Pierluigi Paganini February 22, 2019

Google on Wednesday revealed that it forgot to inform users that its
Nest Secure home alarm system includes a microphone.

Google announced this week that it forgot to inform users that its
Nest Secure home alarm system includes a microphone.

“The problem: Nest users didn’t know a microphone existed on their security device to begin with.” states a post published by Business Insider that first reported the news.

“The existence of a microphone on the Nest Guard, which is the alarm, keypad, and motion-sensor component in the Nest Secure offering, was never disclosed in any of the product material for the device.”

The news is disconcerting and privacy advocates are alarmed by this revelation, how is it possible that the tech giant has forgotten it?

Google announced earlier February that its voice assistant feature would be available on the system’s Nest Guard that allows controlling home alarm sensors.

Since the presentation on the market of the device in 2017, Google did not reveal the presence of the built-in microphone to its customers.

“As recently as January, the product specs for the device made no mention of a microphone.” reported the Associated Press Agency.

“The on-device microphone was never intended to be a secret and should have been listed in the tech specs,” reads a statement issued by Google.

Google explained clarified that it never intended to hide the presence of the microphone and pointed put that it hasn’t been active since launch and customers have to specifically enable it going forward,

The revelation made by Google is problematic for the tech giant, in 2010 the company was criticized after it acknowledged that its fleet of Street View cars “accidentally” collected personal data transmitted over consumers’ unsecured WiFi networks.

Pierluigi Paganini

(SecurityAffairs – Google NEST, privacy)

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