Kim Kommando: You phone is listening to everything you say

From America's Digital Goddess:


"A group of researchers from Northeastern University tested the theory. They weren't able to prove or disprove whether our phones are listening (they found no evidence of recorded conversations), but they make an unexpected finding. Apps installed on smartphones have the ability to record your screen and whatever you type, including user names and passwords."

"Your smartphone is similar to smart speakers like the Amazon Echo and Google Home -- they listen for 'wake' words like 'Hey Siri' and 'Okay Google' all the time. These wake words are required for your smartphone to actually start recording. But without these triggers, your voice inputs are processed only within your smartphone and are not sent anywhere, so say the manufacturers. If this temporary voice data is not going anywhere, then what's the problem? In some cases, third-party apps like Facebook or Instagram may still have access to this local data."