Google Home Devices Recorded Users' Conversations. Legal Questions Result. Google Says It Is Investigating

Many consumers love the hands-free convenience of smart speakers. However, there are risks with the technology. BBC News reported on Thursday:

"Belgian broadcaster VRT exposed the recordings made by Google Home devices in Belgium and the Netherlands... VRT said the majority of the recordings it reviewed were short clips logged by the Google Home devices as owners used them. However, it said, 153 were "conversations that should never have been recorded" because the wake phrase of "OK Google" was not given. These unintentionally recorded exchanges included: a) blazing rows; b) bedroom chatter; c) parents talking to their children; d) phone calls exposing confidential information. It said it believed the devices logged these conversations because users said a word or phrase that sounded similar to "OK Google" that triggered the device..."

So, conversations that shouldn't have been recorded were recorded by Google Home devices. Consumers use the devices to perform and control a variety of tasks, such as entertainment (e.g., music, movies, games), internet searches (e.g., cooking recipes), security systems and cameras, thermostats, window blinds and shades, appliances (e.g., coffee makers), online shopping, internet searches, and more.

The device software doesn't seem accurate, since it mistook similar phrases as wake phrases. Google calls these errors "false accepts." Google replied in a blog post:

"We just learned that one of these language reviewers has violated our data security policies by leaking confidential Dutch audio data. Our Security and Privacy Response teams have been activated on this issue, are investigating, and we will take action. We are conducting a full review of our safeguards... We apply a wide range of safeguards to protect user privacy throughout the entire review process. Language experts only review around 0.2 percent of all audio snippets. Audio snippets are not associated with user accounts as part of the review process, and reviewers are directed not to transcribe background conversations or other noises, and only to transcribe snippets that are directed to Google."

"The Google Assistant only sends audio to Google after your device detects that you’re interacting with the Assistant—for example, by saying “Hey Google” or by physically triggering the Google Assistant... Rarely, devices that have the Google Assistant built in may experience what we call a “false accept.” This means that there was some noise or words in the background that our software interpreted to be the hotword (like “Ok Google”). We have a number of protections in place to prevent false accepts from occurring in your home... We also provide you with tools to manage and control the data stored in your account. You can turn off storing audio data to your Google account completely, or choose to auto-delete data after every 3 months or 18 months..."

To be fair, Google is not alone. Amazon Alexa devices also record and archive users' conversations. Would you want your bedroom chatter recorded (and stored indefinitely)? Or your conversations with your children? Many persons work remotely from home, so would you want business conversations with coworkers recorded? I think not. Very troubling news.

And, there is more.

This data security incident confirms that human workers listen to recordings by Google Assistant devices. Those workers can be employees or outsourced contractors. Who are these contractors, by name? What methods does Google employ to confirm privacy compliance by contractors? So many unanswered questions.

Also, according to U.S. News & World Report:

"Google's recording feature can be turned off, but doing so means Assistant loses some of its personalized touch. People who turn off the recording feature lose the ability for the Assistant to recognize individual voices and learn your voice pattern. Assistant recording is actually turned off by default — but the technology prompts users to turn on recording and other tools in order to get personalized features."

So, to get the full value of the technology, users must enable recordings. That sounds a lot like surveillance by design. Not good. You'd think that Google software developers would have developed a standard vocabulary, or dictionary, in several languages (by beta test participants) to test the accuracy of Assistant software; rather than review users' actual conversations. I guess they viewed it easier, faster, and cheaper to snoop on users.

Since Google already scans the contents of Gmail users' email messages, maybe this is simply technology creep and Google assumed nobody would mind human reviews of Assistant recordings.

About the review of recordings by human workers, the M.I.T. Technology Review said:

"Legally questionable: Because Google doesn’t inform users that humans review recordings in this way, and thus doesn’t seek their explicit consent for the practice, it’s quite possible that it could be breaking EU data protection regulations. We have asked Google for a response and will update if we hear back."

So, it will be interesting to see what European Union regulators have to say about the recordings and human reviews.

To summarize: consumers have willingly installed perpetual surveillance devices in their homes. What are your views of this data security incident? Do you enable recordings on your smart speakers? Should human workers have access to archives of your recorded conversations?