In a recent update, Google announced that it will officially launch an RCS information archiving feature for Android Enterprise this year.This feature will allow enterprise IT organizations to access and monitor employees' RCS, SMS (text message) and MMS (multimedia message) message records on their fully managed Android work devices.
Even though RCS messages are protected by end-to-end encryption in transit, once the messages are stored on a company-controlled device, they are decrypted and can be accessed and read by the employer.
Google says it is a reliable and Android-enabled message archiving solution designed to help organizations meet their regulatory requirements,When archiving is enabled, clear notifications appear on employees’ devices to ensure transparency.
This update has undoubtedly upset many employees. While employees have long been aware that company emails may be monitored, text messaging has long been viewed as a relatively private communication channel, and now all organizations can take advantage of this feature.
For employees using company-provided Android phones that are fully managed by corporate IT, they need to pay close attention to the upcoming notification to confirm that their communications will no longer be as private as before.