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The company did not clarify how many users and accounts were impacted. The Google Home team is aware of an issue impacting a small number of Google Home Mini devices that could cause the touch control mechanism to behave incorrectly. We immediately rolled out a software update on October 7 to mitigate the issue. Google retrieved the spying Home Mini, gave the journalist two more as compensation, and discovered a fault which caused it to detect 'phantom touches' almost all of the time.
Now, an updated will be rolled out to every Home Mini by the end of October 15, permanently removing the touch-to-listen feature. The move will see so-called 'top touch functionality' removed from the device. This feature let users interact with the Home Mini without needing to say 'Okay Google' to get its attention. Instead, a touch of the speaker's fabric enclosure told it to start listening.
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You can still adjust the volume by using the touch control on the side of the device. The Google Home Mini supports hotword activation through a long press on the touch panel. This method allows people to activate the Google Assistant without saying the hotword. On a very small number of Google Home Mini devices, Google is seeing the touch panel register “phantom” touch events.
But I still have to take issue with it coming on when It’s sensors do not actively “see” anyone in the room, but conversational audio is occurring within the room. Ever since we began letting intelligent personal assistants into our lives, back with Siri on the iPhone in 2011, there has been an underlying concern that devices are recording us more than they let on. Russakovskii then proceeded to check in on Google’s My Activity portal which has a dedicated section for the Assistant.
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While it's unclear what happens to the recordings once they land at Google, the obvious privacy implications are enough to scare just about anyone. While we believe that we are secure behind the walls of VPNs or other similar security arrangement, in the end there is always some data that is seeping through. The latest name to cause panic over virtual surveillance has become that of the Google Home Mini – which is reportedly “spying” on its users thanks to a software bug. Here's an example screenshot from the Google My Activity page, filtered by Assistant.
In fact my brother who has the first generation Google Mini mentioned his concerns that Google was listening to him, and completely removed his off the network. A pioneering recommendation platform where you can research, discover, buy, and learn how to connect and optimize smart devices. But now these fears have been justified, partially, by a batch of faulty Google Home Minis which were caught recording almost constantly and sending everything to Google's server. Chris Smith has been covering consumer electronics ever since the iPhone revolutionized the industry in 2008. When he’s not writing about the most recent tech news for BGR, he closely follows the events in Marvel’s Cinematic Universe and other blockbuster franchises. Outside of work, you’ll catch him streaming almost every new movie and TV show release as soon as it's available.
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You can also choose to delete your activity from other devices about google sites and apps, such as Chrome or YouTube. Your Google Nest/Home speaker is always listening, but you can easily stop it by pressing the button on the back. Your voice or music will no longer be picked up and processed through Google's servers. Russakovskii opened his My Activity portal and saw thousands of audio events tracked, without his knowledge – WITH recorded transcripts. Obviously, he contacted Google PR immediately to start an investigation.
Adrian is a former marine navigation officer turned writer with more than 3 years of experience in the field. He loves writing about anything and everything but specializes in covering smart technology and devices. Adrian has a keen eye for detail and extensive knowledge of how to get the most out of your devices. When he's not writing, Adrian enjoys spending time with his family and friends or hiking in the great outdoors. If you really want to stop Google from using your data , you can delete the activity history stored on your account. The good news is that Google has said it won't share personally identifiable information .
Through his My Activity portal on Google, he saw the recordings — thousands of them. Google updated the software to disable the long press functionality, and it’s working on a long-term fix. A help page explains the issue and says that preordered Google Home Minis will not be affected. "We learned of an issue impacting a small number of Google Home Mini devices that could cause the touch mechanism to behave incorrectly," the Google spokesperson said.
Before you freak out, you should know that smart speakers have to send your voice queries to cloud servers to return responses. But that should only happen after you use a hot word to activate it. Unable to fix the glitch with the touchpad, Google has sent out a software update which will now permanently disable it. This means users will only be able to activate the device with voice commands. The volume and on/off buttons on the side of the device will continue to work.
These “eyes” are sensors that are always on and observing within the room. They watch to see if anything of a physical nature approach it, at which point it will perk up with all the lights coming on, according to Google for the sake of making it’s manual controls easier to locate. So it definitely has the capability to discern someone’s active presence in a room, especially a small sized office. The last interaction I had engaged with my Google device was around 5 PM the previous day, when I asked it “How was John McCain captured”, right before I left to the store to buy some ice cream for after dinner. Now, for those thinking, you can just turn off those settings in the Google Home App or in your Google Account Settings, please note, I already previously had, weeks earlier when my suspicions were less warranted. However, similar to when I worked for a California university in the past, I’ve had my concerns about this new co-worker and companion ease dropping on me.
Still, the company won't tell users anything more about how it plans to use the data. If you want an explanation of how Google is using your information, you'll have to ask for it. Every time you ask it a question, whether in casual conversation or to command its help in cooking dinner, it's listening. And when it detects the wake word (in this case, "Hey Google"), it begins streaming what you say and how you say it to Google-owned servers for processing. Say "Ok Google" or "Hey Google " instead of tapping the top of Mini to control music, alarms, and timers. Additionally, Google has removed all existing activity generated by long pressing the top of a Mini from their servers.
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