- Google introduced Android RCS Archival to archive messages on company-issued Android devices
- The feature integrates third-party apps to capture sent, received, edited, or deleted messages
- It applies only to work-managed devices and does not affect personal phones or profiles
Google has introduced a new feature that allows employers to archive and review text messages, including SMS and RCS conversations, sent on company-issued Android devices, Android Authority reported. The new feature, called Android RCS Archival, allows companies to integrate third-party archiving apps into Google Messages on work-managed devices.
"Our new solution allows third-party archival apps to integrate directly with Google Messages on a work device," Ian Marsanyi, who is a senior product manager at Google, wrote in a blog post.
"When configured by your IT organisation on a fully managed device, the archival application is notified upon the receipt of each RCS message, not only when a message is sent or received, but also if a message is edited or deleted too. The archival app then reads the message data and makes it available to your IT organisation."
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This means that employers can capture and store text messages, including those that are edited or deleted, for compliance and regulatory purposes.
Notably, this feature only applies to company-managed devices and does not affect personal phones or devices with separate work profiles.
But employees often consider text messaging different from emailing and believe that it is safe on their work phones because of the expectations around end-to-end encryption.
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Hence, now they should be aware that their text messages on work phones are no longer private. Employers can access these messages, which may include personal conversations or sensitive information.
Other messaging apps, like WhatsApp or Telegram, are not affected by this update.
Google says the update is designed to help businesses comply with regulatory requirements and legal discovery requests. Certain industries, such as finance and healthcare, are required to keep records of employee communications.
As per Google, the update is this "dependable, Android-supported solution for message archival, which is also backwards compatible with SMS and MMS messages as well. Employees will see a clear notification on their device whenever the archival feature is active."
And "this new capability, available on Google Pixel and other compatible Android Enterprise devices gives your employees all the benefits of RCS — like typing indicators, read receipts, and end-to-end encryption between Android devices — while ensuring your organization meets its regulatory requirements."
