Google asks some Google Messages users for a donation, but it isn't about money
Apparently, Google is asking some Google Messages app users for donations. But Google isn't asking them for money; it's asking these select users to donate the messages that they receive. As Android Police first reported, some Google Messages users may now see a message saying, "Help your app sort better with message donations to Google." According to the invitation, if you decide to donate your messages to Google, your identity will stay hidden, and you can 'remove any message content.'
The donation message within the Google Messages app comes after Google began the global rollout of its conversation categories feature for its Messages app. The idea of the feature is to arrange the user's messages within categories for more convenience. To properly do this, Google uses AI. But the AI needs to be further trained in order to sort messages more accurately, and this is where the user data comes into play. So, in other words, Google asks for your messages to train its AI and make it easier to sort the messages you receive.
If some of the messages that you want to "donate" contain sensitive information or if you want to censor some parts of the messages, you will be able to modify them before you send them to Google. When you finish with the correction, you simply need to tap on “Confirm” to make your donation to Google. It is important to note that, before submitting the messages, Google will hide phone numbers and links to guarantee that any information associated with you will stay hidden.
If you are one of the select users who can see the donation message and want to help Google in training its AI, you can tap on the “Next” button located within the message. When you tap the button, the app will redirect you to a page where you can choose which messages you want to "donate" to Google. It appears that promotional and business-related text messages will be chosen for "donation" by default.
If some of the messages that you want to "donate" contain sensitive information or if you want to censor some parts of the messages, you will be able to modify them before you send them to Google. When you finish with the correction, you simply need to tap on “Confirm” to make your donation to Google. It is important to note that, before submitting the messages, Google will hide phone numbers and links to guarantee that any information associated with you will stay hidden.
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