Cortana Update Lets Microsoft Scan and Read your Emails

For those of you that aren’t familiar with Cortana, she is Microsoft’s answer to Apple’s Siri. Cortana is a voice activated digital assistant hat is able to help you in your daily tasks as well as perform different tasks of her own for you. An example of this would be to have Cortana set up an appointment for you, or help you book a flight. The practicality of this Windows feature goes even further, but you get the idea.

On top of everything that Cortana is able to do, it seems that a new feature will be added. And if you’re the kind of person that gets a little paranoid or let’s just say, overly vigilant when it comes to tech, you might be in for a real kicker. The new Cortana update that has been announced by Microsoft will give the digital assistant the power to scan your emails. Yes, you read that correctly. In a time when online security threats and overall cyber crime are at an all time high, Microsoft will implement a feature that will scan your emails. Talk about a trust relationship.

So what does the feature achieve?

To be more precise about what users will be able to achieve with this new feature, it gives Cortana a new capability. As the assistant is able to set up appointments and reminders for you now, it will be able to remind you of potential meetings or appointments based on the information found in your emails. Cortana will scan your emails and if she finds information about a scheduled event, it will remind you ahead of time just so you don’t forget.

Microsoft calls this making sure that nothing is lost and that you manage to keep a proper track of all your appointments and plans. Aside from the obvious concern regarding privacy, it doesn’t sound half bad. However, that one concern is of a great importance and it will be crucial to see how Microsoft intends on making sure that it is not abused and that consumers are able to maintain  their trust in the company, as well as their privacy.