Snowden’s Warning Ignored By 1-5M Users, Downloaded Google Allo Anyway

Google Allo just came out and among the people who didn’t like the new messaging service was whistleblower Edward Snowden. He warned that using the app could cause some serious privacy issues. So far, 1 to 5 million users have ignored his warnings and those of many others.

The press didn’t exactly take to Allo as Google might have hoped, with the general reception of the messaging service best described as bland. It also stirred up a heck of a privacy mess, as Tech Times reports.

The messaging app basically records every single conversation by users when using it and stores the information on Google’s servers. This information is used to feed the artificial intelligence that’s powering the app, thus making it more intuitive on the patterns of particular users.

This isn’t anything new as Google is already doing this via Gmail and the search history anyway. What concerns privacy advocates like Snowden is the fact that the government could obtain the conversation from the company if they wanted to as part of their investigation. They’ve been warning people not to use the app as a result.

Based on the recent numbers on the Play Store, though, download and install numbers range from 1 to 5 million already. It’s only been out a week as well.

Now, the high interest from users could have something to do with the app’s promised features that are marketed as the next step in messaging evolution. Allo basically has a smart assistant built into it to make things like setting up meeting dates and even get answers to questions you might have.

The Times decided to do a comparison between Allo, iMessage, and Facebook Messenger to see how they measure up against each other. Unsurprisingly, the conclusion on which one users would find most appealing hinged on which they were most familiar with and which is used by family or friends.