New Delhi, June 17
Google on Tuesday announced a major initiative to make India’s digital space safer by unveiling its new ‘Safety Charter’ during the ‘Safer with Google India Summit’.
The initiative is focused on protecting users from online fraud, boosting cybersecurity for critical infrastructure and ensuring that AI is developed responsibly.
This Safety Charter is built around three key goals -- keeping internet users safe from scams and frauds, strengthening cybersecurity for governments and businesses and building responsible AI systems that protect people.
Google’s 'Digikavach' programme, a key part of the initiative, has already reached over 17.7 crore Indians with AI-powered tools and awareness campaigns against financial scams.
Google’s systems are becoming more powerful with AI -- its Search now identifies 20 times more scam websites, and scam attacks on customer service and government platforms have dropped by 80 per cent and 70 per cent, respectively.
On the messaging side, Google Messages is blocking over 500 million scam texts every month.
Google Pay, which is widely used in India, has sent out over 4.1 crore alerts to warn users about possible frauds. It also helped prevent fraud worth Rs 13,000 crore in 2024 alone.
The company’s app safety system, Google Play Protect, has blocked nearly 6 crore risky app installs across 1.3 crore devices since it was piloted in India in October 2024.