Smart speakers have been the focus of controversy and concern for some time, particularly with regard to privacy rights. Many people worry their smart devices are listening in on conversations even when the activation word has not been spoken -- and to some extent, those fears are reasonably founded. After news surfaced last summer that Google sent its audio recordings to a third party to be transcribed, many people feared their private lives had been compromised.

This news had some re-evaluating the privacy settings on smart devices, and in some instances, changing the activation phrase to something that might not be so easily triggered. It also called into question the accuracy of smart assistant listening; if you speak a word that's almost but not quite the activation phrase, will it work?

Digital Trends wanted to find out, so we tested Amazon Alexa, Google Home, and Siri to find out which phrases -- if any -- triggered the devices. This is what we found.