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Amazon Tried to Coerce Ecobee into Collecting Private User Data, the WSJ Reports
- 1cvmask 6y agoGreat excerpt: As of now, Ecobee's products can still be purchased on Amazon, but the WSJ claims that negotiations between Ecobee and Amazon are ongoing. According to the WSJ, the online retail giant asked Ecobee to share data from its Alexa-enabled smart thermostats, even when the customer wasn't actively using the voice assistant. Ecobee reportedly refused to have its devices constantly report back to Amazon about the state of the user's home, including data on which doors were locked or unlocked and the set temperature. The reasoning being that enabling its devices to report this data to Amazon would be a violation of its customer's trust.
- atonse 6y agoI am soooooo happy that I insisted on buying the “dumber” Ecobee model that just supported HomeKit and no Alexa. Every time I read these stories, I am so glad that HomeKit exists, even if it has a vastly inferior ecosystem.
- lights0123 6y agoEspecially since things like Home Assistant can emulate a HomeKit host (i.e. an iPhone), so it can connect to HomeKit-enabled devices over the local network, so you're not subject to vendor lockin.
- thebetatester 6y agoI bought the "dumber" version but when I made a warranty claim they sent me the new Alexa enabled model.