Google is forced to shut down Home Mini feature that quietly records everything
Last week, Google launched Home Mini, a $49 voice-enabled speaker that turned out to have the interesting habit of recording every damn sound in your house, and sending them to Google servers. Funny, isn't it? This is what happened to journalist Artem Russakovskii at Android Policeafter he came back home from the Google launch in event in San Francisco with his shiny new Home Mini and placed it in his bathroom (!). Home assistants all work in a similar way: you say a hotword -- "Alexa" for Amazon Echo, "Hey Google" for Google Homes -- and they switch on, ready to record your question/order, send it to the cloud, and then answer/execute your order. However, Russakovskii's Mini was special. For several days, for thousands of times a day, it would wake up unsolicited, quietly recording sounds from his home and transmit them to Google's servers. All of this without emitting any sound -- only the four lights on the unit were sort of giving it away. Russakovskii checked on Google My Activity page and found thousands of instances where the Mini had been activated, unprompted by the hotword. So he decided to contact Google, which swiftly took action to fix the problem. “We learned of an issue impacting a small number of Google Home Mini devices that could cause the touch mechanism to behave incorrectly. We rolled out an update on October 7 to mitigate the issue, before Google Home Mini shipped to anyone in the UK," a Google spokesperson told Mashable. So what was the problem? As explained by Google, the issue affected devices that were given out at the U.S. Made by Google launch event. Besides the hotword, home assistant devices have a button that you can touch to trigger the assistant. In the Home Mini case, it was a long press on the touch panel, which allowed you to ask the assistant a question without saying the hotword. However, Russakovskii's and other devices "thought" the touch panel was always on, as if someone was constantly pressing it. Google's temporary fix is simple -- deactivating the touch feature. In response to privacy concerns raised by Russakovskii, Google also deleted any activity/queries created by the "phantom" long pressing between October 4 and October 7, as the company itself explained in a support page. It is believed that around 4,000 Home Minis have been affected. If you're still having issues, Google says to contact Google Home Support at 1-855-971-9121 to get a replacement Google Home Mini.
Featured Video For You
These dogs traveled from all over the U.S. to bring some much needed comfort to Las Vegas
相关推荐
-
Students get free entry at second Rawalpindi Test but what’s the catch?
-
Apple Watch Series 6 puts an emphasis on tracking blood oxygen levels.
-
Moon shifting to tough stance on North Korea
-
NXIVM: Keith Raniere’s cult’s Mexican connections.
-
Tesla reveals Cybertruck has sold more than DeLorean
-
China to stop importing North Korean natural resources, seafood
- 最近发表
-
- 11 Unique Amaros and Liqueurs to Level Up Your Aperol Spritz
- Microsoft Surface Duo review: Is this the future of smartphones?
- No Mercy: SEC charges rapper T.I. over cryptocurrency scam
- Pakistan complete clean sweep against Windies
- Yes, big spiders are spreading in the U.S. No, they're not flying.
- 1—9月 我市获上级财政交通专项资金51406.24万元
- S. Korea aims to master tech to launch military, civilian microsatellites by 2025
- Putin informed on tourist exchanges with North Korea, visit preparations underway: Kremlin
- How much for Oasis tickets? Fans joke about splurging on reunion shows
- AOC delivers powerful response to Rep. Ted Yoho's hateful comments about her
- 随机阅读
-
- 阳江村K开麦,阳西3人晋级!
- Axelsen wins Indonesia Masters title
- #ChallengeAccepted is messy as hell, but we have bigger things to worry about
- North may test
- 中山古镇:到苏炳添家乡看“村BA”,来一场说走就走的美食之旅
- 建基地 强管理“冷竹子”带来大效益
- AOC delivers powerful response to Rep. Ted Yoho's hateful comments about her
- 绿茶搜索大涨300%,凤凰单丛受追捧!淘宝发布2024春茶消费趋势
- Understanding Relational vs. Non
- General Motors to build Badger electric truck after investing $2 billion in Nikola
- Depay grabs Dutch thrilling victory over Wales
- Defense minister nominee, a former JCS vice chairman with expertise in S. Korea
- GPU Mining is Dead, Where are my Cheap GPUs?
- 绿茶搜索大涨300%,凤凰单丛受追捧!淘宝发布2024春茶消费趋势
- 主题教育落实处 凝心聚力求发展
- What is a VPN, and what does it do on a Firestick?
- Against All Odds: How Netflix Made It
- Trump, Abe affirm tougher sanctions over N. Korea's missile launch
- 用好村集体经济收益与村干部奖励待遇挂钩机制
- How group streaming could look in the future
- 搜索
-
- 友情链接
-