reminder that the google home tells you that the mic is muted if you call it. it's basically a telescreen. in the case of the echo show, it is literally a telescreen.
Muting puts the microphone on a closed circuit iirc, i.e. it's just a circuit that detects whether you've used the keyword, and is completely separate and inaccessible to its OS beyond it knowing "the user used the keyword", a boolean value if you may.
Exactly, that way it can record your data offline and upload it next time you go back online. They don't send data while muted, they didn't say anything about after...
Technically, per EU and California law, you should be able to download all data they have on you – Google will offer a friendly page with recordings and their transcripts. But who knows if that's all they store? They're a black box.
Yes you do, you trust every paranoid nut spouting conspiracy theories they heard on tiktok - you've just decided to doubt the very clear and logical evidence that refutes them.