Making the change does probably keep Google on the right side of the law. By keeping track of all messages, Allo conversations will be accessible by law enforcement with warrants – something that can’t happen on apps like iMessage or WhatsApp, both of which have run into trouble over not being able to give up information to authorities.It should be the other way. There should be a law saying that a company must meet some hurdle to store personal information for a long period of time. At least disclose it publicly. It's so ironic that the EU cares about websites disclosing that they store cookies, but not that they store conversations indefinitely.
The law would put a chilling effect on storing personal information indefinitely. But, like carbon emissions, it will only slow the progress towards a future where all the carbon is released from the ground / all the data is stored and analyzed by AI years from now.
