About the audio recordings setting
When you speak to Google services, Google uses its audio recognition technologies to process your audio and respond to you. For example, if you touch the mic icon to search by voice, Google’s audio recognition technologies translate what you say into words and phrases that Search looks up in an index to give you the most relevant results.
Web & App Activity saves the things you do on Google sites, apps, and services in your Google Account and can include associated info like location. The optional audio recordings setting lets you also save audio recordings with Web & App Activity when you interact with Google Search, Assistant, and Maps. The audio recordings setting is off unless you choose to turn it on.
This setting affects anywhere you’re signed in to Search, Assistant, and Maps, for example, the Assistant on both the Google Home app and a Google Home smart speaker.
This setting does not affect audio saved on your device or by other Google services. Audio saved by other Google services, like Google Voice and YouTube, is managed in those services. Audio may also be saved on your device, for example, to recognize your voice if you’ve set up Voice Match. On-device audio can be used to improve audio recognition technologies on the device. Those improvements can be sent to Google, without audio recordings, to help develop and improve audio recognition technologies and the Google services that use them, for example, when the Improve Gboard setting is on, Gboard can improve recognition for everyone without sending what you say to the server.
You can visit account.google.com to see this and your other Google Account settings and learn about the data Google continues to collect and why at policies.google.com.
How audio recordings are used
Google uses audio saved by this setting to develop and improve its audio recognition technologies and the Google services that use them, like Google Assistant. For example, Google improved automatic speech recognition for data-scarce languages by training a single model on audio from data-rich languages, which allowed for real-time multilingual speech recognition.
The audio review process helps services better understand what people say to them. Trained reviewers analyze a sample of audio by listening to, transcribing, and annotating it, so they can better interpret the audio, for example, what someone is saying in a noisy environment or in a particular language. We take steps to protect your privacy as part of this process, for example, by disassociating your audio from your account when reviewers analyze it.
Your audio recordings can also be used to better recognize your voice over time. For example, your devices that have Voice Match enabled may better recognize when you say “Hey Google.”
When the audio recordings setting is on
When the audio recordings setting is on for your Web & App Activity, Google will save audio recordings when you interact with Google Search, Assistant, and Maps, in your Google Account with your Web & App Activity.
Audio is saved when your device detects an activation. Devices may support different types of activations, for example, saying “Hey Google,” squeezing your device, pressing the talk button on a headset, or touching the mic icon. Some devices include a few seconds before the activation to catch the complete request.
Sometimes, audio might be saved if your device incorrectly detects an activation, like a noise that sounds like “Hey Google.” We’re constantly working to make our systems better at reducing unintended activations.
If you use your device without an internet connection, audio may be saved in your account once you return online.
When the audio recordings setting is off
When the audio recordings setting is off for your Web & App Activity, Google will not save audio recordings when you interact with Google Search, Assistant, and Maps, in your Google Account with your Web & App Activity.
Previously saved audio is not deleted when this setting is off. You can delete it with your Web & App Activity at activity.google.com.
Google will continue to use its audio recognition technologies to process your audio and respond to you when you speak to Google services.
How to manage audio recordings
You have several options for managing audio recordings saved with Web & App Activity.
You can listen to your audio at activity.google.com. You can also choose an auto-delete option or delete it manually with your Web & App Activity. Google may delete audio sooner, once it's no longer needed for development and improvement, for example, less audio may be needed for some languages over time.
You can also download your audio at takeout.google.com.
You can choose to turn the audio recordings setting on or off any time under the Web & App Activity setting at account.google.com.
Learn about other data Google saves and why and how data is used to improve our services, including how technologies keep your information safe and how controls help you manage your privacy across our services, at policies.google.com.