Google asks for multiple permissions before installing Android apps on your phone, one of them being the use of the phone’s microphone. While that has been the norm for a while now, recent reports claim that Google has been recording those conversations of yours, which you can hear anytime you’d like.
But in it’s defence, Google says that by hearing your conversation, they’re able to improve on the voice recognition quality, giving you accurate results. Would you buy that?
So, how does Google manage to put its ear into your conversation? The search-engine had allegedly come out with this website that has all conversations you have been having since 2015, and stores them in the form of voice dairies.
Most of the stuff that a phone records, happens when he/she opts for the ‘Ok Google’ option on their Android device. However, everything isn’t lost just yet. Google has given you the option to delete all of the voices saved by them, or whichever part you want from Google’s reach.
Nobody knows how safe is it to leave out such data in the open, especially when you hear about CIA’s confidential data revealed by WikiLeaks without breaking a sweat.
Also Read:
WikiLeaks Claims CIA Has Targeted Everyday Gadgets For Snooping
So, how can you stop Google from collecting audio data such as these? For starters, you can stop using Google’s virtual assistant aka voice search feature, disable the use of microphone on the phone, and hope that no major mishap comes your way.
There is a strong argument going on about how much do we value convenience at the cost of our privacy. Location-based (via GPS) features have also come in the limelight recently, with many countries asking Facebook to stop the location tracking feature on its app.
(Source: Independent)
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)