Google Voice Voicemails Appear in Public Search Results

This morning, the popular tech blog Engadget shared a fairly remarkable development regarding Google Voice, Google’s seven-month old telecommunications service. Apparently, Google has accidentally been indexing voice mails from Google Voice into public search results. The messages, which can be found by searching site:https://www.google.com/voice/fm/* in Google, range from calls made several months ago to calls made yesterday.

While many of the recorded messages are test calls, and therefore do not present a real privacy threat, there are a number of voicemails that contain actual calls from individuals who (rightfully) assumed they were leaving private messages for friends and family. How upset would you be if you heard your voice repeated back to you via a simple Internet search?

It is difficult to imagine a more gross violation of your privacy than having your calls recorded and shared on the world’s largest public search engine. While Google claims to have fixed this particular issue, there is no telling when something like this could happen again. As technology continues to evolve and become more complex, the likelihood that accidents such as this will occur only increases. The best way to ensure your private information stays secure is to be vigilant in monitoring and managing your name online.

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