Ecobee Smart Thermostats
Review date: 11/02/2020
Here's a smart thermostat that can basically do it all -- change the temperature, call your friends, play music, control other smart devices, and adapt to your routine. Ecobee's smart thermostat can also do smart thermostats things like adjust the temperature from your phone, use room sensors to manage hot and cold spots, and save energy with smart algorithms. It has Amazon Alexa built in, a way to control it with a flick of your Apple Watch clad wrist, and occupancy sensors so it knows which rooms are in use and which aren't. Is it possible for a thermostat to be too smart? If so, you can get the Ecobee3 Lite and make calls from, you know, your phone.
What could happen if something goes wrong
These smart thermostats knows which room you're in and if you ask Alexa a bunch of questions. There's nothing terrible about either of those things, just be aware that your thermostat could potentially know a lot about you. Ecobee treats privacy and security fairly well though. Anything voice request you make from Alexa through your smart thermostat (what a weird statement) will let Amazon know more about you, of course. But hey, Amazon probably knows way too much about you already.
Privacy
Can it snoop on me?
Camera
Device: No
App: Yes
Microphone
Device: Yes
App: Yes
Tracks Location
Device: Yes
App: Yes
What is required to sign up?
Yes
Phone
No
Third party account
No
What data does it collect?
Personal
Name, email, phone number, address
Biometric
Voice recordings (collected by Amazon)
Social
How can you control your data?
What is the company’s known track record for protecting users’ data?
No known incidents in the last 2 years.
Can this product be used offline?
User friendly privacy information?
Links to privacy information
Security
Does this product meet our Minimum Security Standards?
Encryption
All network traffic is encrypted.
Strong password
A password is required for the web portal and mobile app.
Security updates
Manages vulnerabilities
Ecobee runs a bug bounty program, which means that anyone who finds a security issue and discloses it responsibly may get paid. https://hackerone.com/ecobee
Privacy policy
Artificial Intelligence
Does the product use AI?
Does the AI use your personal data to make decisions about you?
Does the company allow users to see how the AI works?
Ecobee smart thermostats have a feature called eco+. It leverages AI to tailor temperature settings, transition to clean energy when available, and optimize cost savings. https://www.ecobee.com/en-us/eco-plus/
