Google Sued Over Assistant App’s Allegedly Secret Recordings

Google has been hit with a class complaint alleging smartphones and other devices running Google Assistant have infringed the privacy rights of thousands of people by secretly recording their conversations.

Devices including Google Home and Google Pixel smartphones allegedly recorded conversations in violation of California law even when the user hadn’t triggered their listening function by pressing a button or using a “hot word” like “Okay Google.”

The suit, filed in the Northern District of California by three named plaintiffs, follows a report by VRT NWS, a Belgian news outlet. It said “thousands of Google employees are systematically listening to ...