Peer-reviewed research
When Speakers Are All Ears: Characterizing Misactivations of IoT Smart Speakers
Daniel J. Dubois et al., Proceedings on Privacy Enhancing Technologies (PETS 2020), 2020
Read the originalRead on October 17, 2026
- What it is
- A controlled test by Northeastern University and Imperial College London that played 125 hours of Netflix shows to smart speakers and recorded every time a device woke without its wake word. The authors report how often each device activated, how long the activations lasted and whether the speakers appeared to record constantly.
- How much weight it carries
- Peer-reviewed and accepted at PETS 2020, with full data and software published. The test used TV audio, not live conversation, and the authors say their findings cannot be generalized beyond that source material. Devices and software have changed since 2019, so the rates are a snapshot of those models.
Facts taken from this source
- In the 2020 study, the second-generation Amazon Echo Dot averaged 0.40 activations per hour across all the TV shows tested, tied with the Harman Kardon Invoke for the most activations of the devices tested.
“the Invoke/Cortana and Echo Dot 2nd generation with ... (0.40 activations per hour), followed by Homepod (0.38 activations per hour)” (Key findings)
- In the 2020 study, a Google Home Mini playing the TV show The West Wing averaged 0.95 activations per hour without the wake word, which the authors singled out as a notable case.
“a notable case is Google Home Mini, which while playing The West Wing exhibited 0.95 average activations per hour” (Key findings)
- Across all the TV shows tested in the 2020 study, the Apple HomePod averaged 0.38 activations per hour without the wake word. That was just behind the Invoke with Cortana and the second-generation Echo Dot, which averaged 0.40.
“followed by Homepod (0.38 activations per hour)” (Key findings)
- In a 2020 study of smart speakers exposed to TV audio, the authors found no evidence that the devices constantly record conversations. They did find that the devices wake up frequently, usually for short intervals.
“we found no evidence to support this. The devices do wake up frequently, but often for short intervals” (Key findings)
Pages that rest on this source
- Does Alexa store your voice recordings?Question
- Voice Assistants vs Dictation: Siri, Alexa, GeminiGuide
- Do Companies Listen to Your Voice Recordings?Guide
- How often do voice assistants activate by accident?Question
- False accept (accidental activation)Glossary
- Wake wordGlossary
- Are smart speakers still popular?Question
- Is my phone listening to me for ads?Question