Google admits that its staff can listen to recordings on Google Assistant after data leak

Google on Thursday admitted that its staff can listen to what people say to artificial-intelligence system Google Assistant, via their phone or through smart speakers such as Google Home, AP reported. Some Dutch audio snippets on Google Assistant were leaked, prompting the company to write a blog post.

More than 1,000 recordings were obtained by Belgian public broadcaster VRT. The broadcaster said some of the audio snippets contained sensitive information, while others identified the person speaking.

“As part of our work to develop speech technology for more languages, we partner with language experts around the world who understand the nuances and accents of a specific language,” Google said. “These language experts review and transcribe a small set of queries to help us better understand those languages.”