See people, what I've been saying all along is true.  Google IS evil!  Now d'yer believe me?

I never trusted Google, never will.... and this shit is the reason why.  So glad I ditched my Android tablet yonks ago for something far superior in every respect.... a Windows 8.1 tablet.

As for Google Chrome, or any of its other software/offerings... NOT on any machine I own.

Makes you wonder if it's not time to uninstall Chrome & reformat.  And if even that will work.

BTW, some defensive line you've got there, Doc.

Thanx, Daiwa...I'm on the lookout as to how to get rid of that supposedly removed "module". The screenie just proves the path, etc. still exist. So...if I can't, I'll just say nasty stuff about Google while I'm on the 'puter.

Mark...when you navigated to this page, you got the module. Bahaha. I made sure to zap you wivvit.

This is somewhat conspiratorial.

Unless it was actually transmitting data, this is a case of "Google stealth updated their software with something annoying" and not some terrible attempt to spy on people.

Clearly, it wasn't, because everyone would have noticed the drain on their bandwidth as they started sending a streaming audio dump to Google.  It's somewhat hard to do talk to text without using a microphone.  It wasn't a very stealthy update either, I saw a commercial for it somewhere.

It is annoying though, I have a real keyboard, I use talk to text on this stupid smart phone, not my pc.

Will be removed (hopefully) in coming version.

https://code.google.com/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=500922#c31

In light of this issue, we have decided to remove the hotwording component entirely from Chromium. As it is not open source, it does not belong in the open source browser.

Chromium builds from r335874 (version 45) onwards will have hotwording disabled by default and will not download the module. There is no way to enable this feature at runtime. Google Chrome users will be unaffected (although, as always, will have to opt in using settings before the hotword module will activate).

If you want a version of Chromium with hotwording, you have to build it from source, with the GYP define "enable_hotwording=1" (or equivalently, the GN arg "enable_hotwording = true"). This will produce a custom build of Chromium that downloads the proprietary hotword component.

I have also added a field in the chrome://voicesearch page (in 45 onwards) to show you whether the hotword module is installable. If that says "No", then it is not possible to opt in to hotwording (either because the language is unsupported, or because it is a Chromium build).

read something about this a few days ago?

http://www.ghacks.net/2015/06/19/googles-in-hot-water-after-dropping-binary-code-in-chromium-for-linux/

... i thought the problem wasn't the thing existed, but that it was in binary with no source code.

IMO a windows OS anything newer than 7 is along the same lines with unknown "phone home" crap. I read a few years ago that Intel was embedding firmware on newer PC's that could send information without your knowledge, or consent. Its almost to the point to where damn near "nothing" is "safe" anymore.

Is it time to just "pull the plug" yet?

Yes, the safest way to use your computer is without electricity.

If you set it up correctly you get a really effective......

.....bookend...

I would thought you would need two computers for bookends but then if you have a computer you would see no need to have books........

This little Craig runs Android. If Google is listeniing they're gonna have a field day he he..

A tablet or laptop...any device falls way short of the tactile, and olfactory feelings of a 'real' book.

he was talking about removal from Chromium. you do not use Chromium. you use Chrome.

also that removal from Chromium has more to do with licensing than with privacy.

you see the paths. it should be safe to just delete the extension. i'm on stable, German. the extension is not even here yet (although i see the same path), but Chrome works fine without it. we usually get these features later than Americans.

be more careful about the shared module. removing it might break things that require audio capabilities. like Skype for Web for example.

such a page usually displays the content of a settings INI file or settings SQL database. it doesn't prove anything actually.

but then "OK Google" is a minor issue actually. that's "just" the main application for most users. and this could be easily avoided by using Chromium or Yandex.Browser instead of Chrome for example.

with Windows 10 there'll be "Hey Cortana" on os level. and this will be what the NSA, FBI, etc. will use.

If anyone that can't tell that their computer is sending streaming audio to the NSA by using VCS to spy on them, they deserve the invasion of privacy...

This isn't surprising. Did anyone read the ToS on Facebook's app for their phones? In the fine print you grant them access to your phones camera and speaker if you install their Facebook app so you can access FB just to send texts. Of course it says it's for collecting "consumer data", yeah...uh huh. I got something Zuckerberg can collect alright. Did you know the CIA publicly gave him an award? Gee, now why do you think they would do that? Hmm?

Good One pointing this out and keeping it in the public eye, Doc.   People are simply unaware of the corporate tyranny and spying going on and it's all government mandated and collected as well.