order to give network carriers more power to block unwanted messages. At least one consumer advocacy group criticized the change and said that it could allow phone companies to discriminate against messages and harm both consumers and free speech.
