Luckily, Google introduced a new My Account tool that lets you access your recordings and delete them if you want. Google wants more voice-activated tech, and the company recently released its latest masterpiece, “OK Google.” This serves as Google’s new wake phrase, just like “Alexa” and “Hey Siri,” calling the attention of Google Assistant on Google Home speakers, Android smartphones, and the Chrome browser.Įvery time you use “OK Google” or use another voice-controlled function, your request is recorded and the snippets are saved to your Google account. Here’s the easiest way to turn off “Hey Siri:” Navigate to your iOS device’s Settings > General > Siri, then toggle Allow “ Hey Siri” to off. If you turn this feature on, this means your iPhone’s mic is always listening, waiting for the phrase “Hey Siri.”Īpple says this is processed locally on the device and your iOS device does not start recording your voice until it hears “Hey Siri.” Once your request is recorded, it then uploads the audio file to Apple’s servers for processing.īut that may still give you the willies, and luckily, you don’t have to disable Siri completely to stop the “Hey Siri” feature. With iOS 8, Apple introduced the “Hey Siri” wake phrase, so you can summon Siri without even touching your iPhone. Like the Echo, Siri is always attentive, even when you’ve forgotten your iPhone can hear you. Here are ways to turn off your smartphone’s “always-listening” abilities: What to do to make your phone stop listening to you However, if you’re still concerned about this, I don’t blame you. Who cares if you’re looking for fluffy pillows and ultra-soft bedsheets, right? Privacy dangers exist, of course, but for regular folks, this probably shouldn’t be a cause for big concern. Voice triggering is just yet another available tool, similar to browser cookies and location tracking, they utilize to efficiently target ads. This app voice-tracking technology is certainly scary, but the thing is, all these companies really care about is effective advertising. Since it’s a very effective targeted ad tool, it’s not a surprise if companies are using it. Using voice tracking for marketing purposes is legal because the privacy policies and end-user agreements you agreed with plus current laws actually allow it. Is listening to you without your knowledge legal? So similar to how virtual assistants work, it’s safe to assume that smartphones listen all the time waiting for the wake word and voice data continuously gets recorded, albeit temporarily, on the gadget itself. If this temporary voice data is not going anywhere, then what’s the problem? In some cases, third-party apps like Facebook or Instagram may still have access to this local data. But without these triggers, your voice inputs are processed only within your smartphone and are not sent anywhere, so say the manufacturers. These wake words are required for your smartphone to actually start recording. Your smartphone is similar to smart speakers like the Amazon Echo and Google Home - they listen for “wake” words like “Hey Siri” and “Okay Google” all the time. Your voice triggers smart speakers and smartphones Apps installed on smartphones have the ability to record your screen and whatever you type, including user names and passwords. They weren’t able to prove or disprove whether our phones are listening (they found no evidence of recorded conversations), but they make an unexpected finding. The Verge’s article got a lot of press and even inspired more scientific studies to test the secret listening abilities of smartphones.Ī group of researchers from Northeastern University tested the theory. He said the changes to his Facebook ad content “came literally overnight.” He tested phrases like “going back to the university” and later saw ads for mid-semester university courses, and after he said “I need some cheap shirts,” he saw ads for cheap apparel. Your smartphone spies on you, but maybe not the way you thinkīack in the summer of 2018, a reporter for the online site Vice conducted an experiment to see if his phone was listening to his conversations. For five days in a row and two times daily, he uttered phrases to his phone and monitored his Facebook feed for changes, specifically for sponsored posts.
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