Is Google Listening to Me? Understanding Google’s Voice Features
Is Google spying on me? If you use Google Assistant or Gemini, your device may listen for a wake word, such as “Hey Google,” to respond to voice commands.
This guide explains how Google’s voice features work, what data they collect, how to manage your voice and privacy settings, and the steps you can take to better protect your personal data.
While managing your Google settings helps you control what data it collects, you can add a VPN to your arsenal for added protection. PIA encrypts your internet traffic and masks your IP address whenever you connect to our server. This makes it harder for your ISP or third parties to monitor your online activity, especially on public and shared networks.
Table of Contents
Why Does Your Phone Listen To You?The Risks of Being Overheard
Is Google Listening to Me All the Time?
Is It Legal for Google to Listen to You?
Where to Find Your Google Recordings
How to Stop Your Phone from Listening to You
How to Stop Your iPhone from Listening to You
Privacy Tips to Protect Your Data on Smartphones
FAQ
Why Does Your Phone Listen To You?
Many smartphones listen for voice commands so voice assistants can respond when you say a wake word or activate them manually.
This includes Google Assistant and Gemini on Android devices, Siri on iPhones, and other apps that you’ve given microphone permission to use.
Whether Google records or stores anything depends on which voice features you’ve enabled, your privacy settings, and the permissions you’ve granted to individual apps.
The Risks of Being Overheard
Voice recordings can contain sensitive personal information, so it’s important to think about how they’re stored and protected. If they’re exposed in a data breach or someone gains unauthorized access to your account, someone could misuse these for fraud, identity theft, or other forms of impersonation.
AI voice cloning has also introduced new risks. Criminals may be able to use these recordings to create convincing impersonations for scams or to bypass voice-based verification systems.
Governments and law enforcement agencies may also require companies to disclose user data, depending on local laws. In some countries, privacy advocates have raised concerns that broad access to stored personal data, including voice recordings, could affect personal privacy.
Related: What Is Data Harvesting? Definition, Risks, and Protection
Is Google Listening to Me All the Time?
Not exactly. Google Assistant and Gemini remain in a standby mode until they’re activated. Official Google documentation says the device processes short snippets of audio to detect activation and that these snippets aren’t sent to its servers – this only happens if the assistant is activated.¹
However, unintended activations can still happen. For example, background noise or speech that resembles a wake word may activate the assistant.
Whether Google saves audio from those interactions depends on the Google service and your settings. For example, Google Assistant’s Voice & Audio Activity setting controls whether Google saves recordings to your account. It’s off by default, so they’re not saved unless you choose to enable it.
Google may also use audio from some voice interactions to improve its speech recognition technology and voice services, depending on the service and settings.²
Does Google Use Your Conversations for Advertising?
Google denies using voice recordings for ad personalization, but many people remain skeptical, and concerns about its voice features have continued to prompt legal challenges and regulatory scrutiny.
According to Google, it can base ad personalization on other information associated with your Google account, such as your search activity.3 This depends on your settings, which you can review through Google Activity Controls and My Ad Center.
Is It Legal for Google to Listen to You?
Whether Google’s voice features are legal depends on how they’re used and the laws in your country or region. In many jurisdictions, companies can collect and process voice data if users give consent, such as accepting terms of service or enabling voice features.
Google has faced legal challenges over allegations that Google Assistant unintentionally recorded private conversations and disclosed some recordings to third-party reviewers. In 2026, Google and its parent company, Alphabet, agreed to pay $68 million to settle a lawsuit over those allegations.4 Google denied wrongdoing and settled the case without admitting liability.
The settlement doesn’t mean Google admits its voice features are illegal. Instead, the settlement resolved the claims without a court ruling on whether Google had violated the law.
Where to Find Your Google Recordings
Google lets you review, listen to, and delete voice recordings saved to your account. Where you find them depends on the Google service used and the activity settings enabled on your account.
Google can save Assistant recordings under Web & App Activity, while you might find Gemini recordings under Gemini Apps Activity. Google is also rolling out Search Services History for Search and Maps, so some accounts may now find voice search recordings there instead.5
Access Web & App Activity
The steps below explain how to find and manage recordings saved through Web & App Activity.
On a Browser
- Navigate to your Google Account and sign in (or visit
myactivity.google.com). Select Web & App Activity.
- Select Manage All Web & App Activity.
On Android
- Navigate to Settings > Google. Click on your profile picture and select Manage your Google Account.
- Click Data & privacy.
- Open Web & App Activity.
Note: Deleting activity from Web & App Activity only removes data stored in this section. It doesn’t delete recordings that Google may save elsewhere in your Google account.
Manage Recordings in Web & App Activity
Google doesn’t currently provide a separate view for saved audio recordings. In Web & App Activity, recordings appear alongside other activity.
You can delete individual recordings, but Google’s bulk deletion and auto-delete options also remove other web and app activity within the selected period. There’s also no dedicated filter for showing only recordings.
To find these, you’ll need to look through your entire Web & App Activity section. The process is the same on both desktop and mobile:
- Browse the activity list for recordings marked with an audio icon.
- Click Details to see when Google recorded an interaction or View recording to listen to it.
- To remove a recording, select the delete icon next to the entry.
- Return to Web & App Activity and turn off Include voice and audio activity if you don’t want Google to save future recordings.
