Google is paying $68 million to settle a class-action lawsuit over Google Assistant's "False Accepts" - instances where devices recorded private conversations without the "Ok Google" trigger word. Court filings from last Friday reveal the proposed settlement stemming from a 2019 VRT NWS investigation that exposed human contractors listening to inadvertently captured audio. Eligible users could receive payouts ranging from $2 to $56, marking the latest reckoning for Big Tech's voice assistant privacy practices.
Google just wrote a $68 million check to close the book on one of Silicon Valley's most uncomfortable privacy scandals. The proposed settlement, filed last Friday and reported by Reuters, resolves claims that the company illegally recorded private conversations when Google Assistant devices woke up without hearing their "Ok Google" trigger phrase.
The class-action lawsuit stems from a bombshell 2019 VRT NWS investigation that revealed human contractors were analyzing audio clips captured during these "False Accepts." Workers told the German outlet they'd heard everything from confidential business discussions to bedroom conversations - intimate moments users never intended to share with Google or its army of third-party reviewers.
The lawsuit filing accuses Google of "unlawful and intentional recording of individuals' confidential communications without their consent." According to contractor accounts in the original VRT NWS report, the False Accepts sometimes caught children's voices and sensitive personal information that should never have left users' homes.
