X

Nest commits to 5 years of security updates

Google updates its smart home security and privacy policies.

Corinne Reichert Senior Editor
Corinne Reichert (she/her) grew up in Sydney, Australia and moved to California in 2019. She holds degrees in law and communications, and currently writes news, analysis and features for CNET across the topics of electric vehicles, broadband networks, mobile devices, big tech, artificial intelligence, home technology and entertainment. In her spare time, she watches soccer games and F1 races, and goes to Disneyland as often as possible.
Expertise News, mobile, broadband, 5G, home tech, streaming services, entertainment, AI, policy, business, politics Credentials
  • I've been covering technology and mobile for 12 years, first as a telecommunications reporter and assistant editor at ZDNet in Australia, then as CNET's West Coast head of breaking news, and now in the Thought Leadership team.
Corinne Reichert
google-nest.png

Nest products are getting tighter security policies.

Google

Google has updated the privacy and security commitments for Nest smart home devices, outlining the new policies Tuesday. Included is a guarantee to issue critical bug fixes on Nest devices for at least five years after a device's launch.

"We work hard to respond to the ever-changing technology and security landscape by building many lines of defense, including providing automatic software security updates that address critical issues known to Google Nest," Google said Tuesday.

Read more: 7 Google Nest commands that will make your life easier

Nest devices sold in 2019 and after will also be validated using an independent security standard like that set by the Internet of Secure Things Alliance, with Google to publish the results publicly; Nest will take part in Google's bug bounty program; verified boot will be used across all devices from 2019 onward to make sure your device is running the right software each time it restarts; and Google will put all your Nest devices onto your Google Account device activity page for better oversight.

Many of the standards have applied to Google services previously, and are now being extended to Nest smart home devices and systems.