[mlyang]

Will Nest customer data be shared with Google? Our privacy policy clearly limits the use of customer information to providing and improving Nest’s products and services. We’ve always taken privacy seriously and this will not change.

This phrasing is pretty ambiguous/vague if you ask me. "Taking privacy seriously" will not change-- though I'm sure few behemoth Internet companies, including Google, would say that they don't take privacy seriously.

I think the best summary of Nest's answer is: Yes, we will share customer data with Google. But we'll take it seriously.

[mhurron]

If they're being acquired it's now Google's data. So the question "Will Nest customer data be shared with Google?" is asking "Will Google share Google's new customer information with Google?"

The absurdity of the question should answer itself.

There will probably be a new customer agreement once the whole thing is finalized.

[wmf]

For many years data was actually siloed between different products within Google (probably by accident) and there was some blowback when Google announced that they were merging all of it. So the concept of internal firewalls does exist, but given that all other Google products were merged I would assume that Nest will be as well.

[manicdee]

The concept of internal firewall did exist, until they were accidentally removed that one time.

Why would firewalls between silos continue to exist when they've already been blown away?

[arrrg]

This seems bad writing on their part, to be honest. The question makes no sense, the answer just doesn’t sound great.

[devindotcom]

Yeah, the other answers were straightforward, and then this one was like "how can we make it sound like the answer is no when it is clearly yes?"

[dictum]

They will hand the data in serious disgust. ;)

It's another case of just slightly affecting your wording so that customers believe that past returns will guarantee future returns. All that is said is true for the past and the present.

(If you really want to read it in PR glasses, "this will not change" means that whatever was effective today will not change for the period up to today; in other words, the past can not be changed.)

"We (Nest the company) have a stringent privacy policy. We've (Nest the company) taken privacy seriously and our (Nest the company's) actions will not change."

Four months later, [Nest the company] is dead and a Google subsidiary dealing with home automation appears. This subsidiary is no longer bound to [Nest the company]'s promises.

[cheald]

> Will Nest customer data be shared with Google?

Of course it will. If Google owns Nest, then Nest's data is their data. It doesn't have to be "shared" with them, they bought it.

[wwweston]

Also, since privacy policies generally aren't contracts that need the approval of all parties before being altered, pointing out what today's policy limits doesn't seem particularly reassuring.

[manicdee]

The good news is that Nest owners can now be assured that they will only get porn ads when their other half steps out of the room.

[donretag]

Considering that Google can (and will) change the privacy policy at any time, that statement has no relevance.

[joelrunyon]

A better question is "will all nest users have to get a google+ account?"

I'm betting they will.

I wonder if google will force-share your data there too in order to boost the interaction numbers.

[Fasebook]

Other "internet of things", "quantified life" or whatever failed buzzword you want to call it, has similar or identical EULA. The only thing they take seriously is astroturfing to reduce the blowback from this policy.

Serious? Serious money. 3.5 billion? insane.