© 2021
In touch with the world ... at home on the High Plains
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
KJJP-FM 105.7 is currently operating at very reduced power and signal range using a back-up transmitter. This is because of complicated problems with its very old primary transmitter. Local engineers are currently working on that transmitter and consulting with the manufacturer to diagnose and fix the problems. We apologize for this disruption and service as we work as quickly as possible to restore KJPFM to full power. In the mean time you can always stream either the HPPR mix service or HPPR connect service using the player above or the HPPR app.

OK Google: Where Do You Store Recordings Of My Commands?

You can find your audio commands by visiting your Google <a href="https://history.google.com/history/audio?utm_source=sidenav" target="_blank">voice and audio activity history page</a>.
Ariel Zambelich
/
NPR
You can find your audio commands by visiting your Google voice and audio activity history page.

Sure, our smartphones know a lot about who we are.

If you have an Android smartphone, you may not know that Google saves all of the voice commands you give it. They're archived online in your Google account.

Google says it keeps the audio search information to improve its voice recognition. Android users can opt out, which keeps your recordings anonymous. (Apple also stores voice commands collected by Siri users, though they're not so obviously associated to users.)

You can find your audio commands — as well as other histories, like all of the YouTube videos you've searched for and watched — by visiting your Google history page. You can disable this storage feature by managing your activity.

Otherwise, you can look through and listen to your Google voice searches — all those times you said "OK Google" and asked for directions, set alarms, dictated texts and searched for answers to the many questions that pop in your head throughout the day.

NPR producer Nick Fountain — who apparently has nothing to hide — shared his Google voice archive. Yes, it's an eerie reminder of how much is shared with Google. It also plays like a perfect distillation of life.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.