【Lily LaBeau Archives】

What have Lily LaBeau Archivesyou Googled recently? Anything weird? Maybe something personal? Thanks to a recently discovered flaw in Google's mobile messaging app Allo, the contents of your search could have been served up to the people you've messaged.

Oops.

News of the over-sharing comes to us via Recode, which reports that the app's Google Assistant could divulge previous Google searches mid-conversation.

Imagine texting with your Mom, only to have your Saturday night Google searches populate the conversation thread.

Yeah, we'd be horrified too.

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How did this happen? One of Allo's features is that you can use the Google Assistant while messaging with someone else. Say you want to know what the weather is while you're making beach plans, or if a snowstorm has delayed your bus. You can ask the Assistant, and it will respond.

"Just add @google, and your Assistant is ready to help," Google helpfully informs us.

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

Unfortunately, that help sometimes took the form of answers to old questions — or with completely unrelated results. At least occasionally those results might include something you had previously Googled.

“We were notified about the Assistant in group chats not working as intended," a Google spokesperson told Recode. "We've fixed the issue and appreciate the report.”

That Google quickly fixed the error is good news, but that this could even happen in the first place is cause for concern. Think about all the data the tech giant has on you that is likely tied to a Gmail account associated with your real name. Leaking that information to friends and family would be more than awkward — it could damage relationships, or at the very least make the next family gathering really uncomfortable.

But hey, what's a little privacy violation in the name of helping you "[find] videos to share, get directions, and seek answers together with your friends"? That is, after all, the entire premise that Google is built on.

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