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Comment by saluki | Hacker News Reader

y, I agree it's not just Google.

I think allowing any company or government having an open mic/'smart' speaker, essentially bugging your own home/business is just a bad idea.

"I actually am less worried about those (since I turn them off)" - are you sure they are off, had to ask.

I'm not as worried about Netflix/Amazon knowing every movie I watch, product I order or am interested in.

I'm more worried about private conversations and communications being monitored as it applies to freedom of ideas, diverse political movements, freedom to vote and even freedom of religion.

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Nest/Google Home devices have a hardware mute button. They are off when they are off.

yeah, I believe the hardware mute button does mute the mic.

That was more of a joke, are you sure they are off?

I'm sure someone has or is testing that the hardware mute button works.

I'm not against Nest/Google. I was always sporting Google T-Shirts and hats back in the day, telling everyone to use it and recommending their products.

I'm just not sure on this product.

> Nest/Google Home devices have a hardware mute button. They are off when they are off.

Can you cite where Google says that the mute switch is a hardware kill switch for the mics? I've only read where they say that it doesn't listen but never that it physically disables the mics which means it's done in software and the device could be "muted" and still able to listen.

Unless the mute switch is a physical disconnect for the microphones then it's no different than the Alexa's mute button.

And don't forget Google's Nest Secure contains/ed undisclosed microphones and not physical mute button and Google wanted you to trust that it is/was disabled.

Google it you lazy fuck, yes they repeatedly say it's a hardware disconnect

Abusing HN like this will eventually get your main account banned as well, so please don't.

https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

What terms do I use to find these magical results?

If I google "Google Nest Home Mute Hardware disconnect" for example, none of the results on the first page state it is a hardware disconnect.

The support.google.com links all use vague language that never explicitly says there's a hardware disconnect. Just that the mute switch causes the microphones to be disabled.

Interestingly the last result on first page is this: https://store.google.com/magazine/google_nest_privacy#ada2d2...

And it's claims are known to be false.

> Your device will only send audio to Google if we detect that you or someone in your home is interacting with your Assistant

So I'm genuinely curious where all this information about the mute switch being a physical disconnect for the mics exists.

There's a world of difference between a company or government doing that.

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