Openhab
- The documents do not say whether your data trains AI.
- Your data is used for personalized ads, including by third-party ad companies.
- Data is shared only with the providers who run the service.
- The documents do not say who can read your content.
A free home-automation cloud site that logs visits, uses Google Analytics, and can close your account without notice.
Agent Trust Hub uses AI and may make mistakes. Review reports and confirm their contents before relying on them.
Collected
Form and account details, plus browser, IP, cookies, and data sent to Google and other plugins.
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Privacy policy
“These are: Browser type and browser version Operating system used Referrer URL Host name of the accessing computer Time of the server request IP address”
Training
They use data to run the site and to analyze visits, including Google Analytics for the site and ads.
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Privacy policy
“The website operator has a in analyzing user behavior to optimize both its website and its advertising.”
Sharing
Google, Algolia, YouTube, Maps, X, and PayPal can get data when you use those features.
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Privacy policy
“The information generated by the cookie about your use of this website is usually transmitted to a Google server in the USA and stored there.”
Kept
Registration data is kept while you stay registered; they do not say a fixed delete timeline.
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Privacy policy
“We will continue to store the data collected during registration for as long as you remain registered on our website.”
Controls
You can ask by email for info, correction, or deletion, and opt out of Google Analytics.
Read the exact line
Privacy policy
“You also have the right to request that it be corrected, blocked, or deleted.”
Fine print
They can end the free service and delete your account without notice; you may have to pay their legal costs.
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Terms of service
“Either party may terminate this agreement without notice. The provider is entitled to deactivate and delete the user's account after termination of this agreement.”
Expand “Read the exact line” to see the source alongside the explanation.
What you can turn off
The controls and opt-outs their own documents describe, and where they say to find them.
Disable Google Analytics
Privacy policy: opt-out cookie link labeled Disable Google Analytics, or https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout?hl=en
Ask them to delete or correct your data
Email using the legal notice address, or forum@openhabfoundation.org for registration consent
Log out of YouTube before watching embeds
Privacy policy YouTube section
If a switch is not where they say, the deletion request above still applies.
Line by line
The lines that matter most, worst first.
They can shut you off and wipe the account at any time, with no warning.
Read the exact line
Terms of service
“Either party may terminate this agreement without notice. The provider is entitled to deactivate and delete the user's account after termination of this agreement.”
For example, your remote access to your home setup could stop overnight and the account could be deleted.
If someone sues them because of how you used the service, you may have to pay their legal bills.
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Terms of service
“you as a user agree to release the provider from any claims, including claims for damages and to any costs incurred due to the possible violation of the law.”
For example, if a third party claims your notifications broke the law, you could be asked to cover the foundation’s lawyer fees.
Visit tracking is sent to Google in the United States.
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Privacy policy
“The information generated by the cookie about your use of this website is usually transmitted to a Google server in the USA and stored there.”
For example, which pages you open on openhab.org can be stored on Google’s servers.
Embedded YouTube can tie your visit on this site to your Google/YouTube account.
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Privacy policy
“If you're logged in to your YouTube account, YouTube allows you to associate your browsing behavior directly with your personal profile.”
For example, watching a video on their site while logged into YouTube can add that visit to your Google profile.
Using site search sends your IP to Algolia, possibly in the USA.
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Privacy policy
“If you use the search function, it is necessary to transmit your IP address to an Algolia server in Europe or the USA.”
For example, searching the docs can send your IP to Algolia’s servers.
myopenHAB is only for private, non-commercial use.
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Terms of service
“The service is meant for demonstration purposes and private use only. It must not be used in a commercial context, e.g. being sold as part of a payable service.”
For example, you cannot sell access to your openHAB setup that relies on this cloud.
You can turn off Google Analytics with an opt-out cookie or a browser plugin.
Read the exact line
Privacy policy
“You can also prevent the collection of your data by Google Analytics by clicking on the following link. An opt-out cookie will be set”
For example, you can click their Disable Google Analytics link so future visits are not measured that way.
The site encrypts traffic with HTTPS so others on the network cannot easily read it.
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Privacy policy
“This site uses SSL or TLS encryption for security reasons and for the protection of the transmission of confidential content”
For example, a contact-form message should travel over https rather than plain http.
You can email them and ask what they hold and ask them to fix or delete it.
Read the exact line
Privacy policy
“You always have the right to request information about your stored data, its origin, its recipients, and the purpose of its collection at no charge.”
For example, you can write to the address in the legal notice and ask them to delete your registration.
They mostly will not pay if the free service fails or data is wrong, except for serious fault.
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Terms of service
“The provider is only in case of intentional or gross negligent breach of an essential contractual obligation.”
For example, if the cloud is down and you cannot reach your home, they say they are not for ordinary mistakes.
Words to know
Legal words from the lines above, in plain English.
- legitimate interest
- A legal reason that lets a company use your data without asking, when it decides its own need outweighs your privacy. For example, an app may analyse how you use it to improve the product, without ever asking you.
- cookies
- Small files a website saves on your device so it can recognise you and remember what you did. For example, a cookie keeps you logged in and can also tell an ad company which sites you visited.
- indemnify
- You promise to pay the company's legal costs and losses if your use of the service gets it sued. For example, if you post a song you do not own and the label sues the app, you owe the app's lawyer bills.
- opt out
- Something is on by default and stays on until you find the setting and turn it off. For example, your chats may be used for training unless you go into settings and switch it off.
- limitation of liability
- A cap on what the company will ever pay you if something goes wrong, often only what you paid in the last year. For example, if a leak of your data costs you thousands, the most you may get back is a month's subscription fee.
How we got here · grade D · score 35/100 · 13 of 15 policy answers backed by a verified quote · 5 not stated
What does the app collect beyond what it needs to work?
They collect form and registration data plus technical logs: browser, OS, referrer, host, time, and IP, and cookies.
Does it record your voice, face or body, and what happens to that?
The documents do not describe collecting voice, face, or body data.
Are your chats and uploads used to train AI models, and is that off by default?
Not stated in the documents.
Can employees or contractors read your conversations, and when?
Not stated in the documents.
Are you profiled or tracked for advertising?
They use Google Analytics cookies and say they have an interest in optimizing advertising; YouTube and similar plugins also track.
Do they sell or share your data, and can you opt out?
They send data to processors and plugins such as Google, Algolia, YouTube, Maps, X, and PayPal; they do not say they sell data.
What rights do they take over what you type and what the AI makes?
Not stated in the documents.
How long do they keep your data after you delete it, and can you delete it in the app?
Registration data is kept while you are registered; deletion is by contacting them, not a stated in-app 30-day wipe.
Does it build a lasting memory or profile of you, and can you see, edit or turn it off?
Not stated in the documents.
Do they commit to basic security, and have they leaked data?
They describe SSL/TLS encryption and warn that email on the internet is not fully secure.
Is there a real age gate, and are teens protected?
Not stated in the documents.
Will they tell you when the rules change, and is the policy specific?
Neither document shows a last-updated date or a clear advance-notice rule for policy changes.
Can they close your account without warning, and can you get your data out first?
Either side may end the contract without notice, and they may then deactivate and delete the account.
If something goes wrong, who pays?
Liability is tightly limited, and you must indemnify them if third parties sue over your use.
Do subscriptions renew on their own, and can you get a refund?
myopenHAB is described as free; PayPal is only for donations, not a subscription.
The privacy policy is 2,262 words at a college level (Flesch reading ease 48.6); the terms are 734 words at a college level.
