4 ms·

Sorry, but this device is idiotic. It gives Google the ability to entirely remotely control your network from outside, is entirely designed to facilitate their

by benevol 11y ago

Sorry, but this device is idiotic. It gives Google the ability to entirely remotely control your network from outside, is entirely designed to facilitate their own services, and will become a privacy nightmare ... because if they can access it, someone else can, and law enforcement will be able to go to them and say "OK, we need access to that network, you have to give it to us". This is the "bend over and take it" device which puts control of your home network in the hands of Google .. primarily to benefit Google. This is a terrible idea, and it's not something I'd trust even a little. This is all about locking you into Google, and making it easy for them to manage your home remotely. I would put absolutely zero trust in this device.

RaSoJo 11y ago
Unfortunately this was the first thought that came to me as well. It looks like a beautifully designed and efficient product. But given Google's pedigree in privacy invasion, any product of theirs comes loaded with doubts. Given the pricing, it feels like Google could generate sufficient profits without having use personal data to augment bottom lines. I wonder if they are bothered to address such fears of a few of their potential consumers or is there a sufficient majority who are willing to ignore the privacy invasion and enjoy the product for it is.
- simoncion 11y ago
  > ...given Google's pedigree in privacy invasion... Do... you have a citation for this that isn't 75% conjecture? Before answering, remember that every web site you use has to collect (but not necessarily store) some of what is potentially PII.
7952 11y ago
I would be reluctant to ever treat my home network as secure. I just don't have time or expertise to validate that. Instead I want my router to be maintained by someone responsible to try and mitigate threats. Google may not be perfect, but they are probably more competent than an ISP or companies like Linksys or Belkin. For Google to be able to update the firmware they need complete access to the system and they could certainly use that to invade my privacy. And the more you trust your home network the more that is a risk to you.
pgodzin 11y ago
From the privacy policy: "Importantly, the Google On app and your OnHub do not track the websites you visit or collect the content of any traffic on your network. However, OnHub does collect data such as Wi-Fi channel, signal strength, and device types that are relevant to optimize your Wi-Fi performance." The first sentence is even bolded for emphasis.
- mey 11y ago
  https://support.google.com/onhub/answer/6279845?hl=en https://support.google.com/onhub/answer/6279845?hl=en DNS Settings While OnHub doesn’t track the websites you visit, your DNS provider can associate your web traffic with your public IP address. OnHub sets your default DNS provider to Google Public DNS. (This can be changed in the Advanced Networking settings of the Google On app.) Google does not associate Google Public DNS information with your Google Account. Learn more about Google Public DNS. We are constantly working on new features and controls that help you get more out of your OnHub. It’s possible that, in order to implement these new features, we may need to change the way it collects, stores, and uses data. Jump over to Google DNS https://developers.google.com/speed/public-dns/privacy https://developers.google.com/speed/public-dns/privacy For what they keep permanently. (Network AS and requested DNS Site, with my home business account, that is enough to uniquely identify my houses traffic)
  - niceguiman 11y ago
    What do you mean by "home business account"?
  - asuffield 11y ago
    (Tedious disclaimer: my opinion, not my employer's. Not representing anybody else. I'm an SRE at Google, and my team is oncall for public DNS.) I believe you have misunderstood what a network AS number is. This identifies your ISP, not your account. So the permanent logs would say something approximating "a level3 user queried news.ycombinator.com".

by benevol 11y ago

RaSoJo 11y ago

Unfortunately this was the first thought that came to me as well. It looks like a beautifully designed and efficient product. But given Google's pedigree in privacy invasion, any product of theirs comes loaded with doubts. Given the pricing, it feels like Google could generate sufficient profits without having use personal data to augment bottom lines. I wonder if they are bothered to address such fears of a few of their potential consumers or is there a sufficient majority who are willing to ignore the privacy invasion and enjoy the product for it is.

simoncion 11y ago
> ...given Google's pedigree in privacy invasion... Do... you have a citation for this that isn't 75% conjecture? Before answering, remember that every web site you use has to collect (but not necessarily store) some of what is potentially PII.

7952 11y ago

I would be reluctant to ever treat my home network as secure. I just don't have time or expertise to validate that. Instead I want my router to be maintained by someone responsible to try and mitigate threats. Google may not be perfect, but they are probably more competent than an ISP or companies like Linksys or Belkin. For Google to be able to update the firmware they need complete access to the system and they could certainly use that to invade my privacy. And the more you trust your home network the more that is a risk to you.

pgodzin 11y ago

From the privacy policy: "Importantly, the Google On app and your OnHub do not track the websites you visit or collect the content of any traffic on your network. However, OnHub does collect data such as Wi-Fi channel, signal strength, and device types that are relevant to optimize your Wi-Fi performance." The first sentence is even bolded for emphasis.

mey 11y ago
https://support.google.com/onhub/answer/6279845?hl=en https://support.google.com/onhub/answer/6279845?hl=en DNS Settings While OnHub doesn’t track the websites you visit, your DNS provider can associate your web traffic with your public IP address. OnHub sets your default DNS provider to Google Public DNS. (This can be changed in the Advanced Networking settings of the Google On app.) Google does not associate Google Public DNS information with your Google Account. Learn more about Google Public DNS. We are constantly working on new features and controls that help you get more out of your OnHub. It’s possible that, in order to implement these new features, we may need to change the way it collects, stores, and uses data. Jump over to Google DNS https://developers.google.com/speed/public-dns/privacy https://developers.google.com/speed/public-dns/privacy For what they keep permanently. (Network AS and requested DNS Site, with my home business account, that is enough to uniquely identify my houses traffic)
- niceguiman 11y ago
  What do you mean by "home business account"?
- asuffield 11y ago
  (Tedious disclaimer: my opinion, not my employer's. Not representing anybody else. I'm an SRE at Google, and my team is oncall for public DNS.) I believe you have misunderstood what a network AS number is. This identifies your ISP, not your account. So the permanent logs would say something approximating "a level3 user queried news.ycombinator.com".