Google Testing Self Destructing Email For Gmail
Google is revamping the web version of its popular email service, Gmail. The company might showcase new Gmail features at the Google I/O 2018, which will commence on the 8th of May. According to a new leak, Google is also working on a new feature that will enable users to send emails which expire after a specified time, a Self Destructing Email.
According to leaked images, the confidential mode will work even with third-party email clients like ‘ProtonMail’. Before sending an email, users will be able to specify a time frame post which, the email will be deleted from the recipient’s inbox. The caveat here is that such email won’t be forwardable. However, the feature is still under development, as the option ‘Learn More’ currently redirects to a blank page.
Self Destructing Email Is Straight Out Of Spy Movies
According to the screenshot, one can set an expiry date for as long as 5 years. The user will also be able to set password requirement, where the recipient has to confirm their identity via a code/OTP sent to the recipient as a text message to access the email. The recipient will not be able to take a print out of this email or cannot copy/paste the content as well. However, the leaker was able to seize a screenshot of the email content.
As of now, there is no information about this feature being available to non-Gmail users. When a user sends an email using the confidential mode, the mail will look like any other email. However, when it expires the email will disappear from the inbox. Google has not mentioned end-to-end encryption anywhere, which means the company is most likely to stick with non-encrypted emails.
