I live in an area where I can go from heat to cool needs in a single day, and I have pets with sensitive temperature needs. So I have a thermostat I can control via the Internet.

However, it is not a Nest, and only I can control it. It's not connected to any account or cloud service. It doesn't have direct IP connectivity at all, so it can't be turned into a part of a botnet. And it works just fine without the Internet.