Feel really guilty, my one family member gave me this. I don’t use much google stuff anymore and I really dislike the company as it gets more intrusive. Is there anything I can do with this thing besides give it away? Nothing is worse than getting a gift that you can’t use.
Just return it. I’m sure they’ll understand. And it’s the thought that matters.
What thought? They clearly know nothing about OP and didn’t put any actual thought in. Lol
That’s what my friend said too. I work in the tech industry, but gosh do I find it creepy more and more. And if you talk about it being pervasive, you get called paranoid.
Yeah, it’s super creepy. We’re literally harvested for data to be sold for profit. Disgusting.
I work in IT and my whole family knows I’m privacy centric. None of them would have even thought about the privacy concerns with a smart speaker. That doesn’t mean that they don’t know me, it’s that they are ignorant to tech and cyber security. It’s not a stretch to think that OP’s gift giver knows OP will enough to give them an expensive gift but didn’t think of all of the implications, because that’s foreign to them.
Every time I talked about privacy concerns with these devices on Reddit, I got a deluge of “oh they don’t listen all the time” and “oh they don’t send anything home”. Insanity.
I received one as a gift years ago and it’s still in the box. I should give it to someone.
Yeah, exactly. Zero thought.
“Oh, techy thing! Perfect for techy person!”
Absolute brainless gift.That’s different than not knowing anything about OP. That’s not knowing tech or not knowing extreme specifics about OP. The giver knows OP well enough that they thought a tech gift fits them, which makes sense. Most people don’t think twice about smart devices and security because most people are ignorant.
There may have been lots of thought put into the gift, like OP likes tech, perhaps they’re into music, maybe they have a Google phone, or they have lots of fancy gadgets. A popular smart speaker sounds like a good gift for that person to someone that’s not security minded.
Someone close enough to be expected to gift, but distant enough to not know them well and only know “they like techy stuff”.
Like, I get that it isn’t the best gift for OP, and I dont presume to know their relational status with the gift giver, but there are plenty of ways this could be a well-intentioned thoughtful gift that just didn’t hit the mark…
Just sell it online and be honest when asked. Gifting culture is too guilt based, just do the sensible thing and plow through that ridiculous social barrier like a bulldozer.
Yeah. I already informed them I don’t feel comfortable with it in the house. But I’m also the type to use TOR on all my devices. So I don’t know how paranoid that came off as.
I think I am going to try to trace down where they got it from. I’m thinking Walmart so, they may take it without a receipt I hope.
There is a stereo microphone and a camera in that thing. What good would Tor do in that case? That data would still make its way to google, unless you can root the whole thing and put a custom OS on it.
I’m not running TOR on the nest. That would be dumb. I’m mentioning this is coming from a whole other end of technology. I like privacy. Google is not very private.
oh ok i thought you were considering tunneling that things traffic through tor somehow
No, because the data would still need to find a way to google services
They have microphones. They don’t have cameras.
Oh i thought it did the motion recognition with a camera, but it actually uses a type of radar.
Best to sell it. Since you use Tor you’re probably already on a watchlist
How so?
Didn’t you know? Only criminals use Tor! \s
I just prefer it to not get pre-aggrigated results.
I’ve heard this a lot - is it just a common joke in privacy circles, or is anyone using Tor/Tails actually likely to be on a list?
I don’t really know what I’m talking about tbh, but my understanding is the more unique you make yourself, the easier you are to identify. For example, as soon as you use an ad blocker, your browser fingerprint becomes more unique because your average person doesn’t use an ad blocker. Even fewer people use Tor. So if someone knows you are using Tor, then they know you are 1 of maybe 100,000 people instead of millions (idk if those numbers are accurate, but you get the point).
That being said, Tor does do a pretty good job of making you blend into all the other Tor users.
But what I was talking about initially was mostly your ISP identifying your Tor traffic. So you use a VPN, but again you are now more unique than someone not using a VPN, even if your traffic is more encrypted.
The thing with gifts is to thank them for their intent, even if you tell them why you’re not going to keep the item.
If you don’t succeed in returning it, you might also consider giving it to someone with a movement disability, for whom the assistance might outweigh the privacy issue.
They are fantastic for the disabled. Everyone I know whonis disabled has the Amazon ones for some reason.
Google owns Nest. Personally, I don’t use Google products due to their incredibly invasive ToS.
That’s what OP already said in the text of their question.
Do they live with you? If not, I guess just sell it.
If yes, you’re probably as screwed as me.
Looks like it’s technically possible to replace the OS, if you wanted to explore that option https://fredericb.info/2022/06/breaking-secure-boot-on-google-nest-hub-2nd-gen-to-run-ubuntu.html
It might* be worth trying this and installing home assistant.
*I say might because I just got some IoT stuff on sale and installed home assistant before realising there’s nothing useful in home automation except zoned heating. Fun to play with though, I guess.
Give it (or sell it) to a person with disabilities. I have a disorder where my joints dislocate constantly, and if it wasn’t for my service dog, I would be screwed. The ability of these things to call 911 or other family members is awesome and can be life saving. I’ve even read about a woman who collapsed down the stairs and turned music up to wake up their partner. Gotta do what you’ve gotta do.
Idk what input the device has but you may block it via your router and use it as a speaker
I don’t even trust that. Google devices hard-code DNS and IPs and… I have no evidence or knowledge of it, but I assume that they have some Sidewalk-like ability to communicate directly to other Google devices to get outside the network you want them to be on.
Tell it to shut the fuck up (it works, that’s why my grandfather likes it)
🚮 that shit
We keep ours on a window sill behind a curtain. We have to yell at it 3 times to make it work, but it’s still better than looking under the couch for the tv remote.
I don’t have a TV. That’s why the nest thing is so odd. It does seem like it would bw fun to tinker around with.
It’s handy - turn on/off lights, adjust thermostat, set reminders (like to remember cat medicine) or cooking timers. We had the Google one but switched to the Alexa one So i could ‘drop in’ on my mom and set it to call me if she said HELP.
