Hotword

Hotword is an auditory module included with Google Chrome and Chromium, which is the open source version of the browser.

Hotword "OK Google" listens to the specific key words chosen to activate the voice interface. The program is then read for voice-based search, queries and commands. Voice interfaces use speech recognition techniques, which allow user input through spoken commands. The software identifies the spoken words and phrases and converts it into a machine-readable format for the conversation.

The Hotword module itself is black-boxed - which means its internal functioning is not transparent - and there is no open source. When developers detect modules, those who advocate privacy are worried and report that it is installed without user's permission and can start listening automatically. Author and journalist Cory Doctorow explained that Hotword's default behavior is "to switch quietly on your computer's microphone and send it to Google to listen."

Google maintains that the software is opt-in and is designed to allow verbal communication with computers only. The company further states that it does not control the development of Chromium, and some results of this issue are the consequences of the fact that Chromium downloads automatically instead of Debian Chrome.

However, developers have recorded software instances automatically to download and begin without user input. According to Rich Falkvinge: "As long as you do not go out, the default installation will wire your room without your consent, and more importantly, know that you need to get out, that somewhere There is no proper requirement. " Party, an international political party, whose platform includes freedom of information, civil partnership, privacy rights and transparency (among other things).

Since the disclosure of Snowden 2013, it has been revealed that the NSA (National Security Agency) had full access to user data on servers of major service providers including Google.

Falkvinge has advised that the only real way to protect user privacy from eavesdropping software is to create a hardware switch in devices that can disable any listening modules that can be installed.