Amazon reportedly tried to force Ecobee into sharing user data

Source: Andrew Martonik / Android Central

Amazon leveraged its dominance to put pressure on Canadian smart thermostat maker Ecobee to share data from its devices, according to a new report from The Wall Street Journal. The report claims Amazon asked Ecobee to serve data from its Alexa-enabled devices even when customers weren’t using them.

Ecobee apparently refused to share data with the tech giant, fearing that complying with the demand would violate the privacy of its customers. The company also worried that Amazon might use the data to build products to rival its best smart thermostats. It was revealed last year that Amazon used third-party seller data to develop rival products using its Amazon Basics brand.

Apart from Ecobee, Amazon is said to have asked a few other Alexa-enabled-device sellers to provide “proactive state” data, which would give the tech giant access to information such as the temperature of a user’s home and which doors were locked or unlocked.

An Amazon spokesman, Jack Evans, told the WSJ that the company uses the proactive-state data only to “improve the customer experience and make better recommendations.” He added that customers are informed that their data will be shared with Amazon when they link their accounts.

While the report says the two companies are still negotiating, Amazon had told Ecobee that it might not be able to continue selling its products on Amazon’s retail platform if it refused to provide the data. The retail giant also threatened to not retain Alexa certification on future Ecobee models.

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