Is Google Listening to You? Yes, and Here’s How to Stop It
Have you ever seen ads pop up on websites and social media feeds about something you’ve just talked about? I have, countless times, and it creeps me out every time. If you’ve never experienced this, you’re in for some shocking news.
Google may or may not be listening to you if you’ve got an iPhone, but if you use an Android, it’s almost definitely listening to you. This is because Google Assistant responds to your voice commands. This is incredibly convenient, but means your phone is listening to you so it knows when to respond.
In other words, you can kind of take for granted that Google is listening to you. The bigger questions are how much it listens to you, and what it does with this information. Keep reading to find out and learn how you can stop the tech giant from eavesdropping on your personal conversations.
PIA VPN might not be able to stop your phone from listening to you, but it protects your privacy in lots of other ways. It anonymizes your IP address and encrypts your data, disguising your real location and ensuring that no-one can snoop on your activity.
Table of Contents
Why Is Your Phone Listening to You?The Risks of Being Overheard
Is It Legal for Google to Listen to You?
Is Google Always Listening?
Where to Find Your Google Recordings
How to Stop Google from Listening to You on Android
Privacy Tips to Protect Your Data on Smartphones
Bottom Line
Why Is Your Phone Listening to You?
According to phone manufacturers, your phone primarily listens to you so voice assistants like Google Assistant can carry out verbal commands. For this to work, your phone has to be listening, or it won’t respond when you say “Hey Google.” This isn’t the only reason, though.
Sadly, there’s also a profit angle here. Our phones listen to us because Android, which is owned by Google, uses this information to build customer marketing profiles and show us relevant ads. Just like Google tracks your search history, it collects your voice data to personalize ads to your interests. This helps advertisers make more money, but it’s a major privacy concern for many people, and with good reason.
The Risks of Being Overheard
You can’t trust anyone with your privacy. Although companies might promise to not misuse your data, someone could steal it from them. Cybercriminals can use your sensitive data to stalk, blackmail, or scam you and unleash all sorts of mayhem.
Additionally, governments can compel companies to hand over your data to them, giving them even more power and visibility into people’s lives. In some countries, this could lead to people being persecuted for saying things they don’t agree with.
Is It Legal for Google to Listen to You?
Google has faced plenty of lawsuits where plaintiffs have accused it of illegally listening to users. These recordings aren’t as private as you’d like to hope, either. In 2019, a whistleblower revealed that Google gave contractors access to its voice recordings. These even included accidental recordings containing sensitive or revealing information. According to the company, it shares a small percentage of recordings with contractors to help improve its services.
While that sounds like a poor excuse, Google usually manages to sidestep any kickback from scandals like this because of its fine print. It’s illegal for apps to listen to you without your consent, but you technically consent to it when you accept Google’s terms and conditions. This makes it legal for the company to listen to you through your phone.
That said, any app can listen to you illegally if it has access to your microphone. This usually happens when you download fake apps (spyware) or an outdated app is infected with malware. To minimize the risk of apps spying on you, it’s best to review permissions for all your apps and remove microphone access for apps that don’t need it. You can also change your permission settings to allow microphone access only when you’re using an app.
Is Google Always Listening?
If it’s legal for Google to listen to you, then is it doing it all the time? To put it shortly, yes. Your phone is technically always listening. Google Assistant is always active so it can pick up the ‘wake words’ it’s programmed to recognize and start carrying out voice commands.
This doesn’t mean Google ignores everything else you say. It may also be on the lookout for other “keywords” it can use to improve your marketing profile. This is why you see ads about things you talk about even though you haven’t searched for them on your phone.
Google’s eavesdropping is less of a problem if you’re an iPhone user because it doesn’t have a monopoly over data on Apple devices. That said, Apple isn’t a saint either. It has also faced lawsuits for illegally recording people with Siri.
Big tech companies will argue it’s just improving your online shopping experience, but it’s still a huge privacy concern. You can’t trust strangers with everything you say every day, never mind a company that’s able to make money off it. As if that wasn’t worrying enough, it gets worse: This also means a cybercriminal could listen to your phone’s recordings if they hack into your Google account or steal them from Google’s servers in a data breach.
