Google Assistant Class Action Says Users Are Recorded

Google Assistant records conversations on phones and Google Home devices, according to a recent class action filed in California.

The Google Assistant program uses voice recognition to answer questions and carry out commands, similar to the Siri service provided by Apple.

Certain phones, including the Google Pixel, are equipped with Google Assistant and the tech giant’s smart home products, including the Google Home, also use the voice recognition program.

Although Google Assistant is supposed to remain dormant until a consumer uses the prompts “OK, Google” or “Hey, Google,” a recent class action lawsuit claims that the program records conversations even when not being used.

According to plaintiffs Asif Kumandan and Melissa Spurr, they did not consent to having their conversations recorded before saying the prompt words. Because they never consented to the recording, Google allegedly violated California state laws by recording their conversations without consent.

California is a “two party” state, meaning that all parties must consent before a communication is recorded. There are several laws in the state which protect consumers from illegal recording actions.

The California Invasion of Privacy Act has recording statutes which are often applied to call recording, but the law can also be applied to the unauthorized recording of conversations.

Kumandan and Spurr claim that Google violates the California Invasion of Privacy Act because it fails to get consumer consent before recording conversations.

“By recording plaintiffs and the class members when they didn’t use hot words or otherwise consent, Google ‘intentionally and without the consent of all parties to a confidential communication’ used an ‘electronic amplifying or recording device to […] record the confidential communication’ in violation of California law,” the Google recording class action claims.

“Had plaintiffs known that their communications would be recorded, they would not have purchased a Google Assistant-enabled device.”

The two plaintiffs seek to represent a Class of consumers who were recorded by a Google Assistant-enabled device without their consent since May 18, 2016. The plaintiffs also propose a subclass of minor children who were recorded by a Google Assistant-enabled device.

In addition to nominal, statutory, and punitive damages, the plaintiffs seek a court order requiring Google to delete all recording of Class Members.

The plaintiffs also want Google to implement future measures to prevent Google Assistant-enabled devices from saving any new recordings without consent.

Google faces similar claims across the country. This month, three plaintiffs filed a class action against the company in Illinois, claiming that the tech giant violated the state’s Biometric Information Privacy Act by collecting audio data. Although fingerprints are the most notable biometrics, the plaintiffs claim that voice recordings constitute biometric information, entitling consumers to protections under state law.

Kumandan and Spurr are represented by Mark N. Todzo and Eric S. Somers of Lexington Law Group; Vincent Briganti, Christian Levis, and Ian Sloss of Lowey Dannenberg PC; and Joseph P. Guglielmo and Erin Green Comite of Scott and Scott Attorneys at Law.

The Google Assistant Recording Class Action Lawsuit is Kumandan, et al., v. Google LLC, Case No. 5:19-cv-04286, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

UPDATE: On Jan. 31, 2020, Google has filed a motion to dismiss a proposed class action lawsuit that claims that Google Assistant records conversations without consent.

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If you live in California and you did not receive a warning when calling a toll-free number, your call may have been recorded in violation of California law, and you may be entitled to compensation. See if you qualify to file a California call recording class action lawsuit.

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