Related: How To Remove Your Voice Search History
Manage Gemini Activity
Here’s how to see your activity on Gemini via browser or app.
On a Browser
- Navigate to
gemini.google.comin any browser. - Select Settings & help > Activity (or go to Gemini Apps Activity). Here you can review or delete your Gemini activity or turn off Keep Activity.
In the Gemini App
- Open the Gemini app, tap your profile picture, and select Gemini Apps Activity.
- Review or delete your Gemini activity. You can also turn off Keep Activity.
How to Stop Your Phone from Listening to You
You can reduce how often your phone listens for voice commands and control which apps have access to your microphone. Here’s how:
Turn Off Google Assistant on Gemini on Android
You can either turn off the assistant completely or keep it enabled while disabling wake word activation. Note that the exact options may vary between devices.
Turn Your Default Assistant off Completely
- Open Settings and go to Apps > Default apps.
- Select Digital assistant app, Default assistant, or Assistant app.
- From the options, choose None.
To keep using Gemini without voice activation:
- Open the Gemini app. Tap your profile picture, then Settings.
- Open Talk to Gemini hands-free.
- Turn off Hey Google.
Note: On many Android devices, you can also stop the Assistant from launching when you press and hold the power button. Go to Settings and search for Gestures > Launch digital assistant. Toggle off Press & hold power button. Exact options vary by device but instructions are similar.
Remove Microphone Permissions
If an app doesn’t need microphone access to work, you can remove or limit the permissions. Follow these steps and repeat them for any other apps that don’t require microphone access:
- Go to Settings > Apps.
- Select the app you want to review and choose Permissions or App Permissions.
- Tap the microphone option.
4. Depending on how much access you want to give the app, choose Allow only while using the app, Ask every time, or Don’t Allow.
How to Stop Your iPhone from Listening to You
Google may not have the same kind of access to your data on iOS devices. However, iOS devices use Siri, a personal assistant that wakes via voice command. Here’s how to limit what Siri and Google can track on your iPhone.
Disable Siri
- Open Settings and tap Apple Intelligence & Siri (or Siri on other iOS versions).
- Tap Talk to Siri (or Talk & Type to Siri, depending on your iOS).
- Select Off.
Review Microphone Permissions
As with Android, Apple requires apps to request your permission before they can use the microphone, and you can change that access at any time. Here’s how:
- Got to Settings > Privacy & Security.
- Select Microphone.
- Review the list of apps that have access and disable any that don’t need it.
Privacy Tips to Protect Your Data on Smartphones
Managing your voice settings and app permissions are only one part of protecting your privacy. These additional practices can help reduce the amount of data you share and improve your overall security:
- Download apps from trusted sources: Use official app stores, such as the Google Play Store or Apple App Store, to reduce the risk of downloading malicious or fake apps.
- Keep your phone up to date: Install software updates to receive the latest security patches and address new discovered vulnerabilities.
- Delete apps you don’t use: Remove unused apps to reduce unnecessary data collection and potential security risks.
- Review your Google privacy settings: Manage your Google Activity Controls and My Ad Center settings to control how your Google stores your activity for personalization.
- Use a VPN: Add another layer of privacy when you’re online with a reputable VPN with strong privacy controls. PIA VPN includes MACE, a built-in tool that blocks known ads, trackers, and malicious domains at the DNS level.
FAQ
How do I delete my Google voice recordings?
You can delete Google’s voice recordings through your Google Account. For Assistant recordings, access these through Web & App Activity or Gemini Apps Activity for Gemini. Google is also rolling out Search Services History for Search and Maps, so you might find some recordings there instead.
Is Google listening when my phone is locked?
If you’ve enabled Google Assistant or Gemini, your phone can listen for a wake word while it’s locked so it can respond to voice commands.
How does Google use my voice data?
Google says it uses voice data to respond to voice commands and doesn’t use this data for ad personalization. If you’ve chosen to save voice recordings, Google may also use your voice data to improve speech recognition and Google’s voice features.
Can Google listening be a security risk?
Saved voice recordings can present a security risk if they’re exposed through unauthorized account access or a data breach. Criminals may use stolen recordings in impersonation scams or AI voice-cloning attacks.
Is Google violating my privacy by listening?
Whether Google is violating privacy depends on the circumstances and the laws that apply. Google has faced lawsuits over its voice features but denies wrongdoing. The cases have raised broader questions about transparency, consent, and how Google handles voice data.
Does Google listen for targeted advertising?
According to Google, no. While lawsuits have alleged otherwise, Google has denied those claims and there hasn’t been a court ruling that found it used ambient conversations for targeted advertising.
Can I disable “Hey Google” or “OK Google” detection?
Yes. You can turn off “Hey Google” or “OK Google” detection without disabling your digital assistant completely. Follow these instructions to update your voice activation settings.
How accurate is Google’s speech recognition?
Google’s speech recognition is generally accurate, but its performance depends on factors such as audio quality, background noise, the language spoken, and how clearly someone speaks. Like other speech recognition systems, it can also make mistakes with some accents, dialects, or uncommon words.
References:
- How Google Assistant is designed for your privacy – Google
- Manage audio recordings in your Web & App Activity – Google
- Manage Personalized Recommendations in Search services – Google
- Google settles Google Assistant privacy lawsuit for $68 million – Reuters
- Manage your saved media in Search Services History – Google
Comments are closed.
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”.