Re:Google is nerfing all Home Minis because mine spied on ev...
by jerf on Wednesday October 11, 2017 @11:22AM
(#15450480)
If you're going to be cynical, be properly cynical, not just half cynical. Nobody has any use for a spying hardware appliance that tells the user all about how it's listening to every word you say and logs it in a clearly visible location. Obviously this was not intentional on any level.
According to Google.
as well as an unspecified small number of others.
Nothing to worry about, I'm sure. Probably no way to exploit those issues. Probably.
Google never intended for it to happen
Obviously, it's a rookie mistake that anyone could make. And that's why I'm willing to forgive and forget when it comes to multibillion dollar global businesses that make billions more off of the private information they gather and store. Just like I did after Equifax goofed earlier this year. And Yahoo the year before that. And …
Look, I get it that the Google PR people have been super nice and accommodating and embarrassed about the whole thing. Maybe the writer is friends with people on the team, or there might be a job at Google down the road. And, of course, some writers don't want to lose access to free trials and potential interviews.
But I really would like to see specialized news outlets show more backbone when it comes to screw-ups, and not downplay or gloss over serious privacy issues such as this, or take Google's word about what happened. It's a fair question to ask whether the problem(s) may still be present in every other Google device … and if they are potentially exploitable.