April 14, 2016

This is an archived version of the Google Nest Wifi and your privacy page. View the current version or all past versions.

When you use our products, we realize you’re trusting us with your information. We are committed to keeping your data private and safe.

The Google Privacy Policy applies to all Google services, including the Google On app and OnHub. This article sheds additional light on your privacy choices specific to OnHub and the Google On app.

Information OnHub & the Google On app collects

The information your OnHub and the Google On app collect helps us deliver the best Wi-Fi experience possible. Importantly, the Google On app and your OnHub do not track the websites you visit or collect the content of any traffic on your network. However, OnHub does collect data such as Wi-Fi channel, signal strength, and device types that are relevant to optimize your Wi-Fi performance. Google policies and terms of services apply as normal to any Google services you use (like Gmail or Google search), whether you’re using them on an OnHub network or not.

With simple controls in the Google On app's 'Privacy' settings, you can manage three types of data collected -- Cloud services, OnHub stats, and App stats. Examples of the kinds of data managed by these controls are given below.

Please note that some features may not function with certain privacy settings turned off, and some information (such as the association of your Google Account to your OnHub) is stored by Google even if all privacy controls are turned off.

Cloud services	Broadcast information from your connected devices. For example, if your phone announces itself as “John’s iPhone,” your OnHub detects this and shows “John’s iPhone” in your list of connected devices in the Google On app. Inferred information about your connected devices. OnHub looks at how devices establish a connection to your network. With this, OnHub can determine when certain types of devices connect to it. If, for example, your phone doesn't broadcast a name but OnHub can determine that it was manufactured by "Motorola," the Google On app will display "Motorola" in your list of connected devices. Examples of inferred signals are manufacturer OUI, order of DHCP options, and order of Wi-Fi options. Note: Though OnHub relies on MAC address information to help with this determination, OnHub does not store MAC addresses in the cloud. Instead, MAC addresses are stored locally within your OnHub and retrieved by the Google On App only as needed. Network Status. This indicates if a device is currently connected to OnHub, its assigned IP Address, and its signal strength. Data usage. Current transfer speeds and historical data consumption. This allows you to see which devices are consuming network resources. Network settings. These are encrypted and stored securely in the cloud. The exception is your Wi-Fi password, which is only stored in your OnHub. Storing these settings in the cloud allows you to access them from anywhere whether your OnHub is online or not. Automatic Channel Selection. OnHub gathers information about your wireless environment. Your OnHub scans for other routers in the area and collects their MAC addresses and network names. OnHub also collects their signal strength, Wi-Fi channel usage, and the list of 802.11 standards supported. OnHub and the Google On app do not collect the content of any communications. This data helps OnHub improve Wi-Fi performance for its users and their neighbors by reducing interference (due to channel congestion). The data allows OnHub to determine if there are better channels to use and automatically change those channels. Note: Per Google’s Location Service Access Point opt-out option, data from network names ending in “_nomap” will not be collected.
OnHub stats	Anonymous usage data. This helps us improve all OnHub products. Examples of the types of data we collect include aggregated counts of WAN type usage (DHCP, Static IP, PPPoE) and mean download time for update payloads. Crash reports. These let us know when OnHub’s software stops working properly, so we can prevent it from happening in the future. Reports can include information like stack traces, types of crashes, and which software version you’re running. OnHub performance information. This includes how long it takes to boot up, CPU utilization, and memory utilization.
App stats	Anonymous Google On app usage. For example, how often each feature is used or each screen is viewed. This helps us improve the Google On app experience. Learn more about Google Analytics data safeguarding. Google On app Crash reports. This includes information like how often your app crashes and what caused the crash. This is also stored in Google Analytics and helps us improve the Google On app experience.

Want to opt out of any of these categories?

The information you share with Google when you send feedback or a diagnostic report:

OnHub logs. These include messages from OS and kernel level processes. The logs are sanitized before being sent to Google to remove or redact things like MAC addresses, email addresses, URLs, and unique identifiers.
Note: When using the Send Feedback option (versus Send Diagnostic report), the Google On app logs are also included.

What kind of signals does your OnHub use?

OUI (inferred)
DHCP(broadcast)
mDNS (broadcast)
DHCP + Wi-Fi options (inferred)
User entered names

How Cloud services help you

The majority of the data OnHub collects is used for cloud services, a group of features that helps OnHub keep your network operating at its best. To provide a smart wireless experience, data is gathered from your OnHub and the Google On app. This allows us to give you real-time information about your network and enables cloud services-dependent features like the following:

Network checks: Test the download and upload speeds of your internet connection to provide insights and make sure everything is working properly.
Insight cards: See updates on your network performance. This lets you know when your network is offline or not at peak performance and provides steps to fix it.
List of connected devices: See how many devices are connected to your network, what those devices are, and how much data each uses (both in real-time and historically).
Automatic channel selection: OnHub collects information about your surrounding spectral environment and uses that to determine which wireless channels will deliver you optimal performance. As wireless environments become increasingly crowded (with more neighbors actively using wireless networks), picking the best channel becomes increasingly important.
Wave control: This lets you turn on Priority device with a simple wave of your hand over your OnHub. Once wave control is turned on, each wave over your OnHub will automatically prioritize the pre-selected device for the preset amount of time.
Guest Wi-Fi: Create a special network just for your guests. Guest will be able to get online and discover streaming devices that you make available from your main Wi-Fi network.
Tailored Wi-Fi via Device classification: Understanding the nitty gritty details of your devices helps us optimize OnHub so it performs in the best way possible. Wi-Fi isn't one-setting fits all, so to tailor your Wi-Fi, we need to understand the capabilities and nuances of the devices that connect to your OnHub.

Data is shared according to the Google Privacy Policy. For example, we may share anonymized data (e.g. diagnostics crash reports, aggregate metrics) to improve OnHub and the Google On app. We do not share your personal information from OnHub or the Google On app for the purposes of advertising without your consent.

Change your privacy settings

Open the Google On app.
In the 'Overview' screen, tap the gear icon in the upper-right corner to open the Settings menu.
Tap Privacy.
Toggle the desired options ON or OFF.

Data retention

If you are the OnHub's owner and you factory reset your OnHub:

It will clear settings and data from the OnHub device. If triggered via the app, it will also remove the OnHub from your Google Account.
Any data collected to deliver your Cloud services is no longer linked to your account
All OnHub and Google On app data related to your Google Account will be deleted in accordance with Google's Privacy Policy

If you are the OnHub's owner and you delete your Google Account, the following will occur:

Your OnHub will factory reset. If it is not currently online, it will factory reset the next time it goes online.
All OnHub and Google On app data related to your Google Account will be deleted in accordance with Google's Privacy Policy.

DNS Settings

While OnHub doesn’t track the websites you visit, your DNS provider can associate your web traffic with your public IP address. OnHub sets your default DNS provider to Google Public DNS. (This can be changed in the Advanced Networking settings of the Google On app.) Google does not associate Google Public DNS information with your Google Account. Learn more about Google Public DNS.

Updates and Changes

We are constantly working on new features and controls that help you get more out of your OnHub. It’s possible that, in order to implement these new features, we may need to change the way it collects, stores, and uses data.

For these types of features, our intent is to explain how they collect, store, or use data in a way that is different from what we describe here.

If changes are made to this article (which should be rare), a revision history will be available on this page to let you know what has changed and why.

See archive

This is an archived version of the Google Nest Wifi and your privacy page. View the current version or all past versions.

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