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Google Plans Advertising on Appliances, Including Nest Thermostat

In a letter to the Securities and Exchange Commission, Google announced plans to place targeted ads on Google-controlled appliances. Google wrote that "a few years from now, we and other companies could be serving ads and other content on refrigerators, car dashboards, thermostats, glasses, and watches, to name just a few possibilities." The proposal raises significant privacy concerns for the "Internet of Things." Earlier this year, EPIC warned the FTC about Google's acquisition of Nest Labs, makes of a smart thermostat, that "Google regularly collapses the privacy policies of the companies it acquires." Nonetheless, the Commission approved Google's acquisition without further review. For more information, see EPIC: In re: WhatsApp, EPIC: Google/Doubleclick and EPIC: FTC.

May 22, 2014| Share:

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