Android adds two protection functions for SMS

After cleaning our emails from spam and other advertising messages, Google attacks SMS with two functions integrated into its Messages application. Good news, it’s already available in France.

Just as there are spam filters for email, Android has decided to better protect your SMS messaging . On its blog , Google details two functions dedicated to its Messages application . If you use another application for your SMS and MMS sending, you will not be able to benefit from it.

First, and it’s a very good idea, Android  adds a system for authenticating the sender of an SMS. Just like on Twitter , the organization or company that sends you a message will have a “badge” synonymous with an authenticated sender.

There will be its logo, and it is especially very reassuring when it comes to validating a bank transaction, confirming an appointment or activating a service. This option, called Verified SMS , implies that the company or service concerned subscribes to this device. The good news is that France is one of the nine countries that will benefit from this innovation.

No data stored online

Then there is protection against spam , and we must recognize that there are more and more of them. Without us knowing how they got our contact details, we start to receive unsolicited SMS, and Android has decided to add a filter that must be activated. By default, Google treats your contact list as a ”  white list  ” and scans messages from an unknown sender.

As in Gmail , a message warns you when an SMS seems questionable. If so, you validate it. Otherwise, you indicate that it is a safe number. And if the filter lets spam pass, the user can report it and the number in question will enter Google’s “black list”, then all future messages will be blocked.

Google specifies that the data present in the messages is temporarily stored, and that it does not keep traces of the exchanges. This function arrives in the United States, and it was present in France.