Nest (Google) Becomes Big Brother – Tells Us How We Have To Use Their Products

Nest (Google) Becomes Big Brother – Tells Us How We Have To Use Their Products

Nest (Google) Becomes Big Brother – Tells Us How We Have To Use Their Products | DeviceDaily.com
Brad Anderson / 14 Aug 2019 
 

Nest today announced that they will no longer allow customers to turn off the status light on the cameras we’ve all spent thousands of dollars buying.

Here is how they have started to become big brother in their recent announcement:

Recently, we shared our commitment to privacy to outline how our products work in your home. As part of that commitment, we explained that you will always see a clear visual indicator when your Nest cameras are on and sending video and audio to Nest. So we’re changing how the status lights function on Nest cameras, Dropcam, and Nest Hello. You will be able to dim the light on your camera, but it will always be on when the camera is on. We’re doing this to make sure you, and those around your camera, are aware when the camera is on and recording.Starting today, we’re rolling out the following changes:

• In Settings for all Nest cameras and Nest Hello, the ability to turn off the status light will be removed. Instead, you’ll be able to dim the status light. When the camera is on, the status light will glow green.
• For Dropcam, the setting to turn off the status light will be removed. When the camera is on, the status light will glow blue.
• On Nest Cam, Dropcam, and Nest Hello, the status light will blink when the camera’s live video is streamed from the Nest app. The setting to turn this off will be removed.

We’re making these changes for greater transparency and privacy in your home. You can learn more about the status light updates here. If you have questions or need additional details, please contact support. – The Google Nest team

 

I personally have Seven Nest video cameras around my house. I’ve used them for years (from Dropcam days). Since then the service has gotten nothing but better.

One thing though. I have really appreciated not having the status light on when I’m looking through it. Take for instance while my infant daughter sleeps at night and is troubled by lights.

People should have the ability to do what they want to do Google, stop being big brother and telling us what we can and can’t do. I get both sides. Some people have used this for negative things. While some people abuse this, most of us good guys hate when you push us how you want us to use your product.

My guess is they can’t stop hackers from getting into your account. They’ve recently increased their security and allowed two factor authentication. But still, I’m guessing they can’t control hackers getting into our cameras. This is them taking liability off the “privacy” issue by doing this. My prediction is that in the coming two years there will be a case against them for their system being hacked and they’ll point back to this.

Special note: As soon as this update happens, I’m canceling all my subscriptions.

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Brad Anderson

Brad Anderson

Editor In Chief at ReadWrite

Brad is the editor overseeing contributed content at ReadWrite.com. He previously worked as an editor at PayPal and Crunchbase. You can reach him at brad at readwrite.com.

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