Silkie Carlo, director of UK-based privacy campaign group Big Brother Watch, said the incident would do little to help public trust around smart home devices.
“It is hard to believe Google cares about people’s privacy after selling a security product with a secret microphone in it,” she said.
“This appears to be deceptive rather than a ‘mistake’, which is incredibly damaging for public trust in Google. Many of our worries about smart home devices appear to be proving true.
“This market is normalising the disturbing notion of tech giants constant listening within the privacy of our homes. Google should be held to account for wrongly advertising this product.”
Read more:
BBC: Google admits error over hidden microphone
Independent: Google says it put hidden microphone in home alarm system and didn’t tell customers
Washington Post: Google failed to notify customers it put microphones in Nest security systems