Privacy Issues for Nest Protect

[SmartDIY]

I found this recent blog post which lists various smart home devices with privacy risks.  It says that Nest Protect records voice and video, which is contrary to my understanding. 

With regard to voice, I know it has a microphone for the self-test feature to detect the alarm, but I did not think it recorded any audio.  And it doesn't have video capability itself, but I understand it can be connected to a separate camera, in which case you have full awareness of what you're doing by adding video yourself.  I don't know why it says the motion sensor has anything to do with video or audio, as I thought the motion sensor was strictly for the night light.

Please clarify all this for us:

https://techshielder.com/how-much-does-your-home-know-about-you

[David_K · Accepted solution]

Details here:

Sensors in Google Nest devices - Google Nest Help

Pulling out the key parts...

Microphone

Used by the Sound Check and Safety Checkup features to make sure the speaker and alarm sound are working. The microphone is not used for any other purpose and is off except when checking speaker and horn functionality.

Motion sensor

Detect occupancy for home automation (such as Home/Away Assist or Home & Away Routines) and to turn on Pathlight when someone walks under Nest Protect.

Not sure why the article mentions storing video and audio information to make that feature work as that's not how motion sensors work. To me that statement is quite disingenuous. There are several types of motion sensor, active ultrasonic and passive infrared (PIR) are probably the two popular options. An active ultrasonic motion detector emits ultrasonic sound waves that reflect off objects and bounce back to the original emission point. When a moving object disrupts the waves, the sensor triggers. PIR sensors detect infrared energy, which humans and animals release as heat. Suffice to say, neither of them use video or audio data for that feature.

[Jeran]

Hey there SmartDIY,

I'm just checking up on this thread, do you have any more questions or need any additional help? 

Thank you for helping out on this thread, David!

Best regards,
Jeran
 

[SmartDIY]

Hi Jeran, I think we have closure on this topic with the understanding that the blog article is simply wrong in its assertions.  

Thank you for checking in.

[EmersonB]

Hi folks,

@SmartDIY chiming in to see if you have additional questions as I'll be locking this thread after 24 hours. Feel free to start a new thread and we'll be happy to help.

@David_K and @Jeran thanks for your response.

Thanks,
Emerson