By Yuan Ren For Mailonline
Published: 15:59 GMT, 20 February 2019 | Updated: 17:14 GMT, 20 February 2019
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Imagine a tiny microphone was planted in a device in your home and you had no idea for months, until this week.
On Tuesday, Google apologised to users of its Nest home security system for not specifying a built-in microphone its hardware details.
Its existence only became apparent when a software update to Nest earlier this month gave users access to the voice-activated helper, Google Assistant on the Nest Guard.
Users then realised that a microphone of some sort must already be inside the hardware to pick up the voice commands.
Google had not previously included the feature as a component of the system in its online product specifications.
The company has said that an 'error' meant the detail was not included in the information about the device, but added that the microphone was 'never intended to be a secret'.
The product page for Nest has since been update to include the microphone.
Google has apologised to users of its Nest Secure alarm system after admitting a microphone lay in its home security device, details of which it had not previously disclosed. The tech giant said an 'error' meant the mic was not listed in the specifications for the product, but that its existence was 'never intended to be a secret'. The news came about when Google announced updates to the Nest system that would allow it to be compatible with Google Assistant, a voice controlled AI software that responds to voice activated commands. Makes say that the mic was initially incorporated into the Nest Guard for future sound-activated features
A Google spokesman said: 'The on-device microphone was never intended to be a secret and should have been listed in the tech specs. That was an
