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Google Smart Speaker Warning Flags New Eavesdropping Risk

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The privacy backlash against AI-powered digital assistants has just taken an interesting twist, with a senior exec from one of the core proponents of the technology admitting that he has his own privacy concerns over the tech. Google hardware chief Rick Osterloh told the BBC that guests visiting a home where smart speakers are stored should be warned that their conversations might be overheard and recorded.

"Does the owner of a home need to disclose to a guest?” Osterloh reflected on when asked about the privacy implications of smart speakers catching a visitor unaware. “I would and do when someone enters into my home, and it's probably something that the products themselves should try to indicate."

Home CCTV cameras—including Google’s—already show LED lights when recording to streaming, and that looks set to become the norm. An equivalent for smart speakers might become necessary, although the lack of line of sight (as seen with cameras) will make this less likely to make much difference.

Unsurprisingly, Osterloh has a number of Google Home devices. But this new smart speaker etiquette, so to speak, seems to be a new consideration for one of the execs driving take-up of the technology. "Gosh, I haven't thought about this before in quite this way,” he explained. “It's quite important for all these technologies to think about all users—we have to consider all stakeholders that might be in proximity."

Along with Amazon and Apple, Google came under fire in the summer with allegations that employees and contractors were listening to recordings made by the home devices, ostensibly to improve the quality of the AI deployed to interpret the natural speech, direct actions and shape responses. The challenge for the industry is that without such a feedback loop it becomes much harder to improve the tech.

The series of “eavesdropping” revelations that hit in the summer raised an obvious but albeit neglected privacy concern with such “always listening” devices. The obvious question is whether the value of the device’s functionality balances the privacy risk. Reports that privacy breaches across the various manufacturers have included acts of violence and intimacy in customer homes—with, let’s remember, no facility for the operator to trace the recording back and summon assistance, carry real implications.

In this way the industry has had something of a forced growing up this year. And Google sees this as a serious long-term revenue stream, as illustrated by this week’s Nest Mini launch. This integration of digital assistants into other kit, be that speakers, smart devices, computers or car, has become a theme. And Google’s Pixel 4 and Pixel Buds 2 announcements this week also included digital assistance as a key capability.

None of which resolves the privacy issue. There is a fundamental difference between pressing a button on a phone or other device and having “always listening” devices dotted around your life. The unfortunate truth is that the best privacy defence against potential breaches is to unplug the devices until you’ve decided this is functionality you cannot live without. I like a shiny new gadget as much as anyone else, and the use case in cars for hands free operation or on phones when a button is pressed I can see. But connected devices in the home—that’s something else, arguably a step too far.

And maybe this new inadvertent consideration presented by Google’s Osterloh might push this debate to the next level. As the BBC neatly put it, “the idea of having to run around a home unplugging or at least restricting the capabilities of all its voice- and camera-equipped kit if a visitor objects is quite the ask.”

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