Google Continues Data Collection from Unsupported Nest Thermostats
After officially discontinuing support for its early Nest Learning Thermostats and disabling remote control features, Google is still gathering extensive data from these devices. Security researcher Cody Kociemba uncovered that the first- and second-generation Nest Learning Thermostats continue to send detailed logs to Google, including temperature readings, motion detection, and ambient light levels. The discovery came to light while Kociemba participated in a right-to-repair challenge organized by FULU, a nonprofit advocacy group cofounded by electronics repair technician and YouTuber Louis Rossmann.
FULU initiated a bounty program to incentivize developers to find solutions for restoring smart functionality to unsupported Nest devices. Kociemba’s open-source ‘No Longer Evil’ project successfully addressed this challenge by replicating Google’s API to enable continued functionality. However, during this process, he began receiving a large volume of logs from customer devices, which he eventually turned off. In an interview with The Verge, Kociemba explained that while Google had disabled remote access, the data connection remained active, creating a one-way flow of information.