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Medium reported severity Regulatory Action

Belgian broadcaster says a Google contract reviewer leaked over 1,000 Assistant recordings, some made without the wake phrase, and it identified people in them

On 10 July 2019 the Belgian public broadcaster VRT NWS reported that it had listened to more than a thousand audio excerpts recorded by Google Home smart speakers and the Google Assistant phone app, passed to it by someone working for a Google subcontractor that transcribes Dutch-language recordings to improve Google's speech recognition. VRT said 153 of the excerpts were conversations in which "Okay Google" was clearly not said, and that it could hear addresses and other sensitive information, which let it find and visit people in Flanders who recognised their own or relatives' voices. Google said one of its language reviewers had leaked confidential Dutch audio data, and explained that its devices rarely have "false accepts", when background noise or words are interpreted as the hotword. Google suspended human review of Assistant audio in Europe, and the Hamburg data protection authority began an urgency procedure under Article 66 of the GDPR to stop the reviews for three months, according to TechCrunch.

AI system
Google Assistant
Google
Occurred
2019
Reported
10 July 2019
Event location
Belgium
What the AI did
Received personal information about the person
Reported harm
Other Material Harm
Whose AI use
AI role unknown
Setting
Privacy · Everyday life
Evidence
AI involvement supported · Causal attribution supported · 3 sources
8 claims: 1 documented, 7 reported. 5 open questions
People reported harmed
Not reliably quantifiable from the sources

AI system as recorded: Google Assistant voice assistant on Google Home smart speakers and the Google Assistant smartphone app, with hotword detection and speech recognition; excerpts of its recordings were transcribed by contract language reviewers

What Happened

The recordings. VRT NWS, the news service of the Flemish public broadcaster, reported on 10 July 2019 that Google employees and subcontractors listen to excerpts of audio recorded by Google Home smart speakers and the Google Assistant smartphone app. Someone working for a Google subcontractor showed VRT the system used to transcribe recordings, and VRT listened to more than a thousand Dutch-language excerpts. VRT says Google's terms state that what users say to the Assistant is recorded and stored, but do not mention that people can listen to excerpts.

Recordings made without the wake phrase. VRT says 153 of the excerpts were conversations in which the command "Okay Google" was clearly not given, and that the speaker starts recording when someone nearby says a word that sounds a bit like it. It describes unintended recordings of bedroom conversations, conversations between parents and their children, rows and professional phone calls, and a reviewer who described a recording of a woman in definite distress. Google's own post after the report says devices with the Assistant built in may "rarely" have a false accept, when its software interprets background noise or words as the hotword.

Identification of the people heard. VRT says it could clearly hear addresses and other sensitive information in the recordings, which made it easy to find the people involved and play them their own recordings. One man recognised his own voice; a couple recognised the voices of their son and their grandchild. Google said the excerpts reviewed are not linked to personal or identifiable information.

Response. Google said one of its language reviewers had violated its data security policies by leaking confidential Dutch audio data and that it was investigating. TechCrunch reported that Google suspended the reviews across Europe from 10 July, notified the Irish Data Protection Commission of a breach, and that the Hamburg data protection authority began an urgency procedure under Article 66 of the GDPR, saying it had significant doubts that the Assistant complied with EU data-protection law.

Reported harm

VRT NWS says it heard more than a thousand leaked Google Assistant recordings, 153 made without "Okay Google", and identified people in them; Google confirmed a reviewer leaked Dutch audio (loss of privacy).

Outcome

Unknown

Google said its security and privacy teams were investigating the reviewer who leaked the Dutch audio and that it would review its safeguards. According to TechCrunch, Google suspended manual audio reviews of Google Assistant across Europe on 10 July 2019, Google Ireland notified the Irish Data Protection Commission of a breach, and the Hamburg data protection authority began an Article 66 urgency procedure; the Irish regulator said Google had committed to continue the suspension for at least three months from 1 August 2019. Later changes to Google's review practices were not inspected for this record.

What remains unknown

  • When the leaked recordings were made.
  • Whether the identified people's recordings were among those made without the wake phrase.
  • Whether the people identified were the owners or users of the devices.
  • How many people were heard in the leaked excerpts.
  • What the Hamburg authority finally decided and how Google later changed its review practices (not inspected).

