Asklemmy @lemmy.ml POTOOOOOOOO @reddthat.com 2w ago

I was given a "Nest Hub" by a family member, I'm very privacy conscious. What can I do with this thing?

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.

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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.
  
  Best to sell it. Since you use Tor you’re probably already on a watchlist
  
  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.
  
  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.
Google owns Nest. Personally, I don’t use Google products due to their incredibly invasive ToS.

https://tosdr.org/en/service/217
- That’s what OP already said in the text of their question.
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.
- That disorder sounds awful. I've dislocated my shoulder fourteen times but no other joints and not for a long time, but that was bad enough and is still impacting me even though it's been a while.
  
  I'm sorry you have to suffer through that.
- Is there any other use for these things? I don't understand the point of owing one, when I already have a phone and a TV running Android. What can these things do that my other devices can't?
  
  My grandma loves hers and screams commands at it all day. She has hers hooked up to her lights, to her plant watering thing, it plays music she wants, remembers stuff for her, sets timers and alarms. The fact that she can just talk at it and tell it what to do, instead of using her hands, figuring out apps, and getting up (she's almost 80), makes it pretty beneficial for her.
  
  Though she gets angry when it can't decipher what she wants, so I joke to her, that if/when society gets conquered by AI overlords in the future, they'll probably punish her for abusing and enslaving their ancestors. 😅
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.
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
  
  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.
  
  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...
  
  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.
Do they live with you? If not, I guess just sell it.

If yes, you're probably as screwed as me.
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)
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.

46 comments