Google to now stop listening on your conversations with its voice assistant

tech2 News StaffSep 23, 2019 19:49:23 IST

It was recently revealed that several tech companies such as Google, Apple and Amazon transcribe small portions of your conversation with their respective voice assistants. Users were not told that other people had been listening in on their communication with the voice assistants and naturally it has become a subject of controversy. Today Google has announced that will soon store fewer of your queries and instructions and also give you control over how your audio snippets are used.

Google Assistant.

Google says in its blog that you can opt into the Voice & Audio Activity (VAA) setting when you set up your Assistant if you wish to store your audio data. You will also have the option to view your past interactions with the Assistant and also delete them at any time. Google is also going to update its settings to mention clearly that human reviewers will be listening to your interaction with the voice assistant if you turn on VAA.

Also now if you are worried about Google Assistant recording conversations that happen in the background you can also adjust the 'Hey Google' sensitivity to make it harder for Google Home devices to get triggered. If you wish to check your current settings and learn more about the controls available, visit the “Your data in the Assistant” page. If you have previously opted in for VAA, Google will soon delete the majority of your voice data that is older than a few months.