What the evidence supports

AI involvement: supported. The Google Assistant recorded audio from Google Home speakers and the Assistant app into Google's speech service; VRT says 153 of the leaked excerpts were conversations in which "Okay Google" was not said, and Google states that its software sometimes interprets background noise or words as the hotword (a false accept). Excerpts held by the Assistant service were given to contract language reviewers, one of whom, Google confirms, leaked Dutch audio; VRT used addresses and other details in the recordings to identify people, who recognised their own and relatives' voices. VRT says most of the recordings it heard were made consciously; the AI system's own contribution is the capture of conversations without the wake phrase, and VRT does not say whether the people it identified were heard in those recordings.

8 claims: 1 documented, 7 reported. What the statuses mean

Reported Excerpts of audio recorded by Google Home speakers and the Google Assistant app were transcribed by contract language reviewers, and more than a thousand Dutch-language excerpts reached VRT NWS from someone working for a Google subcontractor.

Causal attribution. Reported by VRT from its own access to the excerpts; Google confirms that a language reviewer leaked Dutch audio data.

  • vrt.be(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'VRT NWS was able to listen to more than a thousand excerpts recorded via Google Assistant'; 'In the aftermath of the Amazon case, we were able to talk to someone who works for a Google subcontractor'
  • blog.google(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'we partner with language experts around the world who understand the nuances and accents of a specific language'; 'one of these language reviewers has violated our data security policies by leaking confidential Dutch audio data'
Reported VRT says 153 of the excerpts were conversations in which the command "Okay Google" was clearly not given, recorded when the speaker reacted to words that sound like it; it says most of the recordings it heard were made consciously.

Causal attribution. VRT's count from its own listening; Google does not give a count for the leaked set.

  • vrt.be(opens in new tab) supports · English
    '153 of which were conversations that should never have been recorded and during which the command ‘Okay Google’ was clearly not given.'; 'as soon as someone in the vicinity utters a word that sounds a bit like ’Okay Google’, Google Home starts to record.'; 'Most of these recordings were made consciously, but Google also listens to conversations that should never have been recorded'
Documented Google says devices with the Assistant built in may rarely have a "false accept", when its software interprets background noise or words as the hotword.

Causal attribution. The company's own published description of how its hotword detection can misfire.

  • blog.google(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'Rarely, devices that have the Google Assistant built in may experience what we call a “false accept.”'; 'that our software interpreted to be the hotword'
Reported VRT says it could hear addresses and other sensitive information in the recordings, found the people involved, and played them their recordings; one man recognised his own voice and a couple recognised the voices of their son and grandchild.

Causal attribution. VRT's own account of identifying people from the leaked recordings.

  • vrt.be(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'In these recordings we could clearly hear addresses and other sensitive information. This made it easy for us to find the people involved and confront them with the audio recordings.'; 'We let ordinary Flemish people hear some of their own recordings.'; 'immediately recognise the voice of their son and their grandchild'
Reported VRT describes unintended recordings of bedroom conversations, conversations between parents and children, rows and professional calls, and a reviewer who described a recording of a woman in definite distress.

Causal attribution. VRT's description of the content, including a reviewer's account relayed by VRT.

  • vrt.be(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'bedroom conversations, conversations between parents and their children, but also blazing rows and professional phone calls containing lots of private information'; 'he heard a woman who was in definite distress'
Reported Google said the excerpts reviewed were not linked to personal or identifiable information and that reviewers are directed not to transcribe background conversations.

Causal attribution. Google's position, recorded as context to VRT's identification of people.

  • vrt.be(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'These are not linked to any personal or identifiable information'
  • blog.google(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'Audio snippets are not associated with user accounts as part of the review process, and reviewers are directed not to transcribe background conversations or other noises'
Reported According to TechCrunch, Google suspended manual reviews of Assistant audio across Europe on 10 July 2019 after learning of the leak, and Google Ireland filed a breach notification with the Irish Data Protection Commission.

Causal attribution. Google's and the Irish regulator's statements as relayed by TechCrunch.

