Until RCS has native and mandatory encryption (for both 1-1 and group chats), it's just one more really poor attempt at data mining by all involved. Google claiming they want everyone to be all-in on RCS while simultaneously only supporting encryption through their non-standard extension is a bit of a joke.
Say what you will about Apple, at least they're pretending to care and insisting on it.
https://www.techradar.com/phones/iphone/breaking-apple-will-...
>Apple says it won't be supporting any proprietary extensions that seek to add encryption on top of RCS and hopes, instead, to work with the GSM Association to add encryption to the standard.
*Personally I think Apple should just create Messages for Android and charge $5/month or make it a part of their paid icloud offering and just embrace services. I get they want to sell iphones but it feels like they're in a bit of a RIM situation at the moment. You can keep fighting the inevitable but only for so long.
Ironically enough, if RIM had opened up BBM and email a decade earlier they might still be around today.