Guests and your Google connected home devices

Anyone invited into your home may be able to interact with your Google connected home devices and services. For example, anyone in your home, including a guest, may be able to activate the speaker and display devices in your home by saying, "Ok Google," “Hey Google,” or using a different activation method such as a press and hold on your device. To better understand how Google protects your privacy when you use our connected home devices and services, continue reading below and read the Google Nest privacy FAQs. You can also learn more about Google Assistant and your privacy.

Visibility of guest interactions 

If someone interacts with your Google connected home device via Google Assistant, and the device does not recognize their voice, their activity on the device (like things they ask Google Assistant) may be stored in your Google Account. As the device owner, you can access this activity at g.co/assistant/yourdata (the audio recordings of this activity are not stored in your Google Account). If you allow guests to use your device, be sure they understand that their activity on the device may be stored by Google in your Google Account and that you can view and delete that information.

Alternatively, you or your guests can say “Hey Google, turn on Guest Mode.” While the device is in Guest Mode, Google automatically deletes audio recordings and Google Assistant activity from the device owner’s account.

Learn more about Guest Mode.

Others can add their own accounts to your device by setting up Voice Match. If they do this, their Google Assistant activity will be stored in their own Google Account at myactivity.google.com.

If you’re using a Google Nest Wifi or a Google Wifi device, note that when guests use your Wi-Fi network, some of their information (such as IP and MAC addresses and usage data) is associated with your account, and can be seen through your Google Home app, as applicable. 

Limiting guests' ability to access your information

If you do not set up multi-user functionality on your device so that your speaker or display can recognize your voice (that is, by setting up Voice Match on the device), anyone in your home can ask about information that you’ve made available to your device when they interact with it. Additionally, if your device’s multi-user functionality mistakes a recording of your voice or someone else's voice as you, your device may convey your information to that user.

To prevent others from accessing private information like reminders and calendar entries from your device, you can turn off personal results in the Google Home app. This can be set device-by-device, so you can give a device in your bedroom different access to your information than a device in your kitchen.

You can also say “Hey Google, turn on Guest Mode.” While the device is in Guest Mode, Google Assistant won’t say or show personal results. Anyone in your home (including guests) can turn off Guest Mode by saying “Hey Google, turn off Guest Mode.”

Learn more about privacy controls on your shared devices with Guest Mode.