  • techcrunch.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'taking the decision to manually suspend audio reviews of Google Assistant across the whole of Europe, and doing so on July 10, after learning of the data leak'; 'Google Ireland filed an Article 33 breach notification'
Reported According to TechCrunch, the Hamburg data protection authority began an urgency procedure under Article 66 of the GDPR against the human reviews, and the Irish regulator said Google had committed to continue the suspension for at least three months from 1 August 2019.

Causal attribution. Regulators' statements as relayed by TechCrunch; the Hamburg statement itself was not read.

  • techcrunch.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'begin an “urgency procedure” under Article 66'; 'have committed to the continued suspension of processing for a period of at least three months starting today (1 August)'

Sources

3 sources inspected. Sources that repeat one account do not corroborate each other.

How the sources were read, and where the events happened

Read in English on 2026-10-28 (vrt.be, HTTP 200, the broadcaster's English-language version of its report). The embedded video report was not watched. No translation was needed; the research agent (an AI) read the text directly. Applies to s1.

Read in English on 2026-10-28 (blog.google, HTTP 200 after redirect to the current blog path). The page metadata gives a publication date of 11 July 2019. No translation was needed. Applies to s2.

Read in English on 2026-10-28 (techcrunch.com, HTTP 200). It relays the Hamburg authority's German statement, an Irish Data Protection Commission statement and Google statements; the Hamburg statement itself was not read (its old URL returned 404). Its account of the leak relays VRT. No translation was needed. Applies to s3.

Event countries: Belgium. Affected-person countries: Belgium. Court countries: Unknown.

VRT says it played recordings to ordinary Flemish people it identified from the excerpts, which places the identified people and the disclosure to them in Belgium. The reviewers worked on Dutch recordings for Flanders and the Netherlands; no Dutch person is described.

Reviewed for publication 2026-10-28: Published as an actual disclosure of private information captured by an AI voice assistant: VRT NWS heard more than a thousand Assistant recordings leaked by a contract reviewer, 153 made without the wake phrase, and identified people from them; Google confirmed the leak and described false accepts of its hotword detection. The harm counted is the disclosure of conversations captured without the wake phrase; VRT says most recordings were made consciously, so the people it identified are not counted. Regulatory responses are attributed to TechCrunch's report of the regulators' statements.

People described

People heard in leaked Google Assistant recordings that VRT NWS says were made without the wake phrase, in bedroom conversations, conversations between parents and children, rows and professional calls; their number is not reported. VRT also identified people from the recordings, including a couple's son and grandchild, but does not say their recordings were among those made without the wake phrase.

People reported harmed in this case

Not reliably quantifiable from the sources

VRT NWS says 153 of the more than a thousand excerpts it heard were conversations recorded without "Okay Google" being said; those are the recordings the AI system captured without the speakers' knowledge, and the number of people heard in them is not reported, so the count is unquantified. VRT says most of the recordings were made consciously, and it does not say whether the people it identified (a man who recognised his own voice; a couple who recognised their son and grandchild) were heard in recordings made without the wake phrase, so they are not counted.

Counted once within this case. The same person may appear in other cases. This count does not establish AI causation.

Tags

#voice-assistant#smart-speaker#false-activation#human-review#recording-leak#privacy#gdpr#regulator-action

Cite this case

Compiled per our published methodology: verification statuses, sourcing standards, and corrections process.

APA

NOPE. (2026). Belgian broadcaster says a Google contract reviewer leaked over 1,000 Assistant recordings, some made without the wake phrase, and it identified people in them. AI incidents. https://nope.net/incidents/2019-flanders-google-assistant-recordings-leaked-by-contract-reviewer-some-captured-without-wake-word

BibTeX

@misc{2019_flanders_google_assistant_recordings_leaked_by_contract_reviewer_some_captured_without_wake_word,
  title = {Belgian broadcaster says a Google contract reviewer leaked over 1,000 Assistant recordings, some made without the wake phrase, and it identified people in them},
  author = {NOPE},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {AI incidents},
  url = {https://nope.net/incidents/2019-flanders-google-assistant-recordings-leaked-by-contract-reviewer-some-captured-without-wake-word}
}

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