Nest is getting ready for the smart homes Cambridge Analytica moment

For years, home automation tech has been a nightmare for security and privacy. Security pros love doing smart home hack demos — often flicking lights on and off from miles away — and the patchwork nature of the devices means a setup is only as strong as its weakest link. The data collected by those devices is often some of the most sensitive data you have, leaving the entire sector under the looming threat of a data breach. But with so many different companies moving in so many different directions, solving the security and privacy problems can seem like an impossible task.

Now, Nest and Google are trying to rein in that system. Nest’s first stab at interoperability — a bundle of connections and services dubbed “Works With Nest” — was u...

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