Where to Find Your Google Recordings
Google lets you hear and delete the conversations you’ve had with Google Assistant — even the ones you might not have realized you had. You can access these voice recordings through your account. You can find them in the Google app on your phone or the My Activity page on your Google Account in a web browser.
How to Find Your Google Recordings On a Browser
- Go to the Google My Activity page and click on Web & App Activity.
- On the Web & App Activity page, click on Manage all Web & App Activity.
- Click on Filter by date & product.
- Select Assistant, then Sound Search, and click Apply.
- This filter will bring up all your voice activity with Google. All entries with a voice recording will have a microphone icon next to it. You can click on Details to see when it was recorded, or use View recording to listen to it. Clicking on the X button to the right of the recording will delete it.
How to Find Your Google Recordings on Your Phone App
- Open the Google app, click your profile icon at the top, and select Manage Your Google Account.
- From the menu bar at the top, tap Data & Privacy and then select Web & App Activity.
- On the Web & App Activity page, tap Manage all Web & App Activity.
- Scroll down, select Filter by date & product, then select Assistant and Sound Search for it to show all the voice recordings associated with this account.
- You’ll see a list of all your voice activity with Google. All entries with a voice recording will have a microphone icon next to it. Tap Details to see when an entry was recorded, and you can use View recording to listen to it. Tapping the X button to the right of the recording will delete it.
How to Stop Google from Listening to You — A Step-by-Step Guide
You can take several steps to stop Google from listening in on your conversations. To start with, you can tell Google not to record any voice and audio activity. Go to the Web & App Activity page and uncheck the box next to Include voice and audio activity.
If you turn off this setting, your phone won’t save audio inputs from Google Assistant, Search, and Maps. Does this stop other apps from listening to you, though? No.
You can’t trust anyone with your privacy and may want to take even more steps to ensure no one listens to you without your permission. A safer approach is to remove microphone access for all applications that don’t need it and to deactivate virtual assistants.
How to Stop Google from Listening to You on Android
Turn Off Google Assistant
The first step is to disable Google Assistant across Google Search, Maps, and Android Auto apps. Turning it off is a simple process, but this may differ slightly from one phone brand to another.
- Head to the Google Assistant settings in your Android device’s settings app — you can also search for “assistant settings” and it should pop up.
- Search for the General option in the settings app and select it.
- Toggle the switch to turn off Google Assistant.
Follow the same steps but with Android Auto settings to make sure Google Assistant doesn’t activate itself when you’re using Maps or Android Auto. Under General settings, click on ‘Hey Google’ detection and make sure both Hey Google and While driving is toggled off.
Remove Microphone Permissions from Apps
You can disable microphone access for any apps that don’t need it. For instance, I only let apps like Phone, WhatsApp, Snapchat, and Shazam access the microphone. I don’t need Facebook, Instagram, and Google to have microphone access. You can also change the settings to only let these apps access the mic when you’re using them if you don’t want to turn it off entirely.
Follow these steps to remove microphone permissions from specific apps:
- Open your phone’s settings app and select Apps.
- From the apps list, find Google (or any app you want) and select it.
- Tap Permissions.
- Select the microphone option.
- Choose between Allow all the time, Allow only while using the app, Ask every time, or Don’t Allow. If you pick Don’t Allow, you’ll see a prompt that the app may not function properly with this setting which you’ll have to accept.
If you have the time, I’d suggest you go through all the apps on your phone and repeat these steps. This will close potential loopholes Google and other tech companies can use to listen to you.
How to Stop Your iPhone From Listening to You
Google doesn’t have the same kind of control over your data on iOS devices and, depending on which Google apps you use, it may not be listening to everything you’re saying. That said, iOS devices still have Siri and it’s similarly listening to you all the time. Here’s how to stop Siri and Google from recording you on Apple devices:
Disable Siri
- Navigate to Settings and select Siri & Search
- Tap the toggles to turn off Listen for ‘Hey Siri’, Press Side button for Siri, and Allow Siri When Locked.
- A pop-up will appear asking if you want to turn Siri off. Tap Turn Off Siri to confirm.
