Watch live: Google to address privacy at developers conference

Watch live: Google to address privacy at developers conference
UPI

May 8 (UPI) — Following months of concerns about user data online, Google will kick off its developers conference Tuesday by addressing privacy.

Google’s I/O conference will be held at the Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, Calif., Tuesday and Wednesday. The keynote address Tuesday will start at 10 a.m. PDT, and will be streamed live.

After news broke earlier this year about Cambridge Analytica harvesting data of up to 87 million Facebook users, technology companies like Google have come under increased scrutiny.

Google CEO Sundar Pichai will deliver the keynote address, and is expected to send a message about industry responsibilities to guard against potential negative consequences.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg pledged commitment to privacy last week in a keynote address at the F8 conference. Monday at Microsoft’s annual Build conference in Seattle, CEO Satya Nadella told developers the industry needs to ensure technology is responsible and ethical.

Ahead of Zuckerberg’s appearance in Congress last month, Republican chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee Charles Grassley sent a letter to Pichai asking to help lawmakers understand how Google manages and monitors user privacy for the significant amounts of data it collects.

“These events have raised significant concerns regarding the data security practices of large social media platforms and their interactions with third party developers and other commercial users of such data,” Grassley wrote.

Analyst Brian Blau, with research and advisory company Gartner, said he expects Pichai to reassure the public of efforts to safeguard sensitive information and remind developers of their responsibilities.

“Companies are reminding customers that they are taking steps to protect their data. I would think that Google would do the same thing,” Blau told USA Today. “That said, I don’t think they would want to necessarily focus a lot of attention on it.”

Google will also unveil new features with its Android operating system and other products.

COMMENTS

Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.