Soon, private conversations can be monitored on your Android phone

Google is launching a new feature for Android that enables employers to archive messages on company phones. This applies to RCS messages in Google Messages, which is a replacement for classic SMS and MMS messages and supports photos, videos and read receipts.

The feature is based on a new solution for archiving RCS messages. With it, a company can install a special archive app on a work mobile.

Once the IT department has set up the phone as a fully managed device, the archive app is notified every time an RCS message is received or sent out. The app also records whether a message is edited or deleted.

Google emphasizes that it’s all about documentation requirements. “Many companies and authorities need to be able to show a full message history in connection with inspections, complaints or legal proceedings.

That’s why some have had to block RCS altogether in the past because the encryption made old archiving solutions unusable.

According to Google, employees will be able to clearly see on their work phone when the feature is active. This applies to both Pixel phones and other devices running Android Enterprise.

Encrypted messages are no longer private at work

RCS in Google Messages is end-to-end encrypted between Android devices, but the new solution shows that encryption is not the same as privacy on a work phone.

The messages are protected on their way through the web, but on the device itself they are decrypted and whoever controls the phone can ultimately read them.

This allows the employer to monitor virtually all regular text communication on the company phone.

Forbes describes it as a “game-changer” for texting and RCS, because many employees have perceived messaging as more informal and private than email.

Google explains that the feature is specifically aimed at industries such as finance, insurance and government agencies that need to comply with regulations from the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

However, companies that want full documentation in connection with internal investigations or personnel matters can also use the solution.

A Google executive writes in a blog post that the new solution allows third-party archiving apps to connect directly to Google Messages on work phones and deliver the documentation the company needs.

WhatsApp goes free, but risk comes with it

The update does not apply to other encrypted messaging services such as WhatsApp, Signal and Telegram on work phones. These apps handle their own encryption and keys and are not integrated into Android’s own messaging engine in the same way as RCS and SMS.

This means that the employer cannot automatically read messages in these apps via the new Google feature.

At the same time, security experts point out that the content can still be vulnerable if, for example, a colleague takes screenshots, uses insecure backups or has spyware on a computer connected to the account.

Google emphasizes that the update does not change anything on people’s own phones. The new archiving is optional for employers and requires the phone to be set up as a fully managed work device.