The new design of Gmail, of which this week screenshots came out, may also introduce an option that allows users to set up a sent e-mail to clear itself over time. Google is currently testing this option.
Various media posts about the function, such as The Verge and TechCrunch . This is called confidential mode . Users can select these when composing an e-mail and choose after which period the e-mail can no longer be read. This could be, for example, a week, a month or a year. There is also the possibility to secure the mail with a password, which is generated by Google and sent via SMS. It is unclear whether and how the function will work outside of Gmail. Another consequence of using confidential mode is that the content of e-mails can no longer be copied and that the recipient can not forward the message. In addition, the content can not be printed or downloaded. However, making a screenshot can not be ruled out. TechCrunch writes that the Gmail recipient of a ‘confidential’ e-mail receives a link to the content of the message. When he opens it he has to log in again at the service. According to the site, Google says nothing about end-to-end encryption. The addition of the function, if that indeed happens in this way, resembles the functionality that Microsoft recently announced for home users of Office 365. This included the prevention of forwarding e-mails and securing messages with a pass code . On Thursday, the first screenshots of the modified Gmail interface appeared online, after Google had communicated the changes to G Suite administrators the day before.
