Google Workspace, this is how time management changes

Google Workspace

Smart working is a dimension that shapes the traditional spatial-temporal correspondences between work colleagues as it changes operational flows, displaces in different places and dematerializes the office as a point of union between people. To respond to this new reality, Google Workspace has introduced a series of innovations designed both to optimize the management of time by individuals and to improve the possibility of relationships between colleagues who need to interact.

Google Workspace wants to replace the office

The cornerstone of these innovations (announced a few hours ago also a growing role of the Google Assistant) lies in the fact that the distance prevents you from seeing your colleagues, therefore to be able to respect them times and commitments there must be some indicator that certifies their availability. Google Workspace wants to make this bulletin board available, on which everyone can self-certify the tasks in progress and thus declare both the windows available for meetings or interactions, and the moments of necessary concentration for heavier commitments.

If you are committed by indicating a status on the calendar that is equivalent to a "Do not disturb", the system lowers incoming notifications and respects the indications received: in short, Google Workspace tries to replace the office in all respects, managing interactions and mediating relationships so that we can really achieve the best possible harmony in terms of production regardless of where we are both in absolute terms (home or office) and in relative terms (time zone, coexistence).

Another interesting news is in the "second screen" added to Google Meet. This function is particularly useful for allowing screen sharing without sacrificing part of the display.

For example, you can have the shared screen on your laptop, while on your smartphone you can have your interlocutors. Managing the two screens is facilitated by the simple simultaneous login from two devices, all the more so thanks to the new methods that allow you to better manage the smaller surfaces of mobile devices.

Source: Google

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Google addresses customer data protection, security in Workspace

© ZDNet

Google has outlined how the company handles customer data in response to a Dutch data protection assessment. 

CONSTELLATION BRANDS, INC.

Launched in October, Google Workspace is an enterprise suite for applications including Gmail, Meet, Drive, and Sheets, software that can be useful for businesses currently adopting work from home or hybrid workplace models. 

A Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) was recently published by Dutch data protection authorities outlining comparisons between data handling in Google Workspace. 

The DPIA included ten original 'risk' factors to government agencies adopting Google Workspace, citing issues including a lack of transparency concerning the purposes behind processing both customer and diagnostic data; potential legal gray areas surrounding both the tech giant and government bodies acting as data controllers or processors, 'privacy-unfriendly' default settings, and potential spill-overs between 'one-account' users in personal and enterprise settings. 

On Monday, Google Cloud VP of EMEA South, Samuel Bonamigo, said that in response to the DPIA and a separate assessment of and Google Workspace for Education delivered to the Dutch government, Google 'welcomes the opportunity to demonstrate our commitment to privacy and security.'

Google is in discussion with the Dutch government over the concerns highlighted, but wants to emphasize that Workspace solutions have been designed 'to secure and protect the privacy of our customers' data.'

'Our cloud is designed to empower European organizations' strict security and privacy requirements and expectations,' Google says. 'We adhere to regulatory and compliance requirements to protect our customers' data. And we believe that it is deeply important for us to be transparent about our products and our practices.'

Google says that user or service data is not used for targeted ads or creating ad profiles, and ads are not shown in Workspace and Workspace for Education Core Services, which are the premium versions of existing tools. Cloud customer data is also only processed based on customer agreements and is kept in the control of the user, the company says. 

Google has also created the Google Cloud Privacy Notice to outline how service data is processed, alongside a new Google Workspace for Education data protection implementation guide (.PDF). 

'Our goal in addressing the DPIA is complete transparency for our customers, regulators, and policymakers on the open issues,' Google said. 'We will continue to discuss the findings with the Dutch government in the next few months, with the goal of reaching an agreement that will lead to more choice for public sector organizations in the Netherlands and beyond.'

In related news, Google has also updated Google Workspace with new features including new security access controls, the 'Workspace Frontline' function for key workers that need to use their own devices to access corporate resources, improved endpoint management, and support for Google Assistant in Workspace. 

On Monday, Google warned of an increase in bots targeting businesses, not only to perform Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) assaults, but also the use of bots for content scraping and other forms of attack.

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