Google Announces New Calendar Feature...but It Will Require You to Let Them Read Your Emails

Your life is about to get a lot easier if you're an Android user. That's according to Google, which announced a new calendar app for Android smartphone software on Monday.

Google's logo in Washington, DC, January 11, 2011 (Photo credit Karen Bleier/AFP/Getty Images)

The company described the new app as a kind of "personal assistant" that allows you to spend less time managing your day. But spending less time planning your day is going to require that you hand over more of your private email information.

"Every time you book a flight, buy concert tickets or make a hotel reservation, odds are you get an email with dates, times and other important details. But who has the time (or patience) to copy and paste all this into their calendar? In the new Calendar app these kinds of emails become events automatically, complete with things like flight numbers and check-in times," Google wrote in an official blog post.

If you're wondering how all of this will be done "automatically," the answer is quite simple: Google will scan your emails for the relevant information needed to create new calendar events and updates.

It isn't the company's first time announcing that it scans users' emails. Just last month Google announced a new feature designed to scan customers' emails to send them bill payment information and reminders. That announcement set off a firestorm of privacy concerns in the comments section of the Google+ post in which it announced the feature.

Google said the new calendar app will work on all devices with Android 4.1 or higher, including the new Android 5.0 Lollipop. A version for iPhone is "coming soon," Google also announced.

Google did not immediately respond to TheBlaze when asked about the methods by which Google can obtain users' information to automatically create and update calendar events.

(H/T: CNN)

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