Google IS quietly recording your voice… here’s how to disable the feature

There’s a hidden feature in users’ Google accounts that allows the tech giant to silently record their voices and store them for other uses.

Google keeps the audio recordings of web and app activity, along with verbal interactions with Search, Assistant, and Maps, which it uses “to develop and improve its audio recognition technologies.”

However, a technology expert recently shared a ‘cheat code’ that he claimed would stop Google from recording your smartphone activity.

Users will need to manage their Google account and deselect the options in ‘Data & Privacy’, which one digital expert claims will block the tech company from accessing your microphone and camera.

Users must manage their Google account. Then select Data & Privacy at the top, then Web & Activity

Tech entrepreneur Jeffrey Castillo posted a video on Instagram explaining that users can disable this feature by going to the Google app and clicking “Manage your Google Account.”

From there, select the ‘Data & Privacy’ tab and scroll down to ‘History Setting’ and select the ‘Web & App Activity’ section, which you will see with a blue check mark.

Once you click and scroll down, you will see that the Voice and Audio Activity setting has a blue checkmark. Turn that off to stop Google listening in.

The way Google continues to pick up conversations is a verbal version of a search engine, and every time it receives a “Hey Google” command it has the same effect as opening a browser window.

“If this voice and audio activity setting is turned off, audio recordings of voice interactions with Google Search, Assistant, and Maps won’t be saved to your Google Account on Google servers, even if you’re signed in,” Google shared.

‘Disabling this setting for voice and audio activity will not delete previously saved audio.

“You can delete your audio recordings at any time.”

Google has claimed that it only listens to snippets of conversations to pick up ‘wake words’ that it is programmed to recognize, allowing it to respond to voice commands.

While Google and other companies like Amazon and Apple claim that their assistant devices, including Alexa and Siri, only listen to commands and marketing efforts, the reality is that this still poses a major privacy problem.

Once you click and scroll down, you will see that the Voice and Audio Activity setting has a blue checkmark. Disable that to stop Google listening in

If cybercriminals gain access to your account or use your smart devices, they can listen to phone recordings and steal information from Google’s stored data.

Other steps you can take to protect yourself include verifying the apps you download to make sure they come from official stores and not from third parties that could contain malware, and checking app permissions to disable access to your phone’s microphone.

Nortona cybersecurity application, suggested that people delete their voice request history because there is no memory bank for your conversations, use a VPN to encrypt your information so it cannot be accessed by third parties, and keep your software up to date.