Smart speakers could be listening in on government secrets, UK civil servants warned

Civil servants working from home during the coronavirus pandemic have been warned to disable their smart speakers. These devices constantly listen for their trigger word, such as "Alexa", "Hey Google", or "Hey Siri", before listening actively for commands. However, these devices have been found to occasionally activate without the wake word. Last year, an Alexa device even managed to record a private conversation and send it to another user without anyone's knowledge. At the time, Amazon said the reason was a series of statements its voice assistant mistook for commands.