A software bug in Google's Home Mini smart speaker left the device recording everything and transmitting the recordings to Google's servers.

An early review unit of the Google Home Mini was found to be eavesdropping on technology reviewer Artem Russakovskii, due to an overly sensitive touch mechanism that caused the device to activate continuously. As a result, the product recorded and sent audio snippets back to Google without the user's knowledge.

Google confirmed acknowledged the problem and subsequently disabled the touch-to-activate feature. The company also modified the hardware of the device to prevent similar issues in the future.

The Home Mini was replaced by Google's Nest Mini in 2019.