Disable Recordings for Google and Other Apps
You’ll also need to deny microphone access for the Google app and any other app that doesn’t need it. Here’s how to do it:
- Open Settings on your iPhone
- Go to Privacy & Security
- Scroll down and select Microphone
- Turn off the permissions for Google, Google Assistant (if you have installed it), Google Maps, and all other apps you don’t want to access your microphone.
Taking these measures should help to stop Google and other apps from listening to you on your phone whether it’s an Android or iPhone. Let’s confirm this with a little test.
Check If Your Phone Is Listening to You
Here’s how to check whether your phone is listening to your conversations:
- Pick a product: Think of something you don’t really want to buy and haven’t searched for online so it shouldn’t be on your marketing profile. You could try to confirm whether the brand runs ads using a different device not linked to your account or on your Wi-Fi. It would take time and testing, though, which might be more effort than you’re willing to put in.
- Talk about the brand and its products near your phone: Without opening Google, start mentioning the brand name and its products within earshot of your phone.
- Observe the ads you see: After you’ve been talking about the brand for a few days, observe the ads you’re shown on websites and social media. If you start seeing related ads for the product, your phone is listening to you. Alternatively, you can also visit adssettings.google.com to see what Google thinks you’re interested in.
Privacy Tips to Protect Your Data on Smartphones
You can take additional steps to protect your privacy on smartphones and other devices. Use a proactive approach to privacy to keep data-hungry companies and bad actors at bay. Consider adopting these privacy protection tips to help keep your data safe from big tech companies and third parties, including cybercriminals.
- Download verified apps only: Only download apps from official app stores like the Google Play Store or the Apple App Store. They have verification measures to ensure all apps meet security and privacy standards.
- Keep your phone updated: Software updates often include security patches that can help protect your phone from malware.
- Delete apps you don’t use: Unused apps still collect your data and can provide a gateway for malware if they contain any security vulnerabilities. Remove the apps you don’t use to reduce the chances of third parties secretly listening to you.
- Check app permissions: When you install an app, you’ll be asked to grant it certain permissions. These permissions allow it to access features like your phone’s contacts, location, and microphone. Only grant permissions to apps you trust.
- Delete your voice request history: Google keeps a record of your voice requests, such as when you use voice search. This data can be used to track your activities. Delete your voice request history regularly. Follow the guide above to find out how.
- Delete your search history regularly: Your search history tells Google a lot about you. It’s best to delete it every week or month to keep it from being exploited.
- Use a VPN: A VPN encrypts your traffic so third parties can’t tell what you’re doing online. This protects your privacy and keeps your devices safe from snoopers. PIA VPN comes with an added “MACE” feature that blocks ads and prevents trackers and websites from accessing your data unless you log in.
Bottom Line
If you’re an Android user, Google is likely listening to you constantly. It might not be listening all the time if you’re on a different operating system, but chances are good someone’s still trying to eavesdrop on you.
Luckily, you can disable voice assistants that record your audio in your phone settings. You can also remove microphone access from apps to reduce the chances of a third party listening to your conversations.
FAQ
If you’ve granted it access to your microphone and Google Assistant is active, Google is probably listening to you all the time. This is because it needs to know when to respond to a voice command whenever you say a wake word like “Hey Google.” The downside is it also uses your audio data to learn what products you’re interested in to show you relevant ads.
Try talking about a brand or product you wouldn’t otherwise buy near your phone. Google will likely pick up what you’re talking about. If it starts showing you ads related to that product, it means Google is listening to you.
Use our guide to deactivate Google Assistant and remove microphone permissions from all Google apps on your phone. This will stop Google from listening to you directly. It may still listen to you through other apps, so I recommend removing microphone permissions from all other apps that you don’t use your mic on.
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235 Comments
Even if this true or not. I made sure my Google Voice search was disabled. How the hell was it that I left it on? Oh well, I don’t talk much anyways,
According to the documentation, Chrome only listen in a new tab or the search bar and only when Ok Google is activated.
Any proof of the claims made on the article?
Just follow the links. It’s all there.
