Google admits employees listen to users' chats via virtual assistant

Google representatives admitted to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information Technology on the need to safeguard citizens' rights, that the tech giant's employees listened to private recordings of customer conversations through Google Assistant. 

During a deposition before the panel, the company's officials acknowledged that the employees listen when users who have Google Assistant on their phones and smart speakers say "OK, Google" to start a conversation with the assistant powered by artificial intelligence (AI). 

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Facing a particular question from BJP MP from Godda seat in Jharkhand, Nishank Dubey, Google team accepted that sometimes when users were not even calling up the virtual assistant, their talks were recorded, sources told India Today. 

The officials, however, added that sensitive information was not heard, and only casual chats were recorded. 

Google, though, is said to have provided no explanation on how it distinguished between sensitive and non-sensitive information. 

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This, according to the panel members, is being taken as a grave violation of user privacy, and the final report of the standing committee led by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor would be making recommendations to the government on it. 

The panel, as per the report, sternly conveyed to the representatives of the social media platforms that they need to address the gaps in their existing data protection and privacy policy mechanism and set up stringent safeguards to protect Indian users' data privacy and security.