Just to un-spin this a bit... > As part of [a Nest update], Google demanded that I allow the app to track her location at all times, whether the app was active

Just to un-spin this a bit... > As part of [a Nest update], Google demanded that I allow the app to track her location at all times, whether the app was active or not. The stated rationale was that it would allow Google to manage devices in her home The app requests the permission via the normal mechanisms any app uses; it doesn't "demand" it. And you don't have to allow it (and of course can turn it off at any time by going to the app's permissions settings). If you don't, it will indeed pop up a warning that it can't enable the home-occupancy-detection feature, and direct you where you need to go to disable that in settings. Contra the confused language in the article, Nest hardware works just fine if you disable that feature, though obviously it's a pretty useful feature to enable. (And yes, I work there, but nowhere near Nest stuff. I do own one though.)