http://www.techradar.com/news/apples-homepod-will-come-with-a-mute-function-to-the-surprise-of-no-one >By their very nature smart speakers need to constantly listen to you, but having a machine directly linked to a major corporation when it could be harvesting private information feels like an invasion of privacy. >All of the major manufacturers of smart speakers claim that you aren’t really being listened to, not in the way that everyone seems to fear, but to assuage these fears, there are mute functions for the microphones in many smart speakers, and now we seem to have confirmation that Apple’s upcoming HomePod will also have the ability to mute its mics.