Nest Mini – Is it safe to leave Google Assistant on ? The popularization of voice assistant devices at home, be it Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, Apple Siri or Microsoft Cortana, offers a series of facilities for the routine, but is there any risk?

ESET has warned about this feature and gives tips on how users can keep personal information safe while enjoying this technology.

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[Nest Mini] Is it safe to leave Google Assistant on ?

A recent study by Imperial College London together with Northeastern University examined how many times voice assistants are activated without the word activator being used.

The devices were subjected to 125 hours of Netflix content, and the verbal content was analyzed through the program’s closed caption text to eliminate the times when an actor could have used the actual activation word.

The devices misinterpreted a word and were activated up to 19 times a day.

The experiment was repeated 12 times with the same content and the result showed little or no consistency: less than 9% of all “misinterpreted” dialogues were able to activate the same device again in 75% or more of the repetitions.

Some devices have been activated by specific word patterns or letter sounds; for example, Alexa has been activated on words that contain a “k” and sound similar to Alexa, such as “exclamation” (exclamation) or “Kevin’s car” (Kevin’s car).

When not being able to replicate the same test result, it is noticed that there is a level of randomness in unwanted activations.

When the digital assistant wakes up and comes to life, the device captures interactions so they can be analyzed and then applied according to instructions.

Some systems maintain a voice recording or text transcript of the interactions until they are removed by the user or the supplier’s policy, depending on the weather or other criteria.

For those who regularly work from home, the first activity of the day may be to participate in a video conference with the company’s team.

If, under normal circumstances, there is an open and collaborative office space, probably a private space should be used to participate in more confidential videoconferences, in order to avoid inadvertent information sharing.

However, when the employee is working at home with the presence of a digital assistant who is constantly listening to everything said in the environment and is not an employee of the company bound by any confidentiality contract, it is better to be extra careful, even more than in the office.

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Turn off the camera and microphone

When conducting a confidential video conference while working at home, it is recommended that you disconnect the microphone and camera from the digital assistant to avoid sharing confidential information.

If it is difficult to disconnect the assistant, the tip is to change it to an operational mode “as needed” while working.

The risk is not only the excessive sharing of information with the supplier of the digital assistant, there is also the risk of a criminal gaining access to the user’s account or creating a data breach that affects the supplier and, consequently, having access to all interactions previous.

 

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