Google recently changed the default behavior not to keep the recordings.
But that change only affected new users—not existing ones.
Google needs to store these recordings temporarily.
But Google may be storing what you say forever.
Google now makes you opt-in to sending the company your voice recordings.
However, Google only made the change for new users and not existing users.
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The even better news is it’s incredibly easy to do.
To stop this, go to Google’sActivity Controlswebsite.
Scroll to “Voice & Audio Activity” and toggle it off.
In our testing, commands still work.
hit the “Pause” option at the bottom of the warning.
You’ll need to repeat this process with every Google account you’ve connected to your Google Home.
Just choose “Manage Activity” beneath the toggle on theActivity Controlswebsite.
Click “Delete activity by” in the upper left corner of the page.
Choose which recordings you want to delete.
To delete everything, choose the box under “Delete by Date” and select “All Time.”
Finally, click “Delete” to delete the selected recordings.
It’s great that Google enabled a more privacy-sensitive option for new users.
We wish Google had made the change retroactive, however.
Hopefully, Amazon follows in stride and gives everyone similar controls in the future.
