Google will acquire Nest for $3.2 billion, but fans of advanced thermostat and smoke detector maker aren”t buying it. In fact, citing privacy and security concerns, some Google Nest users have stopped using the devices and plan to seek refunds.
For example, on the Nest Community user forums, some users are asking for an official buyback program in the wake of the company”s sellout to searchzilla.
“I”d like to make a suggestion that Nest implement a buyback program for those customers who do not wish to have Google installed in their home monitoring all of their home data, including energy usage, vacation timing, home activity, and energy savings,” writes Nest user RedOak “Given Google”s track record of privacy violations, I believe this would good business decision by casino online Nest.”
A Seattle Times writeup tells similar angst filled tales, quoting a pair of high-profile users that are very much against the Google Nest deal.
“Google doesn’t respect boundaries,” states Marc Rotenberg, president of the Electronic Privacy Information Center and a frequent Google critic.
“@paranoidroid: It’s a shame Apple didn’t buy Nest. I feel much more comfortable when the business model is built around selling hardware. Not the data.”
“We sign up for one or more services, and the (terms of service) to which we agree state Google will do X, Y and Z with the information we hand over,” says David Chartier, a freelance tech writer and long-time Nest user. “Then down the road it adds A, B and C, which were never part of the original deal or even scope of possibilities. A year later it tosses on D, E and F, to which you must agree if you are going to continue using these services that now contain increasingly important portions of your work and personal data.”
Google Nest: Making Themselves at Home
And, that”s the fundamental problem — the Google business model is all about collecting user information and using it, either internally or selling it to third parties, to sell you. The Google Nest deal only increases searchzilla”s power to collect information about a whole new group of users who didn”t pay that…
Are you a Nest user? How do you feel about the Google Nest deal?
Comic: Joy of Tech