Google Is Listening to Your Private Conversations

[ThePhantasm]

https://www.privateinternetaccess.c...rivacy-defense-in-depth/#.VYlV-TqXotg.twitter

Yesterday, news broke that Google has been stealth downloading audio listeners onto every computer that runs Chrome, and transmits audio data back to Google. Effectively, this means that Google had taken itself the right to listen to every conversation in every room that runs Chrome somewhere, without any kind of consent from the people eavesdropped on. In official statements, Google shrugged off the practice with what amounts to “we can do that”.

 

[Kane52630]

[insert Elephant line from Raging Bull] on to Chrome.

 

[THUNDERSTRIKE]

I always thought Chrome sucked... glad to see I was right...

 

[HaplessHenchman]

Wow! That stinks.

 

[MessiahDecoy123]

I'd like to hear from other sources before I go into paranoia mode.

 

[Erzengel]

Google is going to be hearing a lot of what sounds like someone pushing their hand in and out of a mayonnaise bottle.

 

[MadVillainy]

IM honestly not surprised

Google is going to be hearing a lot of what sounds like someone pushing their hand in and out of a mayonnaise bottle.

Pretty much

 

[Micromind]

Well, Chrome was always under suspicion of stealing usage data and personal info, so this is not exactly surprising, use Chrome at your own risk. I usually use Opera.

 

[Apollo]

I always thought Chrome sucked... glad to see I was right...

I haven't used chrome in years. I never really cared for it either. I use Firefox.

 

[KevanG]

The only browser that uses properly on my mac is Chrome. The rest of them are slow, freeze or just bug me.

 

[Marvolo]

How exactly is chrome recordering audio if the computer doesnt have a mic hooked up?

And does this mean anytime my phone is with me they can just record any sound that the mic picks up?

 

[THUNDERSTRIKE]

I haven't used chrome in years. I never really cared for it either. I use Firefox.

same here...

 

[Hobgoblin]

I dont use audio conversations, so screw em.

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

I highly doubt the validity of these claims but then again I could really care less anyway. I don't care about stuff like that.

 

[terry78]

Even the hipster "we're all about doing good" companies are going corporate, huh? What a world.



All they'll get from me is asian porn, so I don't know what they're looking for.

 

[ThePhantasm]

I highly doubt the validity of these claims but then again I could really care less anyway. I don't care about stuff like that.

The article links to confirmations directly from Google. The claims are valid.

How exactly is chrome recordering audio if the computer doesnt have a mic hooked up?

If there is no mic hooked up, and your computer doesn't have a built-in mic, then they can't record audio.

Most laptops have built-in mics though.

 

[Manic]

If you use Google Chrome, you may have noticed a microphone icon next to the search bar. That's part of the "Ok Google" feature that allows you to do searches by voice rather than typing them in. By default, it's deactivated in your browser, but you can go into Settings to turn it on. When it's on and you have a microphone plugged in, it's designed to recognize voice commands. Because these voice commands are going to be used to search with Google, and because Google is notorious for saving your search information for marketing purposes, yes Ok Google probably records your voice.

So if you're worried/paranoid about Google recording everything said within an earshot of your laptop, just don't turn on the OK Google feature.

 

[Teelie]

If you actually read the official response from Google, you'll realize what a load of paranoid hyperbolic sensationalist ******** this is.

1. Hotword activates / records audio without asking for user permission.

First and foremost, while we do download the hotword module on startup, we *do not* activate it unless you opt in to hotwording. If you go into "chrome://settings", you will see a checkbox "Enable "Ok Google" to start a voice search". This should be unchecked by default, and if you do not check it, the hotword module will not be started. You don't have to take my word for it. Starting and stopping the hotword module is controlled by some open source code in Chromium itself [3], so while you cannot see the code inside the module, you can trust that it is not actually going to run unless you opt in.

 

[Lily Adler]

I'll install Facebook Messenger before trusting Google and I will never trust Facebook.

 

[Teelie]

I don't really trust Google so much as tolerate them to not completely abuse their reach but Facebook I have zero trust in at all to be honest or to keep their word before changing it again and then subverting it (and they have done "social" experiments on people by altering their feeds to see how they react to them).

 

[Matt Mortem]

Man, whoever's got the **** job of listening to my conversations has got to be bored to the point of suicide.

 

[Teelie]

Chrome dumping “OK Google” eavesdropping extension because nobody actually uses it

Update on the misleading story.

Chrome 46 will no longer listen in to everything you say just on the off chance that you invoke a Web search with the magical utterance "OK Google."

Since Chrome 35, released in May of last year, Chrome on Windows, Linux, and OS X has included an "OK Google" extension as a built-in feature that lets you speak to the browser and conduct searches without having to actually do anything so gauche as use the keyboard. Merely visiting google-dot-com was enough; from there, speaking did the rest. This feature generated controversy in June after it turned out that Chrome's open source sibling, Chromium, was automatically downloading a binary-only package to support this same functionality. The mix of automatically-installed binary and open source did not sit well with users of the software, and Google responded by removing it from the open source version.

VentureBeat reports that it's now gone from the regular browser, too. While Chromebooks and Android phones will still support "OK Google," the desktop browser does not. In news that will surprise no-one—because really, who likes talking to their computer—VentureBeat writes that the feature was pulled because virtually nobody ever bothered to use it.

This does not mean that voice searching is dead; you can still conduct a voice search from Google's homepage if you choose. But it's no longer enough to simply speak; now you must sully yourself by clicking the little microphone icon first. Merely barking orders at your computer will no longer do the job.

Ars Technica

 

[Travesty]

That's why you use Bing, brahhhh.

 

[ComicChick]

well i'm not a fan of Google anyways

 

[Victarion]

Well, I am now spooked.