tech
January 28, 2026
Google to pay $68 million over voice assistant ‘spying’
Google has been sued by smartphone users claiming its voice-activated assistant secretly recorded on their devices
TL;DR
- Google has reached a preliminary $68 million settlement to resolve a lawsuit alleging its voice-activated assistant spied on smartphone users.
- Users claimed Google illegally recorded private conversations via Google Assistant and used them for targeted advertising.
- The lawsuit alleged 'false accepts', where the assistant incorrectly recognized speech as 'hot words' like 'Hey Google'.
- The settlement applies to users who bought Google devices or were subjected to false accepts since May 18, 2016.
- This case is part of ongoing privacy concerns surrounding voice-activated AI assistants, with similar lawsuits filed against Apple and Amazon.
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