[cmiles74]

I don't think any consumer is buying a smart phone with the expectation (or intent) that it's recording them all the time, or sometimes, or at the behest of law enforcement, etc. They aren't really thinking about this when they buy a product like the Echo, either, I don't think. Also: a phone without a microphone will be of limited utility on calls. ;-)

The only way to be sure these devices aren't listening to you is to not have one at all. Or, as the person in this article did, take it apart and de-cap the chips to make sure.

In the case of smart phones, I think it's a mistake to assume that switching some of these functions off in the settings will actually have the desired effect: preventing the phone from recording audio without making the owner aware of this recording.