It was a new device (already public though) at that time and it wasn’t mandated, I got it for free though. I did want to test it and see how it works and if it

It was a new device (already public though) at that time and it wasn’t mandated, I got it for free though. I did want to test it and see how it works and if it’s useful for me, I just don’t completely trust them and don’t think people should trust large corporations putting microphones in their houses, so I decided to put it in a room where I usually don’t have conversations until I either have a very strong assurance that it is safe and useful enough for me, or give it away to someone who doesn’t have these concerns, which is what I decided to do. If it were mandated though I would have left Google immediately and news of that policy would have probably made its way to HN, so no subtext here.