No, none of the links says that Chrome is listening
It *has* to be listening for this to work. It’s not magic.
It has to be listening in a very particular situation, not always.
For now. You don’t know when google will enable it listening all the time, because it’s a black box being downloaded.
No. The code is enabled by open-source code. That code is auditable.
…Which makes no assertion as to which code actually ends up on your machine, indeed.
Multiple people have shown that the feature is disabled by default, and, when enabled, only sends data when triggered. If you have to go beyond that into “yeah, but the developers *could* sneak in code later to secretly enable it, make it listen for passwords, kill your dog, etc” territory, “but they *could*…” territory, then you should probably just stop using any software you haven’t audited personally, since the same thing is true of *everything else on your computer*.
It does. That’s the whole point. Debian audits the code. If you don’t trust the Debian maintainers, don’t use Debian repos.
If you don’t want to trust *any* auditor, you’re going to want to compile manually from source after manual audits. I guess there’s Gentoo, then. But it means you can’t use *any* precompiled package.
Expecting Google to go along with that absurdity is stupid.
Something that activates when you say “Ok, Google” must, by definition, be listening to what you say – and by extension, to any sound in the room.
There is no other way to detect if you’re saying “Ok, Google”, with the possible exception of lip-reading through the webcam, which would not be any better at all.
There’s the issue of whether this is technically opt-in, opt-out, enabled, activated, and a number of other technical nuances. But the basic facts are there: Google downloaded eavesdropping software onto people’s computers without knowledge or consent, activated right this moment or not.
Something that is activated just on a new tab when an option is set to on it is not listening all the time.
At least until you provide any proof of that always listening
How is this a hard concept to understand? You can’t analyse audio to figure out if it says “ok google” if you haven’t recorded that audio! It has to be listening to every noise that goes into the microphone to decide if one of those noises was “ok google”.
The issue is, there’s no reason Google couldn’t, if they so desired, silently change the behavior to listen for other keywords. What if someone had suspicions that a certain gmail address was operated by a criminal? They’d be able to check which computer’s chrome install was logged into that google account, then silently install a chrome update that records everything the person says and sends it directly to google.
What if there’s a vulnerability and someone shady figures out how to exploit it?
> How is this a hard concept to understand?
It seems that it is very hard to understand that the author has claimed that Chromium/Chrome is listening in all the tabs all the time and this is not true and the author has not given any proof of this.
If any of you had spent just 30 second to look the documentation you will find that the only time it is listening is when the Ok Google is activated (it is not by default) in a new tab.
When any of you can give any proof that Google is lying and it is listening every time then you can start to talk about “hard concept to understand”.
And the hypothetical things are irrelevant, the author has made an accusation but it seems that he is incapable of reading the links he posts or it is just making things
Oletros, I see your points, but it comes down to a matter of trust as well. Google only has itself to blame for that lack of trust as they have an incredibly spotty record when it comes to privacy.
Google has put itself in a position where people (unless they are rather naive) don’t take their word on privacy.
Please stop acting befuddled by the fact that people don’t trust Google’s intentions. It’s just making you look like a silly apologist.
It is not a question of trusting Google or not.
The author has made a clear accusation:
” had turned on the microphone and was actively listening to your room.”
Can he prove it or not? Because when he is asked he can’t answer, so, even if I don’t trust Google, the author is just inventing things.
And the ones acting like silly apologists are the ones that believe the first thing they read in internet without even trying to contrast the sources
But I give up, yes, Chrome is listening anything in the room even if you don’t have a mic. And the 9/11 was an internal plot.
Actually, it is. Again, Google has only themselves to blame for all this distrust they’ve garnered.
You keep using that word “apologist”. I do not think it means what you think it means.
How about something that is downloaded without knowledge or consent, with the potential for eavesdropping all the time. Is this an acceptable practice to you?
Whether it is listening all the time is irrelevant. You have to go looking for the ‘opt out’ part, with no guarantee that the software is, in fact, de-activated. Sorry, your position is wrong, in fact, your position is dangerous.
