Google is listening to your phone and officially acknowledged how it does
Google admitted on Thursday that its employees have access to Google's Assistant records, according to Belgian VRT broadcasters. At the same time, he admitted that the app can record sounds in error, even if its users did not activate it, as the AFP points out.
Google said that language specialists are listening to Google Assistant users' records in order to improve their understanding of different languages and accents. This would be a so-called work "required to create products like Google Assistant." Belgium's VRT also revealed that Google could listen to more than a thousand records from devices in Belgium and the Netherlands, of which 153 were taken by mistake.
Some of the recordings include some where users discuss details about their love life, about their children, or provide personal information such as where they live. Google said its teams have begun an investigation into the leakage of audio data. The author of this leak would even be an employee (who probably will not be hired anymore) "who did not respect the data security policy." "We will conduct a full review of our security devices to avoid repeating the situation," Google promised.
The company has stated that its employees only have access to 0.2% of the records and that there are no accounts associated with user accounts. Normally, Google's Assistant should only work when the user does so intentionally - that is, when he clicks the button or says 'Hey Google'.
In reality, things are not exactly that. That's why the company has admitted that the app may accidentally record when the program interprets "a certain noise or some background words" as the key word. But Google reminded that users can modify their app settings to disable the storage of audio data on their Google account or, if not, to automatically remove them every 3 or 18 months.
All right, it all confirms people's old fear of being listened to. Fears is quite common among smartphone users. However, this fear would be less grounded than you think. If you want to know more about how likely your phone is to have listened to your conversations, you can come in here.