Watch out, Truecaller! Google is here with its 'Verified Calls' feature

The new feature will come pre-loaded on several Android phones.

Agencies
Many users in India will be available to download this feature on their Android devices later this week.
NEW DELHI: The search engine giant is all set to take over Truecaller with its new caller ID feature, Verified Calls. In a bid to protect its customers from spam and scam calls, the California-base company has announced the launch of the new feature on its Phone app.

The tool will come pre-loaded on several Android phones. Many users in select countries, including India, will be available to download this feature on their Android devices later this week .

The Truecaller-like feature helps users with the caller's name and logo or picture. It will also show the reason for calling and verification badge which will indicate that the business has been authenticated by Google.


In its statement on Tuesday, the tech company said that the process has been conducted in a secure way, and Google doesn't collect or store any personally identifiable information after verification.

For instance, banks calling to alert a customer about a possible fraudulent transaction can increase answer rates by stating the call reason, said the release.

Verified Calls will be initially rolled out in the US, Mexico, Brazil, Spain and India, with more countries to come.
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A 2019 report by the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) found that phone calls were the number one way people reported being contacted by scammers.

While most people said they hung up on those calls, those who lost money reported a median loss of $1,000.

"We've been piloting Verified Calls for a few months, and the early results indicate that it improves the likelihood of someone answering a call," Google said.

"We also have existing partners ? including Neustar, Five9, Vonage, Aspect, Bandwidth, Prestus, Telecall, and JustCall ? ready to help brands improve their answer rates by using Verified Calls," Google said.
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Safety Nets, Cookie Control & Secure DNS: Follow These Simple Google Chrome Hacks To Keep Data Safe
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Google Chrome, in all probability, might be the most commonly-used browser, but it has been at the centre of criticism due to controversial changes, security problems and data concerns.

From Chrome 79 accidentally deleting data for Android users in December 2019, Chrome 80’s ‘high level vulnerabilities’ that put data at risk to the controversial deep linking upgrade in February 2020 that allegedly compromised on privacy, Chrome has often left its users worried about their safety and security.

However, Chrome has now put all the privacy and security concerns to rest with its new upgrade. A blog post on Google’s website titled, ‘More intuitive privacy and security controls in Chrome’, breaks down the security updates in detail. Here are some of them:

Google Chrome, in all probability, might be the most commonly-used browser, but it has been at the centre of criticism due to controversial changes, security problems and data concerns.From Chrome 79..
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Most of us use the incognito mode in Google Chrome for private browsing. The USP of Google’s incognito mode is that it does not save history, information entered by the user in forms or browser cookies. The good folks at Google have now decided to take security and privacy in incognito mode a notch higher.

You can now control whether you wish to allow third-party cookies in incognito mode. Chrome will now block third-party cookies by default in incognito mode. If you wish to allow third-party cookies for specific sites, you can click the ‘eye’ sign on the address bar.

The feature, as per Google’s blog, will be gradually rolled out. For the uninitiated, third-party cookies allow websites to track a user across the web. With Chrome’s new update, you can keep your information secure by blocking these cookies.

Most of us use the incognito mode in Google Chrome for private browsing. The USP of Google’s incognito mode is that it does not save history, information entered by the user in forms or browser cooki..
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Security attacks such as phishing and malware have become quite common on the internet. To combat the menace, Google Chrome now has a security update that users can opt for. Called ‘Enhanced Safe Browsing’, this security upgrade will allow Chrome to proactively detect phishing attacks, malware and other web based threats.

Chrome will do this by proactively checking if pages and downloads are dangerous by sending information about them to Google Safe Browsing.

Going forward, Google will also add more protections to this upgrade such as tailored warnings for phishing sites, file downloads, cross product alerts and more.

Security attacks such as phishing and malware have become quite common on the internet. To combat the menace, Google Chrome now has a security update that users can opt for. Called ‘Enhanced Safe Bro..
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Another security upgrade that Chrome has come up to protect your privacy is ‘Secure DNS’.

When we enter a website in the address bar of the browser, it first needs to determine which server is hosting the website. This step is called DNS (Domain Name System) lookup.

Google Chrome’s Secure DNS feature will encrypt this step using ‘DNS-over-HTTPS’. This will not allow the attackers to find out which website you want to visit and they won’t be able to send you phishing webpages.

Another security upgrade that Chrome has come up to protect your privacy is ‘Secure DNS’. When we enter a website in the address bar of the browser, it first needs to determine which server is hostin..
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Apart from introducing strong security measures to keep attackers at bay, Google has also developed a safety net for its users. With the help of a safety check in Chrome, you can make sure that your data is safe.

For starters, Chrome has come up with a new tool that will tell you if the passwords that you have asked Chrome to remember have been compromised and if so, how to fix it.

Secondly, Chrome will raise a red flag if ‘Safe Browsing’, Google’s technology to warn you when you are about to access a dangerous website, has been turned off.

The safety check tool will also help you determine if you are using the latest version of Google Chrome. It will also let you know if malicious extensions have been installed and how to remove them.



Apart from introducing strong security measures to keep attackers at bay, Google has also developed a safety net for its users. With the help of a safety check in Chrome, you can make sure that your ..
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