Google's new messaging app Allo is a little bit snoopier than expected

Google said Allo would only store user data 'transiently' - but reports suggest it has rolled back on the promise in return for better performance

Google's new messaging app, Allo, is just a bit snoopier than the company promised it would be back in May.

The app is already viewed with suspicion by many privacy advocates, because its integration with Google's new AI assistant (called, imaginatively, Assistant) requires messages to be sent without end-to-end encryption on by default. That means Google's Assistant can read your messages, and provide contextual aid - but it also means Google can read them, and so too can law enforcement, national security and anyone else with a valid warrant.