Google user data secure from “prying eyes”: Eric Schmidt

Google's encryption of user data was unbreakable executive chairman Eric Schmidt said at a panel discussion. Schmidt told Stephen Levy from Wired magazine, who was acting as a moderator that Google was nearing completion of an effort to make sure that user data was safe from prying eyes.

Whether those ''prying eyes'' belonged to malicious foreign hackers or government officials in the US, Schmidt said Google's new level of encryption technology would not make a distinction.

A CNET report said, the panel discussion with Schmidt and Jared Cohen, a Google ideas director, covered several interesting questions regarding the internet, its security, and the implications of events like last year's massive NSA data leak.

Schmidt said Google was experimenting with automation in ways that would "replace a lot of the repetitive behavior in our lives," SFGate reported.

"We're experimenting with what automation will lead to," Schmidt said at the conference in Santa Monica. "Robots will become omnipresent in our lives in a good way."

Google was moving aggressively into products beyond its core search business for new sources of user traffic and revenue in areas such as mobile and online video. The company had also boldly ventured into such longer term project areas, such as wearable technology, robotics and driverless cars.

"The biggest thing will be artificial intelligence," Schmidt said at Oasis: The Montgomery Summit. "Technology is evolving from asking a question to making a relevant recommendation. It will figure out things you care about and make recommendations. That's possible with today's technology."

Schmidt also called on regulators to boost competition in broadband internet service. Comcast Corp, the largest US cable TV company, last month agreed to acquire Time Warner Cable for $45.2 billion, combining two large broadband providers (See: Time Warner Cable to merge with Comcast in $45-bn deal).

"In plenty of US cities, there's not a competitive market for broadband Internet," Schmidt said. "Regulators need to look at what's preventing a second competitor from entering that space."