Why on earth would you re-use the same term when naming two things with similar (thus easily confused) consumer-visible attributes but completely different security guarantees?!
Chrome: "Won't save your (porn) history"
Allo: "features like discreet notifications and message expiration" (ie, for sending naked pics)
The transport layer security is great too, but for a lot of people "message expiration" is the key feature.
It could be different for shared computers, but, I think, for porn browsing on one's own hardware, incognito mode is more about having a separate (ephemeral) browser profile, so you aren't accidentally sharing your kinks on Facebook and Google won't (visibly, at least) associate it with your main browsing profile and won't show you relevant ads there.
A comparable feature for the IM world would be "alter ego"/pseudonymous mode, where your contacts aren't provided with your identity information (google account/phone numbers/etc - not even your "normal" name or nickname), but a throw-away identities, yet you still have a convenience of using a single app. Not really private in a sense your favorite TLA won't know you, but good enough in a sense your peers won't know you. I don't think any IM system does that, without setting up separate accounts.
I mean, "self-destructing" messages weren't there in a lot of systems, and users perfectly know how to delete SMS or emails they don't want to keep - and saving the ones they do. Not to say "message expiration" is a myth (haven't they learned it with Snapchat already?)
Maybe that's just my view of things, though.
Google backs off on previously announced Allo privacy feature (http://www.theverge.com/2016/9/21/12994362/allo-privacy-mess...)
Performance for privacy - LOL
"Your chats are end-to-end encrypted and can only be seen by you and the person you're chatting with. Google can't read any of your messages, so you won't see any Smart Reply or Google Assistant features."
https://support.google.com/allo/answer/6383724?ref_topic=637...
To get all of them to stay silent, and to evade analysis of the binary is, if not impossible, simply not worth whatever they could get out of reading my messages (esp. considering their uninterrupted stream of emails to read).
It's also why the concept of "brands" makes more sense than may are willing to admit: a blatant lie such as this would probably be worse for google than VWs little problem. Reading someone's private stuff is just bound to rouse more emotions than whatever comes out of the back of your car.
http://www.theverge.com/2016/9/21/12994362/allo-privacy-mess...
"Allo messages will still be encrypted between the device and Google servers, and stored on servers using encryption that leaves the messages accessible to Google’s algorithms."
[....]
"The decision will also have significant consequences for law enforcement access to Allo messages. By default, Allo messages will now be accessible to lawful warrant requests, the same as message data in Gmail and Hangouts and location data collected by Android. "
> Like Hangouts and Gmail, Allo messages will still be encrypted between the device and Google servers, and stored on servers using encryption that leaves the messages accessible to Google’s algorithms.
Translation:
- Incognito messages will not be logged, and will be encrypted end-to-end.
- Non-incognito messages will transit over SSL, and be stored on Google's servers in an encrypted form that they will have access to (presumably this "encryption" is to prevent hackers gaining a DB dump from getting everything in plaintext).
- Non-incognito messages will be logged indefinitely, unless a user explicitly deletes them. (This is a change from what was previously announced at Google I/O)
Correct me if I'm missing something.
Well they seem awfully quiet about all the privacy invading stuff Google does, considering the number you claim they're in.
So basically at Google encryption is a separate feature and come at the cost of the others cool features. This combined with the confusion between "incognito mode" and "porn mode" may contribute to a slow adoption of crypto-features in Allo IMHO...
https://whispersystems.org/blog/signal-android-attachment-bu...
> But we went a step beyond this and we created a mode within Google Allo called Incognito (h/t Chrome).
It's another dark pattern from an unscrupulous company.