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No, Google isn’t eavesdropping on your conversations
… but the issue raises larger concerns about our relationship with technology
If you own a Google Home, you may have caught yourself in a world of worry yesterday, when you read a headline that proclaims “GOOG-HELL Google ‘eavesdropping on your PRIVATE conversations’ with Android phones and smart speakers”.
Underneath the alarming headline from Britain’s most popular tabloid, The Sun, begins the the real story, which originates from a Belgian public broadcaster VRT NWS.
On Wednesday, VRT revealed that Google lets human contractors listen in on recordings from its popular smart speakers to transcribe the audio in an effort to improve its voice recognition software.
VRT spoke with a contractor, who broke their non-disclosure agreement by leaking thousands of audio recordings to the broadcaster.
They confirmed that Google sends off thousands of recordings to contractors, who transcribe the recordings to improve the search giants voice recognition algorithms.
According to the company, Google Home devices are only supposed to record and save audio if the hot word “Ok Google” is said, however, the contractor reveals he regularly hears random personal conversations that the device…
