Earlier this month, Google announced that owners of the Nest Secure smart home security system would be gaining access to Google Assistant. Great news you may think, but there's only one problem. Assistant requires a microphone to work, and Google never disclosed that Nest Secure had one built-in to the Nest Guard base station.

Thoughts immediately turn to whether Google has been listening in on people's homes through Nest Secure without their knowledge or blessing, something Google says it has never done. As Business Insider reports, the search giant admits not making it clear Nest Secure included a microphone "was an error on our part."

The full statement from a Google spokesperson regarding this oversight reads as follows, "The on-device microphone was never intended to be a secret and should have been listed in the tech specs. That was an error on our part ... The microphone has never been on, and is only activated when users specifically enable the option. Security systems often use microphones to provide features that rely on sound sensing. We included the mic on the device so that we can potentially offer additional features to our users in the future, such as the ability to detect broken glass."

Mistakes such as this don't do Google any favors when it comes to building trust with consumers. If the microphone had been active by default then there would be calls for Google to share what data it had collected.

Now we know the microphone exists, we also know it is turned off by default. However, the addition of Google Assistant support will make it very tempting to turn on, especially when you consider it allows you to arm and disarm the security system with your voice rather than relying on a fob.