Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by schiffern 659 days ago
> How would you activate certain voice commands if it wasn't listening to all?

One common implementation is to use a locally detected wake word (described in another post), but I've also seen many which require you to hold down a button to speak voice commands. Both solutions answer your technical question satisfactorily.

However, this is how I (and most people) expect voice commands will work based on plain reading of the fine print: the voice commands will be transmitted, but it won't establish 24/7 audio surveillance of your house.

The fine print (and therefore the "explicit" "consent" so obtained) is deceptive and fraudulent.

---

However your real concern is apparently a trust question, not a technical question. The technical question was apparently just a distraction.

Obviously if you don't trust the implementer not to lie about their implementation (ie you assume fraud at the outset), then any microphone (or speaker for that matter!) could be a 24/7 listening bug regardless of trigger implementation or EULA fine print. I see that in another reply you already moved the goalposts thusly.[1] ;)

[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41424684