I haven’t said always listening. I’ve said 1) that there’s the potential to listen to any conversation, and therefore, that Google has taken itself the right to listen to every conversation, and 2) that Chromium appears to be listening based on preliminary data but deeper analysis seems to contradict this for now, 3) that Chrome is listening.
There have been reports that the default is off. I have received screenshots that show it in what-must-be-on state, by users who were surprised about it (attached). These were not people who had taken active action or given consent.
Regardless, I based this article on how I understood the Chrome dev comments about the feature (in the link).
Without consent, Google’s code had downloaded a black box of code that – according to itself – had turned on the microphone and was actively listening to your room.
Yap, that quote doesn’t mean that you have accused that it is always listening. And Santa is a real person> I have received screenshots that show it in what-must-be-on state,
You’re really joking if you claim that that screenshot means that is activated.
> Regardless, I based this article on how I understood the Chrome dev comments
No, you have based tour article in a lot of FUD without any proof. If your “paraphrased” explanation is what you have understood is clear that you don’t want to understand.
Fairly sure it does not transmit everything you say to google. The binary is code that listens for and recognizes “Ok Google” LOCALLY. This is easy to verify simply by watching outgoing network traffic. There would have to be a steady stream if it were sending all audio to Google.
While the underlying issue IS certainly a bug, this seems like another techno-panic story on the whole.
If I read correctly, the article is about the fact that POTENTIALLY there is the possibility of doing that…
Not so much.
QUOTE:
“Obviously, your own computer isn’t the one to analyze the actual search command. Google’s servers do. Which means that your computer had been stealth configured to send what was being said in your room to somebody else, to a private company in another country, without your consent or knowledge, an audio transmission triggered by… an unknown and unverifiable set of conditions.”
Yes, as far as this is best understood, “Ok Google” is detected locally, and the audio stream right after that is sent to Google servers for recognition.
This is also how Google’s voice detection works on Android. If you’re offline, you’re not getting a result but “Cannot contact Google servers at the moment. Resend audio?”.
There’s an xposed module I use to block the remote servers and use local only as its faster and the computers/phones can use it as long as you have rooted android. All you need is the local file installed for audio processing and a decent CPU on your lhine. As far as chromium goes it looks like the standard Google Now that I’m running on my Chrome; it listens for the command phrase. When it hears is then it sends the words to the remote servers but not until. Yes its always listening but toy don’t need internet to use Now its just used by default because the servers are a little more accurate still. From the sounds ofnit its a bug that it’s on by default. A bug I don’t seem able to reproduce so its not something I’m worried about. Are yky sure you just didn’t have Google Now enabled in your phone? Google shares settings across devices and that could be a simple reason why its on by default.
But there’s nothing always on, or wiretappy about this. Other the. The fact Google should have asked for the closed source install first they haven’t fine anything wrong. Although that was a big screw up since most of us who use chromium do so for a reason. Never the less your trust a binary that’s been compiled elsewhere so toy can’t be that concerned.
Also good luck living in a world with the Echo and smart TVs and smart pho es in every room. If yky czng use rational logic to stay calm everything with Mic is going to terrorify you. But I don’t disagree a level of paranoia is healthy especially when they don’t ask for permission to install a binary. But I can’t find any video or logs for evidence so I am only having to take your word. Good reporting inudes Sources. Would you mind running wireshark and uploading a log or a video, also maybe just screen capture. Uninsta chromium completely then insta it and watch it to see if it’s installed post chromium or as part of it. Also to see what it actually does. Does it actually grab control over the Mic? Is it shared or exclusive? These are the things Linux users expect when reading an article about Linux/open source. But honestly it looks like this article was designed to create fear, anger, and confusion for the common man rather then help anyone understand what specifically Now is doing. Get back to me with the results of the packet sniff and let me know if, when, how often, it grabs the Mic?
As far as has been claimed, the black box only transmits to Google Servers after it has recognized “Ok Google”.
1) There is no way to verify this. There may be other activation conditions. Those conditions may be present in black boxes on other computers but not yours.
2) It still needs to listen continuously in order to recognize “Ok Google” using local processing.
3) The activation behavior can be trivially reconfigured.
