Have you ever noticed how a product/service’s Ad pops up after you discuss about it with your friend? You’re planning to buy something and you ask for advice from your friend. And Suddenly tons of ads about that product appear on your feed. Most of you have experienced it and wondered if its just a co-incidence or there’s actually a science behind it. Well, it is happening because your smartphone is listening to you even when you’re offline. But, you can stop your smartphone or basically Google from listening to you.
You may find it hard to believe but your smartphone is actually listening to everything you say. Modern smartphones come with preinstalled assistants to provide you a hands-free experience. It feels great to have these features but the same service is helping to bake tons of ads for you. If you’re still not convinced that your smartphone is actually listening to everything you say. You can try it yourself.
Just say aloud “ok Google” and you’ll then be immediately greeted back with a sweet voice. As you know your smartphone is listening to you every time, let’s find out why companies listen to you in the first place and also know how you can stop google listening to you every time.
Why companies secretly listen to you?
Listening to the audio of users without their consent is a serious privacy concern. Smartphone manufacturers have previously faced a lot of criticisms regarding this. Google clarified that it only records specific words or phrases which are essential for the activation of Google assistant like “OK Google” or “Hey Google”. Google is also transparent about the voice data it collects. You can even view and delete the sound Google has recorded from your device from the activity section of your Google account.
How to stop Google from listening to you
- Step 1: Open Settings on your device.
- Step 2: Search Google and then select Account services.
- Step 3: Select the ‘Search, Assistant, and Voice’ option.
- Step 4: Then select the ‘Google Assistant’ option.
- Step 5: Now click on the ‘Voice Match’ option.
- Step 6: Disable the Hey Google slider to stop “OK Google” detection.
Google states that it stores the recordings to improve your experience with the voice search feature and provide you seamless experience everywhere. You can view all your recordings and other data from here and make sure Google is not recording your personal information.
