As announced today by Google, Google Assistant no longer stores its users' voice recordings by default.
Now, those who interact with Google Assistant will have to opt into the new VAA (Voice & Audio Activity) program when they set up their digital assistant if they want their voice to be recorded or reviewed by company employees. This data can be used to improve AI or Google’s ability to recognize a person’s voice. Existing Voice Match users will be asked to confirm that they want their recordings to be stored by Google.
Also, Google Assistant users will soon have the option to reduce how sensitive the digital assistant is to the “Hey Google” command.
These changes come as a result of criticism the company received over the summer, when it became known that Google Assistant stores its users' conversations and company employees can listen to them.
"It's clear that we didn't meet our high standards in making it easy for you to understand how your data is being used, and we apologize for that," Google said in a blog post.
After hearing a specific word, digital assistants like Cortana, Siri, Alexa , and Google Assistant use voice recordings to improve their AI conversational systems. 2019 started with the media and users believing that no one could listen to conversations recorded by AI assistants, but in recent months we've learned that's not the case, fueling concerns that smart assistants could be used for surveillance.
The truth was revealed last spring, when Bloomberg reported, and Amazon confirmed, that people in various parts of the world were able to listen to voice recordings after hearing the word "Alexa" or similar commands.
Then in July, it was leaked that Google Assistant voice recordings were also being monitored in the Netherlands. A day later, Google confirmed that its employees were able to listen to some recordings, less than 1 percent, it said immediately after the news broke. Apple's Siri digital assistant was next.
In response, both Apple and Google promised to stop monitoring conversations, and Amazon allowed users to disable reviews for voice recordings.
When unveiling Portal TV and two other new devices last week, Facebook also acknowledged that it collects users' voice recordings.
Lawmakers in states like California and Illinois considered legislation this year to require creators of digital assistants to get permission from users before recording their voice data.
