Google Assistant devices have a certain level of access to your account, and if you sell or stop using them, revoking access to your account is not a bad idea. However, if you revoke access to your Google account, some Assistant devices may end up destroying your smart home settings, including Nest.
Earlier this month, some TiVo Stream 4K owners noticed a security alert warning that the device had inappropriate access to their Google account. Fortunately this turned out to be a bug and Google has already implemented a solution.
However, along with that problem, another strange problem appeared. Some users who heard that warning and revoked access to their TiVo streaming dongle also had their smart home settings closed, and Nest devices were unlinked from their Google accounts.
Dave from ZatzNotFunny He first reported on this issue, discovering that he could delete entire “homes” in his Google / Nest account. In the time since then, we’ve also received advice from readers who had the same thing happen, in one case with a user on an Nvidia Shield TV.
Essentially revoking access to an affected device will remove your “home” within the Google Home app. That means all lights, cameras, and other devices linked to your account will be unlinked. A simple restart and execution of the setup process fixes all of that, but it’s understandably frustrating since that process can take a long time, depending on what is connected.
Obviously, though, it shouldn’t happen in the first place.
We reached out to Google for clarification on what’s happening, and the company provided us with the following statement.
We are aware of a bug that triggered a security alert for users to unlink their Google account with certain integrated devices of the Assistant; a solution has been implemented. This is not a security vulnerability and user data is not at risk. However, users who revoked access will need to re-link their devices and services in the Google Home app to restore functionality.
In fact, Nest devices are included in “devices and services” that may need to be re-linked. Interestingly, Google also implies that this could affect other integrated Google Assistant products, not just Android TV devices. We haven’t found any cases where a speaker or smart display has caused this issue yet, but it’s something to watch out for.
Although erroneous security notifications have been fixed, revoking access to some devices from the Google Assistant can still unlink Nest and other brands from your account without realizing it. Google tells us that they are working on a solution for this problem.
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