What Google can really do with Nest's data

Google’s acquisition of Nest for $3.2 billion this week has been heralded as the company’s big move into home automation. Nest has made overtures about customer privacy, but given the size and profitability of its new owner’s advertising and personal data business, the new relationship needs a closer examination.

Certainly, Nest’s products—currently a thermostat and a smoke detector—have potential  in their own right, and Google is getting a new slate of devices to sell in the deal. But along with the devices, Google is getting access to new types of data it can put to very good use along with a new set of very interested customers. And like other types of data collection, this has potential negative consequences for consumers.