{"id":144405,"date":"2019-07-11T18:23:36","date_gmt":"2019-07-11T18:23:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sftarticles.wpenginepowered.com\/en\/?p=144405"},"modified":"2025-07-01T21:41:55","modified_gmt":"2025-07-02T04:41:55","slug":"google-assistant-recordings-leak","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/google-assistant-recordings-leak\/","title":{"rendered":"Google Assistant: Humans are listening to your recordings"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Google<\/p>\n

Just when you thought owning a Google Assistant was less risky than owning Alexa, this happens.<\/p>\n

A third-party language expert hired by Google leaked audio data recorded with the Google Assistant.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

How did this happen?<\/h2>\n

Google uses hundreds of\u00a0human private contractors<\/strong> to review some recorded conversations from Google Assistant.<\/p>\n

In this particular case, the issue is the Dutch language. Google may not care what you say, but they do<\/em> care how you say it. To teach the Assistant to function better, Google may need to rely on humans to convey the nuances of a particular syntax.<\/strong> An algorithm for English may need to behave differently from a Dutch algorithm. Bring in a human to “translate” to the machine, and the results should become better over time.<\/p>\n

\"languages\"<\/p>\n

One of these contractors leaked more than a thousand Google Assistant audio recordings<\/strong> to a Dutch publication.<\/a><\/p>\n

Why? It involves your privacy.<\/p>\n

Your Google Assistant activates when you use the wake word (“OK, Google” and “Hey, Google.”) Conversations with your Google Assistant are supposed to be recorded only\u00a0after<\/em> you use the wake word.<\/p>\n

However, Google Assistant has been known to mishear things and activate without its wake word being said. When this happens, the conversation is still recorded. Of more than a thousand recordings, the Dutch publication noted that 153 should not have been recorded – the wake words were never spoken.<\/strong> Do the math and that’s a 15% error rate. Not good.<\/p>\n

\r\n
\r\n
\r\n
\r\n \"Google\r\n <\/div>\r\n
\r\n Google Assistant<\/span>\r\n Download now \u25ba<\/a>\r\n <\/div>\r\n
\r\n <\/path><\/path>8<\/text><\/svg>\r\n <\/div>\r\n <\/div>\r\n
\r\n <\/span>\r\n <\/div>\r\n
\r\n \r\n <\/div>\r\n <\/a>\r\n <\/div>\r\n<\/div>\n

This leak, of course, violates Google’s data and security policies.<\/a>\u00a0But the whistleblower was drawing attention to an important issue. The problem isn’t that the Assistant was recording the audio – that’s stated in the terms and conditions. The problem is that you cannot completely control when the Assistant records something… and you can’t control if a human will hear it.<\/strong><\/p>\n

VRT NWS<\/a> says the recordings have included:<\/p>\n