Google I/O 2022: Phishing, Malware Protection for Google Docs; Payment Virtual Cards Announced

Google announced Wednesday at Google I/O 2022 enhancements to its current products and services to enhance customer safety and privacy.

At its annual developer conference, Google said that phishing protection would be extended to Google Docs, Google Sheets, and Google Slides. Virtual cards will be available on Chrome and Android later this year, shielding users’ financial information while making online transactions.

Users will request the removal of personal data and regulate adverts across all Google products in the coming months.

According to Google, users of Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides will soon be secured by the same phishing and malware precautions as Gmail users.

This should eliminate the issue of phishing URLs in shared documents being exploited to breach user accounts.

Meanwhile, a new Account Safety Status indication with a yellow alert symbol will appear on a user’s profile picture to notify them of essential account security activities.

Google will launch a new virtual card function for consumers in the United States later this year, enabling them to substitute their card number with a unique virtual number while making online transactions.

According to Google, Visa, American Express, and all Capital One cards will be supported for virtual cards in the summer, with Mastercard support coming later this year.

Virtual cards will be available on Android and Chrome. Users will utilize the Google Payments website to set and disable the functionality and review previous transactions.

Google will also launch new privacy settings for advertising before the end of the year, enabling users to choose which companies they see more of or less of and enable or disable personalization.

According to Google, users will be able to utilize My Ad Center to choose which advertisements they see across Google products such as YouTube, Search, and their Discover feed and block and report advertising.

Google said in April that it was extending its personal information removal policy in search results to all users. The option to request the removal of phone numbers, home locations, and email addresses through the Google app will be added in the coming months, according to the firm.

Google also announced its plans to increase Internet cybersecurity at Google I/O 2022.

With the continuing turmoil in Ukraine putting a greater emphasis on cybersecurity, Google announced that Project Shield will now secure over 200 Ukrainian government agencies, press outlets, and other websites and services.

Meanwhile, the business claims it will continue developing technologies such as Federated Learning, Differential Privacy, and Protected Computing to secure user data via data anonymization and access restriction utilizing end-to-end encryption.