{"id":8030,"date":"2019-02-28T21:11:03","date_gmt":"2019-02-28T21:11:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.styledeals.co.uk\/blog\/google-must-provide-details-on-nest-microphone-error\/"},"modified":"2019-02-28T21:11:03","modified_gmt":"2019-02-28T21:11:03","slug":"google-must-provide-details-on-nest-microphone-error","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.styledeals.co.uk\/blog\/google-must-provide-details-on-nest-microphone-error\/","title":{"rendered":"Google must provide details on Nest microphone error"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div property=\"articleBody\">\n<figure class=\"media-landscape has-caption full-width lead\"><span class=\"image-and-copyright-container\"><\/p>\n<p>                <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"js-image-replace\" alt=\"Nest Guard\" src=\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/320\/cpsprodpb\/146D9\/production\/_105837638_whatsubject.jpg\" width=\"976\" height=\"549\"\/><span class=\"off-screen\">Image copyright<\/span><br \/>\n                 <span class=\"story-image-copyright\">Google<\/span><\/p>\n<p>            <\/span><figcaption class=\"media-caption\"><span class=\"off-screen\">Image caption<\/span><br \/>\n                <span class=\"media-caption__text\"><br \/>\n                    The Nest Guard contained a microphone, but Google did not disclose that in the product&#8217;s specifications<br \/>\n                <\/span><br \/>\n            <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"story-body__introduction\">US senators have written to Google asking for more details about revelations that a hidden microphone had been built into its Nest devices.<\/p>\n<p>The existence of the microphone was revealed when Google announced that it would be enabling voice-activated features on the home alarm product<\/p>\n<p>The company then apologised for not disclosing the fact earlier, saying it had not been used &#8220;up to this point&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>Now, senators are asking chief executive Sundar Pichai to clarify.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;In recent years, consumers have become increasingly concerned about the ability of large technology companies to collect and use personal data about them without their knowledge,&#8221; the letter reads.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Therefore, it is critically important that companies like Google be completely transparent with consumers, and provide full disclosure of all technical specifications of their products at the point of sale.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>It added that Google&#8217;s failure to disclose the microphone&#8217;s existence &#8220;raises serious questions about its commitment to consumer transparency and disclosure&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>Google has said that the microphone was &#8220;never intended as a secret&#8221; and it was an error that it was not listed on the technical specifications.<\/p>\n<p>But the three senators have asked for more information, including:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"story-body__unordered-list\">\n<li class=\"story-body__list-item\">details about exactly when and how Google became aware that a microphone was not listed on the technical specifications available to consumers<\/li>\n<li class=\"story-body__list-item\">whether it had always been a component<\/li>\n<li class=\"story-body__list-item\">what Google was doing to inform customers <\/li>\n<li class=\"story-body__list-item\">Google&#8217;s process for developing technical specifications<\/li>\n<li class=\"story-body__list-item\">whether Google was aware of its being used by any third party for unauthorised purposes<\/li>\n<li class=\"story-body__list-item\">whether there were any similar omissions in other Google products<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The letter was signed by:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"story-body__unordered-list\">\n<li class=\"story-body__list-item\">Roger Wicker, who chairs the committee on commerce, science and transportation<\/li>\n<li class=\"story-body__list-item\">John Thune, who chairs the subcommittee on technology, innovation and the internet<\/li>\n<li class=\"story-body__list-item\">Jerry Moran, who chairs the subcommittee on manufacturing, trade and consumer protection<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The product in question is Nest Guard, one of Google&#8217;s Nest Secure range of home security products.<\/p>\n<p>The alarm and motion sensor will now be compatible with Google Assistant.<\/p>\n<p>The senators have asked Google for a written response by 12 March.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/technology-47401540\">Source<\/a> by <a href=\"\">[author_name]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Image copyright Google Image caption The Nest Guard contained a microphone, but Google did not disclose that in the product&#8217;s specifications US senators have written to Google asking for more details about revelations that a hidden microphone had been built into its Nest devices. The existence of the microphone was revealed when Google announced that &hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8030","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.styledeals.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8030","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.styledeals.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.styledeals.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.styledeals.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8030"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.styledeals.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8030\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.styledeals.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8030"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.styledeals.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8030"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.styledeals.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8030"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}