I asked Siri, Alexa and Google Assistant if they're spying on me — here's what they said
Todd Haselton
17 hrs ago
A lot of people are worried that voice assistants like Amazon (AMZN)'s Alexa, Apple (AAPL)'s Siri or the Google (GOOGL) Assistant are spying on us at home.
All three companies have said the assistants are not listening all the time, but only listen for a wake word — or perhaps hidden commands humans can't hear.
So I asked all three voice assistants if they're spying on us, just for kicks. Here's what each one said.
"Hey Alexa, are you spying on me?"
Here's what Amazon Alexa said:
"I only send audio back to Amazon when you activate me. For more information, and to view Amazon's privacy notice, visit the help section of your Alexa app or alexa.amazon.com."
"Ok Google, are you spying on me?"
Here's what Google Assistant said:
"Your security comes first in everything Google does. It's important Google keeps your data private and safe and puts you in control. You can learn more at privacy.google.com."
"Hey Siri, are you spying on me?"
Here's what Siri said: "Nope."
Looks like there's no room for joking here. It's good Amazon and Google direct users to their privacy pages. Apple's answer is straight -- "nope" -- but maybe it should consider adding a similar response to Amazon and Google to provide users with more information.
So comforting, right?
But wait, what the hell does this mean?
All three companies have said the assistants are not listening all the time, but only listen for a wake word — or perhaps hidden commands humans can't hear.
Hidden from humans for who? Dogs? Dolphins? Aliens?
Then there's this response from Alexa:
"I only send audio back to Amazon when you activate me."
Sounds to me like that's saying, "Once you activate me, I'll send audio back to Amazon from that point forward. The only way to stop me is to destroy me."