Is it necessary for it to be plugged in all the time?
There are still questions about the impact the device will have on users' privacy.
Do you want your favorite song to be played at home?Ask for it to play the music.Want to watch a funny cat video on your TV with the device that is equipped with an artificial-intelligence based assistant?You can see the picture.
Since it collects information about what users are searching for online, what phrases they're using in their email, and where they are day to day, how much more information could it be collecting?
"There are a lot of privacy issues with this type of technology," said Dan Olds, an analyst with a technology analyst firm.It's obvious that any device that is always listening could also be storing and analyzing whatever is within earshot of the receiver.
He said that it could give them a lot more personal data about users.Every interaction in the home will be recorded by that microphone.When there's no one home, it will know what you watch and listen to.
When designing the device, user privacy was foremost in the minds of the designers.
The devices that come with the Google Assistant are designed with privacy in mind.After the hotword "OK Google" is detected, we only process speech.The audio snippets stay on the device if the hotword is not heard.
She said that users can access the data that has been collected about them by going to their My Activity page.
What will the data collected from the home device be used for?The device will use its audio history to learn the sound of users' voices, how specific users pronounce words and phrases, and further improve speech recognition.
She didn't say what would happen to the data collected from things like music preferences and search questions.
"With all of the security problems we've had with technology in this class, baby monitors in particular, you wouldn't want anything like this someplace where security was a big concern, like in a conference."With the alleged Yahoo email scanning scandal, the level of concern is likely to remain high.
The usefulness of the device is diminished by the fact that users can press a button on the Home device so it isn't always listening.
He said consumers should assume Home is always listening.It wasn't clear whether Home information would be used to build advertising profiles.Consumers who want a high degree of privacy should be cautious.
He thinks that people will be frightened by these systems as they get more sophisticated.Imagine if you were having a conversation with friends about adding a hot tub.On the day after you start your digital business, you might find your email inbox full of ads for hot tub dealers, and all of the banners on your internet searches festooned with even more ads.Is the convenience offered by these products worth the targeted advertising?We'll see.
According to an analyst with Technology Business Research, he is certain that the company will collect more information about users than before.