Now part of Amazon, Eero reaffirms commitment to customer privacy
Amazon's deal to buy the Wi-Fi hardware maker is sealed, and Eero customers are concerned.
The Eero home kit consists of a base station, which replaces your router, and two boxes that plug into electrical outlets wherever you need a Wi-Fi coverage boost.
Eero wants you to know it still cares about your privacy, regardless of who owns it.
Amazon's acquisition of the startup, which makes home Wi-Fi hardware, is complete, Eero CEO and co-founder Nick Weaver said Tuesday in a blog post. In the post, Weaver wrote extensively about Eero's promise to maintain customer privacy and trust under its new ownership.
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"We want to reaffirm our commitment to your privacy head-on," he wrote. "At eero, we have always believed everyone has a fundamental right to privacy, especially in their own homes, and we take this extremely seriously."
An Amazon spokeswoman said in an email statement that the deal "changes nothing for customers, especially how we are treating their privacy and security."
Those comments come after some customers raised concerns about the acquisition when it was announced. San Francisco-based Eero had previously existed as a standalone company and had developed a strong reputation for protecting consumer privacy . Joining Amazon led to concerns about how consumer data could be collected under new ownership and if that data could be combined with information Amazon already has about Eero customers.
Weaver's lengthy comments convey both the importance of privacy to Eero's brand and the heightened concerns consumers now have about how tech behemoths are collecting their data.
Weaver said Eero collects user data to improve its Wi-Fi services. That data includes network status, assigned IP addresses and signal strength. He added that Eero doesn't and never had the ability to collect user browsing data.
Going forward, he said Eero will explain to its customers what data it's collecting and give customers control over that data. The company, he said, will continue to work to minimize the data it can access.
The Eero deal is part of Amazon's continued effort to control more aspects of the connected home, with the help of its Echo smart speakers, Fire TV streamers and Ring video doorbells.