“2) It still needs to listen continuously in order to recognize “Ok Google” using local processing.”
No, it doesn’t.
Um – how would it recognise “Ok Google” if it _wasn’t_ listening continuously?
Sure, right now it’s only when you’re on the Google home page or in a blank tab. But, as pointed out above, that’s possibly able to be changed. Who knows if there is a backdoor there – say, for law enforcement purposes? Or if one got added?
The problem is over-hyped – but the problem is real.
But hey, I use an iPhone and the microphone on that is listening out for “Hey Siri” every second it’s plugged into power, so what do I know?
Even if this is true, there’s also the fact that several people routinely have 30+ tabs open, at least one of which is a derelict of some unfinished or sidertracked thought process.
Am I supposed to have to consciously think of not leaving a tab in a “listening” state in order to have privacy? That idea is horrendous.
If you look in the Google settings, there’s an option to turn off and on the voice search capability. It only listens constantly when it’s on, so you can turn it off.
When was that option added?
(1) You’re sure that that switch does what it says?
(2) Defaults should be (reasonable) secure. That one is not.
Yes, it does, though it might be hardware listening until it spots audio above a certain level before kicking some piece of software into action.
No, it doesn’t.
Can any of you claiming that it is always listening give just ONE prof. Or, at least, just one plausible argument.
As you accuse Google of lying, please, at least tell us that you have some proof of them lying.
I’m a software developer. I’m telling you that it has to be listening all the time in order to hear the “OK Google”.
If it’s hard to understand, imagine that you’re blind and wearing ear defenders. Now you want to take the ear defenders off when someone says “OK Google”. How are you going to do that? You can’t, because you can’t tell when someone said “OK Google”, right?
The only way to solve that is to listen all the time somehow; i.e. you have to take the ear defenders off. You can then decide not to pay attention until you hear “OK Google”, which I think is basically what’s going on, but you’re still listening, right?
It seems that it is hard to understand that it only detects Ok Google in a new tab so, it has to listen ONLY when a new tab is created AND if the detection has been enabled.
Perhaps you’re a software developers, but you clearly don’t read how it works.
So now, any proof of Chrome listening apart the specific situation when it has to listen?
I didn’t claim otherwise. If a new tab has been created and the detection is enabled (which it is, by default, in the case being discussed), then Chromium listens all the time. It doesn’t magically wait for someone to say “OK Google” first, because that’s impossible.
No, the detection is not enabled by default. Please, can all of you read at least what is enabled and what is not.
Quote from the article: “the default install will still wiretap your room without your consent, unless you opt out”.
Perhaps then you have to ask how the author of the articles knows it and how can prove that Google is lying.
So no, the article can claim the FUD it wants, reality is what it is and.
And y9u don’t have to opt out, you have to opt in and mark the “Allow OK Google detection”.
Do you people have any critical thinking or believe the first thing you read on Internet because it follows your biases?
It is funny that people like you, that say that they never had used some thing can do such claims without any knowledge of the situation.
You may be right that the article is incorrect in that regard — it seems that there has been some confusion caused by the wording of the status information in chrome://voicesearch/ and the fact that it actually does enable the webcam temporarily even if the setting is turned off.
As for the rest of your comment, don’t be so rude!
NSA/FBI/LEO-interest => activation … per secret deal Google is obligated to deny?
It isn’t true that there’s no way to verify this. Someone could reverse engineer the code. I would, if I had time and could be bothered, but in this case I don’t use Chrome or derivatives (I didn’t like Google’s existing behaviour wrt watching your browsing habits) and I have more important things to do with my time.
Anyway, I’m sure you can find a security expert prepared to reverse it for you and tell you exactly what it does, if you ask. There’s bound to be someone interested in doing it.
Dude… talk about naive…
What in the world is naive about that? It can be verified, and I DID watch network traffic before, during and after “activating” it with it’s hotword. Nothing is sent until it is activated.
