According to its current privacy policy, with an account, Hue gets access to the configuration of your system to provide the right software updates to the devices. It can only use your data for marketing or share it with third parties if you provide additional consent.

However, in a change to the current policy, Yianni says Hue will not collect usage information from users without additional optional consent. “So, we do not require users share anything about how they use our products,” he says.

“Previously creating an account was consent for usage data processing that we are in the process of decoupling and will be decoupled before accounts become essential — that makes sure it’s possible to create an account without sharing usage data,” says Yianni. However, if you choose to use the cloud services for things like out-of-home connectivity, you will need an account, and Hue will process your data, he says.

If this change to the privacy policy does happen, Home Assistant’s Schoutsen agrees that it would make the requirement for an account more palatable. “But it all depends on the exact changes,” he says.

  • @loops@beehaw.org
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    961 year ago

    With the current system, anyone with physical access to your Hue bridge can take it over just by pressing the button.

    If a bad actor has access to your home, I doubt light bulbs will be your main concern…

    • falsem
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      371 year ago

      Notably they would also have access to normal physical light switches. Oh no, someone in the room could turn my lights on or off, the horror.

    • Butterbee (She/Her)
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      141 year ago

      Read: Before YOU were able to verify who was using the device. But now WE want to know who is using the device.

    • sadreality
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      41 year ago

      I wonder if a mark… Er customer, ever brought up this concern?

      I bet some marketing clown thought it up lol