When Google announced that they were going to buy Nest for $3.2 billion, the first reaction people had was what’s Google going to do with all of their data? Think about it for a second. The Nest thermostat tracks when you’re home and which rooms you’re in so that it can intelligently adjust the temperature in your house. Nest’s CEO, speaking at a conference in Munich, has said that Nest’s data will not be shared with Google, and that if the company does change its privacy policy, users will have to opt-in.
Is this good PR or can Nest still screw people over? The optimist in me wants to say that everything is fine, but realistically speaking, the number of people that care about the small details in their privacy policy can be counted on one hand. Most people will be prompted with news that a software update is available for their Nest, and that in order to install it, they should hit OK. Once they hit OK, they’ll also agree to the new privacy policy, and will be none the wiser. Taking a step back, the mere fact that people were angry that Google bought Nest should have the alarm bells going off in Mountain View. Once upon a time, people loved this company and trusted them with all their personal information. Now, thanks to Google+ being shoved down everyone’s throat and Google combining data about you from their various services have people up in arms. Time changes everything, I guess.
