*Has your phone ever shown you an ad for something you only whispered about?*
Google has agreed to pay $68 million to settle a lawsuit alleging that Google Assistant secretly recorded users’ conversations even when the ‘Hey Google’ wake phrase was not spoken. The recordings were allegedly collected without proper consent and used to improve ad targeting and data profiling.
Google has denied any intentional misconduct and says the settlement is meant to avoid prolonged litigation, not to admit wrongdoing.
However, the case has raised concerns among users about how much personal data voice assistants may capture in the background without their knowledge.
