There have been reports of smart speakers recording private conversations and sending them to the cloud, even when not activated.

In 2019, Amazon was fined $1.7 million by the US Federal Trade Commission after it was revealed that its Echo smart speakers had recorded users' private conversations without their consent. While Amazon claimed that these recordings were only made when users accidentally activated the Alexa voice assistant, the FTC found that the devices had also been recording user conversations even when they were not in use.

In the same year, it was revealed that Google's Nest Mini smart speakers had also been recording user conversations without their consent. While Google claimed that these recordings were only made when users opted in to a specific feature, it emerged that some devices had been recording conversations even when this feature was turned off.

However, it is important to note that there have also been cases where smart speakers have been hacked and used to eavesdrop on users' private conversations. For example, in 2018, researchers from the University of California, Berkeley demonstrated how they were able to hack into an Amazon Echo smart speaker and use it to listen in on nearby conversations. In this case, the researchers exploited a security vulnerability in the speaker's software to gain access to its microphone.

It is not yet known how widespread the problem of smart speakers recording private conversations is. However, these reports raise concerns about the privacy risks posed by these devices. As such, manufacturers should take steps to ensure that smart speakers only record user conversations when users have consented and are provided with adequate security measures to protect users' privacy.