Please note: UW Google is undergoing several major changes. For more details and regular updates, see UW Google Changes Project.
Overview
Google Hangouts and Google Chat are disabled in UW Google.
Google Hangouts
As of March 2022, Google is in the process of shutting down Google Hangouts. Google’s intended replacement for Google Hangouts is Google Chat.
Google Chat
As of March 2022, the UW Google service team disabled Google Chat because of issues related to:
- accessibility
- data management
- data retention capabilities
- eDiscovery
The UW Google service team will continue to press Google on resolving the above issues. Unfortunately, we cannot offer an estimate for when the issues will be resolved by Google.
Alternatives
Alternatives to using Google Chat with a UW Google account include:
- FERPA- and HIPAA-aligned Microsoft Teams, part of UW Office 365
- FERPA- and HIPAA-aligned UW Zoom chat
- Using Google Chat with a consumer Gmail account (please note that consumer Gmail accounts are not FERPA- or HIPAA-aligned)