Hey Alexa, come clean about how much you're really recording us

We're learning an important lesson about cutting-edge voice technology: Amazon's Alexa is always listening. Putting live microphones in our homes has always been an out-there idea. But tech companies successfully marketed talking speakers such as the Amazon Echo and Google Home to millions by assuring they only record us when we give a "wake word." That turns out to be a misnomer. These devices are always "awake," passively listening for the command to activate, such as "Alexa," "O.K. Google," or "Hey Siri."