Google announces new Android protections against scams

Google announced a set of Android protections intended to detect scams in messages, screen out suspicious links, protect information during screen sharing and prevent call-forwarding abuse. The measures include an optional AI-assisted mode in Google Messages and safeguards for calls involving participating banks in Brazil. The new Enhanced protection mode for Google Messages is scheduled to roll out over the coming weeks as an opt-in setting. Google said cloud-based Gemini models will assess conversations with unknown senders for signs of a scam, using its Private AI Compute system to process encrypted data in a secure environment. Google says the system is inaccessible to the company itself. With the mode enabled on supported devices, on-device Gemini Nano will use real-time web signals to assess unfamiliar links before a user opens them. Google also said redesigned warnings will provide more context and time to reconsider links sent by numbers outside a user’s contacts. The availability of individual features may vary by device. Android 15 and later devices are scheduled to gain expanded screen-sharing protections this month. The safeguards, which Google is extending to...