Google hid a microphone in Nest devices, never told anyone about it

All the tech companies have been under fire for the last year or so for not taking Customer Privacy seriously. While we have already seen Google, Facebook and Twitter take a stand in front of the Congress on how they plan to protect the consumer data, it looks like Google might come under the microscope again.

According to a new report, Google “unintentionally forgot” to mention the existence of a microphone on the Next Guard. The report mentioned that Nest users were unaware that the Nest Guard comes with a microphone as it was not mentioned anywhere including the website and the spec sheet. A Google Spokesperson said it was an error and it should have been mentioned on the spec sheet.

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.

– Google

The spokesperson also mentioned that the on-device microphone was never on and is only activated when users specifically enable the option. Moreover, Google stated that they added the microphone as a way to allow for future developments and to add more security features to the device through software updates.

While we don’t know if Google made a mistake or it was missed out on purpose, we certainly know that this will backfire.

Via: Business Insider