Yesterday, Google confirmed it has introduced Continued Conversation, available on Google Home, Google Home Mini and Google Home Max.
While this introduction facilitates a more natural conversation between user and device, it does raise questions around privacy and security although it may not be the worst offender. Aaron Zander, IT Engineer at HackerOne commented below.
Aaron Zander, IT Engineer at HackerOne:
“While you may think your smart home devices are always on and always listening, in reality most of these devices have a local chipset that listens for the key phrases. Only once those local patterns have been recognized do they beam off your request to the mothership and your 12 minute brownie timer starts. But with the latest iteration to allow more context for better results, what was a compartmentalized search now is continuously listening. The more Google or any home device is listening the less privacy we have. Next time you ask Google Home to convert grams to ounces, you might want to keep your conversation to baking rather than business. With a string of known offending devices already listening to people either because they are unsecured, have backdoors, or without consent; Your Google Home might not be what you should worry about.” .
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