Nest Thermostats are a part of the Google Home ecosystem that allow you to make your home smart.
If you come home to an environment that is just like you would want without having to adjust the thermostat, you know your Nest Thermostat was a good investment.
However, with the recent data breaches and companies collecting data to sell to third parties, you might be concerned about the privacy of your house with a device that is smart enough to detect someone’s presence in the room.
Nest Thermostats do not come with a camera. However, it does have sensors that detect movement and can sense when there is someone in the house.
This feature is used for saving electricity, as the thermostat display turns off when there is no one around the house or in the room where it is installed.
Why Do Nest Thermostats Not Have A Camera?
Many people have been hesitant to install smart devices in their homes because of privacy concerns. This is the reason why Google does not have a camera on the Nest Thermostat.
Google has equipped the Nest Thermostat with sensors that collect information about the number of people in the house to adjust the temperature and environment in the house.
However, other smart thermostat brands might come with a built-in camera, which is a security concern as these devices are hooked on the internet and can easily be hacked to access information and camera footage.
What Do Nest Thermostat Sensors Do?
Nest Thermostat sensors are designed to measure the current temperature of the room, light, humidity, and the presence of people in the house.
This data helps it to decide whether to rise or drop the temperature of the house.
In addition to this, the sensor allows it to monitor and track the heating and cooling habits of the people in the house and adjust the temperature according to it.
The device learns through data collection, the best temperature setting for the house. It does not use any audio or video footage or recording to make its adjustments.
How Can Nest Smart Thermostat Make Adjustments Without A Camera?
The Nest Thermostat records the system’s history.
Based on how often and how long the system has run in the past 10 days, the Energy History is developed which shows how it makes smart choices regarding the system schedule and the temperature preferences.
This Energy History is available on the Home app or on the Nest thermostat.
This data collection combined with the sensors on the device help Nest Thermostat to make adjustments while being a blind and deaf device.
Can Nest Smart Thermostat Be Hacked?
Even though the Nest Smart Thermostat does not have a camera installed, it does collect data on when someone is home and when they are out.
There have been many instances when the Nest Thermostat has been hacked. Hacking becomes incredibly easy for burglars if you do not enable two-factor authentication which sends notifications if the thermostat is prompted to make a change it is not used to.
However, if in some way Nest Thermostat is hacked, it can pass on information like Wi-Fi passwords, the postal address, and homeowner’s habits.
The Nest also uses the Cloud to connect with nearby Nest devices. This feature might result in a mass compromising of devices if targeted by hackers.
So, a successful Home Alone robbery could be planned if the Nest devices of the entire neighborhood are hacked.
Since the Nest Thermostat is one of the most secure devices, the hacker will need physical access to hack the device.
So, keeping a check on the email account that is registered with the Nest device is a way to assure that the Nest Thermostat is secure.
If the Nest Thermostat keeps behaving weirdly and changing temperature to what is not usually preferred around the house, it is possible that it is being accessed by someone with the intention to spy on the house habits and gain access to the data.
Summing Up If Nest Thermostats Have a Camera
Nest Thermostat is a Google Home device that is one step towards making the house smart.
It is a great addition for getting rid of the hassle of manually adjusting the thermostat temperature.
However, concerns of privacy and security are genuine, as the internet is a medium for hackers to access valuable and private data.
Google’s Nest Thermostat does not come equipped with a recording device or a camera.
It operates based on the data and user preferences it collects and the sensors that allow it to access the surrounding temperature, humidity, and presence of people in the house.
However, it still has some sensitive data that can be hacked.
For this, rechecking frequently that the device is registered through one’s own email assures that the device is safe and the data is secured and only being used to make the home smart and comfortable.