Ahh, but google is nefariously in collusion with the router and network management software companies and even has inserted its people onto the design teams of the trusted platform open source network analyzers, purposely to write the code to mask their traffic and make it only APPEAR to start upstream traffic AFTER the “OK Google” Trigger. they even manipulate the bit counters to throw off the actual traffic statistics. There is no telling how deep this rabbit hole goes! ;-)
not naive but certainly a shill…
Certainly. I mean, who would think to check the assertions in this article by looking at what the program is actually doing but a shill? Nice try, Google!
And if they add “my password is” or “my account number is”, or “I plan”, or “let’s watch”– How would you know?
For that matter, what if someone ELSE figures out how to hack their code to add a phrase or two?
There are so many ways to abuse / misuse / get screwed by this that it’s just crazy.
Makes me glad that only one of my computers even HAS a microphone, but I’ll be uninstalling all google products from that laptop this evening.
Do you run any closed source software, or open-source software you haven’t personally audited? Because if you’re setting the bar at “could be updated or hacked to listen for ‘my password is’, etc” then you’ll need to uninstall pretty much everything on your computer, since that could be done with any program. In fact, how do you know they’re not all doing that *right now*? >.>
Agreed, though the particular problem with Google is that unlike most software vendors, they have an incentive to act in a manner you might not like — they sell advertising (not software*), and it’s in their interests to maximise their revenue from that.
Most of us (I’m a software developer) charge for our software, which is where we make our money, and in that case we really have no incentive to screw you — particularly, I might add, if we’re allowed to charge for upgrades in the future, because we’d actually like repeat business. It’s when things are free or unusually cheap that you need to start worrying, because it costs money to make software. Even with FOSS, it’s worth bearing in mind where the money is coming from and why — though at least with FOSS you can look at the source code, which makes it rather easier than auditing a binary.
* Yes, I know there are a few exceptions (e.g. Google Search Appliance and some SAAS products), but Google makes its money from ads.
Hold the phone, there is NO ROOM for thought, here. You’re supposed to agree with the article and MOVE ON. You are NOT supposed to open your mouth, ESPECIALLY if you’re going to contradict the article.
Geez, it’s like some people have never been in a mob before…
FWIW, it doesn’t necessarily send the audio itself; it could be doing some of the processing locally and sending a stream of symbols instead, which would cut down the data rate dramatically, to the point where you might not notice if you weren’t looking for that.
it doesn’t have to be a steady stream. there are all sorts of ways to transmit the data. It doesn’t have to be a lot of bandwidth
This article is the embodiment of the “slippery slope” argument. Google has the ability to listen to every room, but they proveably not doing that, as they said.
Sure, google could upload more code to do that, but why speculate on all the things google could do? The article brings an important point up, but I feel like the tone is wrong. Very wrong.
You are clearly one of the sheep.
Any proof of what your writing above? When you make such accusations, don’t expect people to just believe what you write… you need some sufficient proof, which i definitely don’t see on your article.
You (still) need proofs that corporations like Google, FB, Apple, etc, are amassing/stealing as many informations from our computers/profiles as possible?
Have you been living as an hermit for the last decade?
You need proof? There is an option to play back recorded audio if you use the “okay google…” thing
Is there a list, (maker,model) of all these spying devices? I mean like those Smart TVs, now we have to add Chromium,etc.
Not the devices made explicitly to record audio or video, but those that have the capability besides their normal use, those that people are not kind of aware that are capable of doing this spying
No need for a list, you only need to ask three questions:
1: Does it have a connected/powered sensor to use for spying (microphone, camera, etc.)?
2: Does it have an Internet connection?
3: Is it open source?
If answers 1 and 2 are “yes”, and 3 “no”, it is not unlikely that it is such a spying machine. If all three are “yes”, it may still be, if it isn’t properly checked, is hacked, etc. You’re only reasonably safe if answer 1, 2 or both are “no”.
1. Does it have a speaker?
2. Does it have any electrical connectors/sockets or radio/wifi/wireless circuits?
3. Who actively audits all code?
Without consent, Google’s code had downloaded a black box of code that – according to itself – had turned on the microphone and was actively listening to your room.
It looked like just another bug report. “When I start Chromium, it downloads something.” Followed by strange status information that notably included the lines “Microphone: Yes” and “Audio Capture Allowed: Yes”.