Are Google listening to us
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Some of your most intimate conversations might be sitting in a Google data centre somewhere Google voice search records and keeps conversations people have around their phones but the files can be deletedJust talking is enough to activate the recordings but thankfully there's an easy way of hearing and deleting themAndrew Griffin Thursday 10 September 2020 14:49 Sign up to our free weekly IndyTech newsletter delivered straight to your inboxSign up to our free IndyTech newsletterPlease enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read ourprivacy notice Thanks for signing up to theIndyTech emailGoogle could have a record of everything you have said around it for years, and you can listen to it yourself. Show
The company quietly records many of the conversations that people have around its products. The feature works as a way of letting people search with their voice, and storing those recordings presumably lets Google improve its language recognition tools as well as the results that it gives to people. Recommended
But it also comes with an easy way of listening to and deleting all of the information that it collects. Thats done through a special page that brings together the information that Google has on you. Its found by heading to Googles history page and looking at the long list of recordings. The company has a specific audio page and another for activity on the web, which will show you everywhere Google has a record of you being on the internet. Gadget and tech news: In picturesShow all 251/25Gadget and tech news: In picturesGadget and tech news: In picturesGun-toting humanoid robot sent into spaceRussia has launched a humanoid robot into space on a rocket bound for the International Space Station (ISS). The robot Fedor will spend 10 days aboard the ISS practising skills such as using tools to fix issues onboard. Russia's deputy prime minister Dmitry Rogozin has previously shared videos of Fedor handling and shooting guns at a firing range with deadly accuracy. 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Everyone should cover up their laptop webcams right now, says FBI director James Comey The recordings can function as a kind of diary, reminding you of the various places and situations that you and your phone have been in. But its also a reminder of just how much information is collected about you, and how intimate that information can be. You'll see more if you've an Android phone, which can be activated at any time just by saying "OK, Google". But you may well also have recordings on there whatever devices you've interacted with Google using. Recommended
On the page, you can listen through all of the recordings. You can also see information about how the sound was recorded whether it was through the Google app or elsewhere as well as any transcription of what was said if Google has turned it into text successfully. But perhaps the most useful and least cringe-inducing reason to visit the page is to delete everything from there, should you so wish. That can be done either by selecting specific recordings or deleting everything in one go. To delete particular files, you can click the check box on the left and then move back to the top of the page and select delete. To get rid of everything, you can press the More button, select Delete options and then Advanced and click through. The easiest way to stop Google recording everything is to turn off the virtual assistant and never to use voice search. But that solution also gets at the central problem of much privacy and data use today doing so cuts off one of the most useful things about having an Android phone or using Google search. More aboutGoogle1/1Google records and stores conversation people have around their phonesGoogle records and stores conversation people have around their phonesJust talking is enough to activate the recordings but thankfully there's an easy way of hearing and deleting them Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this articleWant to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today. Subscribe Already subscribed? Log in |
