Privacy and Google Home device

[lenarenee]

Has anyone looked deeply into the privacy issues of this device? A few years ago found some troubling things about Alexa (like digitizing/storing all conversations who's access was controlled by hired contactors - thereby privacy practices could change at the drop of a hat!)

 

[msunnerstood]

These devices have to be listening at all times so that when you say the prompt, they respond. Recently there has been a lot of news about law enforcement sending warrants to these companies for recordings. I think its unlikely that a person would tell Alexa about them doing something wrong so I think its safe to say these things are always recording. Now think about how often you might joke around with family in your own home thinking its just between you and them and how those recordings could be misinterpreted by others.

Nope, I will never own one and I don't activate google assistant on my phone either.

 

[NsMar42111]

This is exactly why I eye Portal and all of those with suspicion.... too close to 1984s world for my taste. I wouldn't trust it personally. That said, you could just unplug it when you're not actively using it if you wanted some of the features

 

[Lin19687]

Won't ever have one. Bad enough I need it in the car and it doesn't work 1/2 the time.

 

[IrishLass]

Ditto what the others have said. I eye these types of devices/services with great suspicion and refuse to have one in my house. And like Msunnerstood, I don't even activate the assistant on my smart phone.


IrishLass

 

[amd]

I don't have the assistant activated on my phone, but I'm positive it's spying on me. It seems very coincidental that random topics hubby and I discuss suddenly pop up as adverts. Example from this weekend, discussing Christmas gifts for the kids. I mentioned that the daughter wants a robe, and mused if I would be able to find a panda robe. First ad that popped up on my phone later that day... panda robes.

 

[IrishLass]

Creepy!

 

[madison]

Without activation, almost anything I say in my home I get it popping up in my phone, my computer desk and my hubby's laptop, and in the email. One time I was visiting one of my friends in another state, we were talking about her friend who has a personal trainer, I checked my phone to find out the personal trainer ads are popping up, it happened during the talk in one hour visit.

 

[SaltedFig]

The generational difference in how privacy is viewed is quite remarkable. Embedded facial recognition in social media, gaming consoles with visual and voice, IoT everything and camera's everywhere ... all "normal".

Our (Australian) government recently blocked a tech giant from involvement in sensitive government contracts, including development of our next generation mobile network (news story).

Got an automatic vacuum cleaner? You might like to read this

 

[amd]

So... I need to stop telling Rudy the Roomba to stay out of the "meth lab"... oh dear. Just kidding. I don't have a roomba...
That's interesting to know, my husband has been discussing getting one ever since he was attacked by the third cat (dust bunny, it was a dust bunny).

 

[Lin19687]

hahaha I have the Neato (like the roomba)... "Martin" cleans the Lab all the time hahahah

 

[jcandleattic]

I don't have the assistant activated on my phone, but I'm positive it's spying on me

THEY SO ARE!! I agree, to many random conversations (that I have never really had before) all of a sudden pop up in the ads. Creepy and eerie!!

 

[Lye-h20-oil]

I don't have the assistant activated on my phone, but I'm positive it's spying on me. It seems very coincidental that random topics hubby and I discuss suddenly pop up as adverts. Example from this weekend, discussing Christmas gifts for the kids. I mentioned that the daughter wants a robe, and mused if I would be able to find a panda robe. First ad that popped up on my phone later that day... panda robes.

I beleive this. I feel myself pulling away from the materialism more and more and I wouldnt be surprised if
Other people are noticing the ridiculous spending that goes on in households. This is true in your face and in your private business stuff. I stopped posting on FB over a year ago because I noticed they were watching my google searches and sending me ads on the topic, plus it's just weird to communicate exclusively with people you know online. All of the information we post anywhere can and will be used for us or against us.

 

[Lin19687]

And this is another reason I do almost nothing on my phone... ie: Banking ! or anything else I have to use a password and has my personal info on.
You can NOT opt out of these apps seeing everything, if you do then they don't work.
Which is a poopy way around it I think.

I like the puter better, I can control a bit more on it.

 

[LBussy]

I'm on a quest to go "Google Free". I mean Google is awesome, and I don't do anything that I'm actually concerned about, but I am a private person by nature. Once you start actually PAYING for all of the things you get basically for free from Google, you realize how much money your information is worth.

One easy thing you can all do to give Google less about you is to use Startpage.com as your search engine. They forward the search to Google and return it back to you, but Google does not know it's you. If you are a REAL geek, go to Startpage.com and click on the "How we protect you" link at the bottom and read from there.

 

[IrishLass]

I like the puter better, I can control a bit more on it.

That's what we thought too, until just the day before yesterday. Hubby went to Google on our PC to look up Open Table in order to look up a local fancy hotel restaurant just to see if they had any open seating on Christmas Day, and the next thing you know he gets an e-mail from the hotel on our PC....... yes- an e-mail..... even though he didn't give Open Table or the hotel his e-mail addy. The content of the e-mail was one of those 'Book a tour' type of invites. Very creepy!

One easy thing you can all do to give Google less about you is to use Startpage.com as your search engine. They forward the search to Google and return it back to you, but Google does not know it's you. If you are a REAL geek, go to Startpage.com and click on the "How we protect you" link at the bottom and read from there.

Will definitely be looking into that!


IrishLass

 

[Steve85569]

Too late for me.
I'm already on several lists.
It's nearly impossible for me to fly - even though I volunteer with local law enforcement and I am also a firearms instructor.

We are all being watched.
Privacy is a thing of the past.
The local county uses drones to "survey" my property lines.
Sure they do...

 

[Dennis]

My millennial son, a newly graduated engineer and quite savvy in this digital age, refuses to have anything to do with smart tv, alexa, or anything else electronic in his abode. He disables his cell phone at times. They all look and listen and locate according to him. His millennial sister is quite the opposite.

I'm on a quest to go "Google Free". I mean Google is awesome, and I don't do anything that I'm actually concerned about, but I am a private person by nature. Once you start actually PAYING for all of the things you get basically for free from Google, you realize how much money your information is worth.

One easy thing you can all do to give Google less about you is to use Startpage.com as your search engine. They forward the search to Google and return it back to you, but Google does not know it's you. If you are a REAL geek, go to Startpage.com and click on the "How we protect you" link at the bottom and read from there.

You juked the little bit of real geek in me. I went to startpage.com and read everything. It is now my default search engine. Thanks for the info.

 

[Sdoap]

You juked the little bit of real geek in me. I went to startpage.com and read everything. It is now my default search engine. Thanks for the info.

You might also want to check out Duck Duck Go dot com. They say they do not track.

 

[LBussy]

They are similar, but the URLs are not obfuscated. Do a couple searches with Duck Duck Go and then a couple with StartPage. After that check your browser history to see the difference.

The URL is passed visibly to the search provider even using HTTPS so any “bad actor” can tell what you are searching for.