Now that Nest is owned by Google, many people have brought up some very legitimate concerns about privacy and are curious if and how they’re Nest data could be used by Google. The folks at Nest are trying to assuage those fears, and have been speaking out a bit on this topic, including Nilay Patel’s interview with Tony Fadell, CEO at Nest.
One key quote from that interview really stands out to me.
But you’re not going to share data with Google down the line.
Right. At this point, there are no changes to our terms of service, and that’s it. That’s all I can say.
I understand that Fadell can’t speak with certainty on the future of Nest with Google, so that probably explains his vagueness about the future. I’m not sure that comforts me though. I’m not an uber-privacy-minded person, but there’s something a bit unnerving about Google being able to access information about my home and away habits, energy usage, etc…
Let’s hope that Nest will stay Nest, and not succumb to the data-monger that is Google, but I’m afraid that might be inevitable. In closing, Nest with caution.