Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
Editorials & Other Articles
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
Whoops, our bad, we may have 'accidentally' let Google Home devices record your every word, sound
Whoops, our bad, we may have 'accidentally' let Google Home devices record your every word, sound – oops- The Register, Aug. 8, 2020
In brief Your Google Home speaker may have been quietly recording sounds around your house without your permission or authorization, it was revealed this week.
The Chocolate Factory admitted it had accidentally turned on a feature that allowed its voice-controlled AI-based assistant to activate by itself and record its surroundings. Normally, the device only starts actively listening in and making a note of what it hears after it has heard wake words, such as “Ok, Google” or “Hey, Google,” for privacy reasons. Prior to waking, it's constantly listening out for those words, but is not supposed to keep a record of what it hears.
Yet punters noticed their Google Homes had been recording random sounds, without any wake word uttered, when they started receiving notifications on their phone that showed the device had heard things like a smoke alarm beeping, or glass breaking in their homes – all without their approval.
Google said the feature had been accidentally turned on during a recent software update, and it has now been switched off, Protocol reported. It may be that this feature is or was intended to be used for home security at some point: imagine the assistant waking up whenever it hears a break in, for instance. Google just bought a $450m, or 6.6 per cent, stake in anti-burglary giant ADT, funnily enough.
The Chocolate Factory admitted it had accidentally turned on a feature that allowed its voice-controlled AI-based assistant to activate by itself and record its surroundings. Normally, the device only starts actively listening in and making a note of what it hears after it has heard wake words, such as “Ok, Google” or “Hey, Google,” for privacy reasons. Prior to waking, it's constantly listening out for those words, but is not supposed to keep a record of what it hears.
Yet punters noticed their Google Homes had been recording random sounds, without any wake word uttered, when they started receiving notifications on their phone that showed the device had heard things like a smoke alarm beeping, or glass breaking in their homes – all without their approval.
Google said the feature had been accidentally turned on during a recent software update, and it has now been switched off, Protocol reported. It may be that this feature is or was intended to be used for home security at some point: imagine the assistant waking up whenever it hears a break in, for instance. Google just bought a $450m, or 6.6 per cent, stake in anti-burglary giant ADT, funnily enough.
Related:
How to Stop Your Google Home From Recording All Your Conversations - How-To Geek
Google's privacy controls on recordings change. What that means for your Google Home - CNET
Your Google Home smart speaker might have been listening to more than you thought - Daily Express
7 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
... whether intentional or not it's a cock-up. It's just worse if they did it on purpose.
But the texts being sent are not proof that everything you do is being recorded.
It is DEFINITELY 'listening' at all times, however, obviously. It has to be ... unless there's a way you can turn off the activate by voice command and make it so you have to press a button to turn it on or the like.
Which I don't know, cause I don't have one either 
