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Voice Assistants and Privacy

How smart speakers listen, and the settings that keep them in check.

How a wake word works

A voice assistant is a helper you control by talking. It lives in smart speakers, phones, TVs and some cars. You ask it for the weather, a timer or a song.

To start, you say a wake word. That is a special word or short phrase, usually the assistant's name. Saying it tells the device to start paying attention.

Here is what happens, step by step:

1. The speaker's microphones are on, waiting. The device itself listens only for the wake word.
2. When it hears the wake word, a light turns on to show it is listening.
3. It records what you say next and sends it over the internet to the company's computers.
4. The company works out your request and sends back the answer.

So the speaker isn't sending everything you say all day. But it does make mistakes. A word on TV that sounds like the wake word can switch it on by accident. Then a bit of your conversation is recorded and sent.

The mute button turns off the microphones. Most speakers show a clear sign when they are muted, often a red light. While it is muted, the assistant can't hear you at all, not even the wake word.

Use mute when you want privacy. Good times are a private phone call, a video visit with a doctor, or a family talk about money. Press it again when you want the assistant back.

Some phones and speakers also let you change the wake word or turn voice listening off completely.

Recordings, kids and shopping

Many assistants keep a copy of what you said after the wake word. This list of saved requests is often called your voice history. You can look at it and clean it up.

Open the assistant's app on your phone. Look for a section named Privacy, Activity or History. There you can usually:

• Review your recordings and see what was heard, including accidental wakes.
• Delete single recordings or all of them.
• Auto-delete, so old recordings are removed after a set time, like three months.

Look for a setting about letting people at the company review recordings to improve the service. You can often turn it off.

Now think about children. Kids love talking to assistants. Here are three settings worth checking.

Voice purchases. Some assistants can buy things when you ask out loud. A child could order a toy, or a TV ad could trigger an order. Turn voice purchasing off, or require a PIN, a short number code, before any order.

Parental controls. Many assistants offer a kids mode or family settings. These can filter explicit songs and limit what the assistant answers.

Who can see the history. Everyone in the home who uses the speaker shows up in the history. Tell your family it exists.

None of this needs to be done daily. Check these settings when you first set up the speaker, then look again every few months.