Silicon Valley tech giant Google has suspended the integration of some of its hardware and services with Chinese company Xiaomi after a user who connected a Xiaomi camera to his Google Home Hub revealed that he was able to see into other users’ homes, including sleeping children.
Business Insider reports that Silicon Valley tech giant Google has suspended the integration between Xiaomi devices and Google software and services. The decision comes after a user with a Xioami home security camera claims that he was able to see into other users’ homes after linking the camera to his Google Home Hub.
Reddit user /u/Dio-V claimed in a post in the Google Home subreddit that they were able to see images from other users Xiaomi Mijia smart security cameras on their Google Home Hub. The user posted a video of which showed them attempting to view the livestream from their own security camera on the device, which then glitches and shows random images from other users’ devices.
The Reddit user posted a number of other random images that appeared on their device, including a man asleep on a chair, and a sleeping baby. Other users stated that the glitch was “so f***ed up” and “so creepy.”
A spokeswoman for Xiaomi told Business Insider that the issue has been fixed but that 1,000 more users could possibly be affected. The issue was reportedly caused by a cache update on December 26th, 2019, designed to “improve camera streaming quality.” The spokesperson added:
This [issue] has only happened in extremely rare conditions. In this case, it happened during the integration between [the] Mi Home Security Camera Basic 1080p and the Google Home Hub with a display screen under poor network conditions.
We have also found 1,044 users were with such integrations and only a few with extremely poor network conditions might be affected. This issue will not happen if the camera is linked to the Xiaomi’s Mi Home app.
Xiaomi has communicated and fixed this issue with Google, and has also suspended this service until the root cause has been completely solved, to ensure that such issues will not happen again.
A Google spokesperson has since told Android Police that following the Reddit users’ posts, the company was “disabling Xiaomi integrations on our devices.”
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship. Follow him on Twitter @LucasNolan or email him at lnolan@breitbart.com
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