{"id":19119,"date":"2022-07-21T11:06:34","date_gmt":"2022-07-21T16:06:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theamericangenius.com\/housing\/?p=19119"},"modified":"2022-07-21T11:10:53","modified_gmt":"2022-07-21T16:10:53","slug":"google-nest-hub-max-updates-are-the-creepiest-riskiest-yet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theamericangenius.com\/housing\/real-estate-tech\/google-nest-hub-max-updates-are-the-creepiest-riskiest-yet\/","title":{"rendered":"Google Nest Hub Max updates are the creepiest, riskiest, yet"},"content":{"rendered":"

In a recent update, the Google Nest Hub Max took a leaping swan dive<\/a> into the uncanny valley of smart home technology – and it doesn\u2019t look like it\u2019ll be leaving anytime soon. <\/p>\n

The update in question allows Nest Hub Max users looking to ask the smart home appliance a question to ditch the \u201cOK Google<\/em>\u201d catchphrase in favor of simply looking at the camera and talking; while this may be convenient in the moment, the long-term implications are terrifying.<\/p>\n

The Nest Hub Max\u2019s \u201cLook and Talk\u201d feature is, to Google\u2019s credit, turned off by default, though whether or not it will stay that way through subsequent updates is anyone\u2019s guess. <\/p>\n

In order to use the feature, Nest Hub Max owners must ensure that the camera is uncovered and the unit is in a location that allows for easy \u201ceye contact.\u201d<\/p>\n

Once enabled, a user can look at the camera and make a request or ask a question rather than having to utter the tragically complicated \u201cOK Google<\/em>\u201d and then wait a small eternity for the Nest Hub Max to acknowledge their mortal presence. <\/p>\n

Obviously, there are some pretty substantial privacy concerns to accompany this feature. While several experts in advertising, ethics, and cybersecurity have repeatedly assured users that their phones are not listening<\/a> to them (outside of some specific app permissions, a claim we don’t completely buy), the \u201cLook and Talk\u201d feature changes that.<\/p>\n

\"google<\/p>\n

If you think for one moment that Google won\u2019t use this convenience as a possibility to harvest as much audible data from you as possible, you probably haven\u2019t been paying attention. <\/p>\n

The combination of a microphone that is always listening and a camera that has the most advantageous vantage point in your home for easy looking means that the Nest Hub Max can take in infinitely more data than before – and that\u2019s saying something. <\/strong><\/p>\n

Of course, some schools of thought will dismiss this notion as unnecessarily alarmist. Surely Google already has lots of data on you \u2014 so much so that they couldn\u2019t stand to gain that much more from seeing and hearing your home, right? <\/p>\n

Unfortunately, this is a concession that we cannot afford to make, mainly because the concept of privacy in one\u2019s home should be protected at all costs. <\/p>\n

\n

“The combination of a microphone that is always listening and a camera that has the most advantageous vantage point in your home for easy looking means that the Nest Hub Max can take in infinitely more data than before.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n

With the Look and Talk feature enabled, it isn\u2019t too far of a stretch to imagine your Nest Hub Max history \u2014 something that could easily contain intimate footage or other sensitive information \u2014 getting shared with law enforcement because of something that happened audibly next door. This is something that Ring already does<\/a>, so it\u2019s a worst-case scenario that is both too awful and too plausible to allow.<\/p>\n

Luckily, this is still an optional feature \u2014 and, in case you accidentally activated it, you can find options to turn off Look and Talk in the Settings section of your Nest Hub Max. Once Settings is open, go to Google Assistant in the \u201cFeatures\u201d section, tap Face Match, and find the section for Look and Talk. If it says \u201cturn on Look and Talk\u201d, your Nest Hub Max\u2019s Look and Talk feature is already off. As it should stay. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Google Nest Hub Max rolled out features to end the dreaded “Ok Google” wake phrase, but at what cost? Only privacy and security, that’s all.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":337375,"featured_media":19122,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"wds_primary_category":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[93],"tags":[525,2329,1234],"class_list":["post-19119","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-real-estate-tech","tag-google","tag-google-nest-hub-max","tag-real-estate-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/theamericangenius.com\/housing\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/07\/google-next-hub-max.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theamericangenius.com\/housing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19119","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theamericangenius.com\/housing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theamericangenius.com\/housing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theamericangenius.com\/housing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/337375"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theamericangenius.com\/housing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19119"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/theamericangenius.com\/housing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19119\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19129,"href":"https:\/\/theamericangenius.com\/housing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19119\/revisions\/19129"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theamericangenius.com\/housing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19122"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theamericangenius.com\/housing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19119"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theamericangenius.com\/housing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19119"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theamericangenius.com\/housing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19119"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}