"The on-device microphone was never intended to be a secret and should have been listed in the tech specs. That was an error on our part. The microphone has never been on and is only activated when users specifically enable the option," a Google spokesperson said in an email to CNET.
Google Nest Secure with ‘secret’ microphone
Nest Secure owners have been able to use Google Assistant and voice commands, but it previously required a separate Google Assistant device to hear your commands. I suppose it depends upon your outlook on if you are happy or creeped out that your security system secretly had an undocumented microphone capable of doing the listening all along.
A Google spokesperson confirmed to Busines Insider that a mistake had been made. The on-device microphone was never meant to be a secret and should be listed in the technical data. That was a mistake on our part', said the speaker.
"The on-device microphone was never intended to be a secret and should have been listed in the tech specs," the company said in a statement to AppleInsider and other publications. "That was an error on our part. The microphone has never been on and is only activated when users specifically enable the option."
There's absolutely no evidence that this was a working microphone that was eavesdropping on anyone and let's be clear that Alphabet is the one that announced the update that enabled the microphone, not a blogger that discovered nefarious activity. For those looking for a conspiracy you'll have to look harder. This is no different from countless other tech companies that don't disclose inactive HW for a variety of reasons.PS: Let's also be clear that Nest Secure came out almost 4 years after Google acquired the company so anyone with trust issues with Google (which is most of us here) wouldn't have been a customer of this product anyway.
Looking forward to replacing my Google Home based stuff with something more secure. I've got an Amazon Echo Show and Dot sitting disconnected. You don't need cloud accounts for Home Automation the cloud is simply needed for voice assistants and frankly I try to build my home around everything being easy to control without voice so that voice is just a bonus. Thought long and hard about picking up a HomePod over the holidays when they went on sale. I imagine that eventually my system will pretty much just contain a few HomePods and Sonos and with the resurgence of HomeKit I'll start moving back in that direction.
"The Google Assistant on Nest Guard is an opt-in feature, and as the feature becomes available to our users, they'll receive an email with instructions on how to enable the feature and turn on the microphone in the Nest app," Google said. "Nest Guard does have one on-device microphone that is not enabled by default."
Do google seriously want us to believe, that when the near final prototypes where circulated within the office, and the teams had their end of project celebrations, that no one sent an email to project management to say that the microphone had been left of the public specification?
Google's Nest smart home brand is in hot water this week after news surfaced (via Daring Fireball) that its home security system, Nest Secure, shipped with an undisclosed microphone. Google activated the microphone earlier this month for Google Assistant functionality, but that meant the device sat in users' homes for up to a year as an unknown potential listening device.
Nest Secure launched last year as a $500 home security system. It's just a collection of door, window, and motion sensors, along with a small desktop box that acts as a hub for the devices and a security code keypad. It has a speaker for alarms and other sounds, but it isn't something you would ever expect to have a microphone.
Some consumers are averse to products with microphones in them, given that it has been possible for the FBI, hackers, and other savvy entities to exploit those devices and use their microphones for spying.
It's hard to think of a current Google device that doesn't have a microphone. For Nest, there are microphones in the security hub, cameras, door bells, and smoke detectors (yes, even the smoke detectors). Google builds microphone-equipped smart speakers and smart displays, along with phones, tablets, and laptops. It's also working on getting microphones into TV sound bars and in televisions themselves.
A Star Trek-like voice command-enabled future means putting a microphone in just about everything, but that means it's critical that companies disclose these microphones and make sure the devices are kept up-to-date and secure.
Google's decision to bring Assistant-enabled voice controls to its Nest Secure system is causing a stir almost a year after the integration was rolled out. The problem is no one actually knew the security device, launched in September, 2017, packed a microphone in the first place. Google built a mic into its Nest Guard -- a small hub with a keypad on top that communicates with the other sensors in its Secure system -- but failed to mention it in its product materials, reports Business Insider. Asked about the microphone's existence, Google said it was "never intended to be a secret."
Hot microphones seem to be causing an uproar everywhere these days. After another major company had to overcome an issue with a glitch that exploited an open microphone, Google is under fire for an undisclosed mic in the Google Nest Secure home security device.
Business Insider reports that Google brought the issue to light with the announcement that the home security and alarm system Nest Secure would be getting an update that allowed the use of Google Assistant, the company's voice-activated service. The problem? It demands the use of a microphone and users weren't aware their Nest Secure devices had one the entire time. The feature wasn't disclosed in any of the device's product materials. Here's the full statement from a Google spokesperson given to Business Insider:
"The on-device microphone was never intended to be a secret and should have been listed in the tech specs. That was an error on our part. The microphone has never been on, and is only activated when users specifically enable the option. Security systems often use microphones to provide features that rely on sound sensing. We included the mic on the device so that we can potentially offer additional features to our users in the future, such as the ability to detect broken glass."
Apple was also accosted for an issue with a microphone when users discovered a glitch that allows someone to listen in to a person's private conversation, unknowingly, by tricking Group FaceTime into opening up the mic. It has since been fixed with the iOS 12.1.4 patch, but Google's new mic issues probably couldn't have come at a worse time.
Ultimately, have Google Assistant functionality in the Nest devices makes sense in an effort to weave all of the Google products one may have in a home into one efficient routine. Nevertheless, not disclosing the existence of a microphone on a "secure" device in an era where consumer's data is constantly being sold to advertisers is a big goof. Stay tuned to Shacknews for additional gaming and tech updates.
It turns out that Google built a microphone into the Nest Guard without disclosing this spec to users. According to a report from Business Insider(Opens in a new tab), the lack of communication about the microphone was, apparently, an oversight.
What's the harm in including an accidentally secret microphone? It turns out that the mic has come in handy, with this Google Assistant integration. And the spokesperson told Business Insider that it could also be used for future security capabilities, like detecting breaking glass through sound.
Safety Checkup is a manual test that runs only when you tell it to. You can either press the Nest button on a Protect, or use the Nest app to start the test with a 2nd gen Nest Protect. The microphone is on only at the end of Safety Checkup, when Nest Protect is checking its speaker and horn.
Sure, it could sense motion in your household, it could know if a door or window was open, and even allow you to remotely turn your home alarm on. But nobody knew, and Google chose never to tell anyone, that there was a microphone hidden within the device.
"The on-device microphone was never intended to be a secret and should have been listed in the tech specs. That was an error on our part. The microphone has never been on and is only activated when users specifically enable the option," Google said. 2ff7e9595c
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