Xiaomi Security Camera Bug Shows Others Footage, Google Responds by Cutting Off Support to Xiaomi

BY Mahit Huilgol

Published 2 Jan 2020

Smart Cameras have become a rage, they are inexpensive, offer live streams on your phone and also let you do many other things. Well, Smart Security cameras may not be as smart as you think them to be. A security bug in the Xiaomi camera shows other homes. The issue is so creepy that it can potentially shape up as a great plot for Netflix’s Black Mirror.

Google has found that the bug raises its ugly head when you use Xiaomi devices with Google Nest Hub. Many of us use Google Assistant to switch from one camera feed to another. An alert Reddit user has posted that instead of seeing feeds from his own home they started seeing feeds from others home. Thats not all some of the feeds were very private and the Redditor could see people in it.

The Reddit thread is accompanied by a string of images allegedly of switched security footage. That being said, it is pretty much possible for the person to fake images. But we also need to understand that it is pointless. Furthermore, the swath of issues regarding security camera user data and privacy makes one apprehensive.

The folks at Android Authority reached out to Google and Xiaomi. The latter refused to comment on the issue. However, Google reverted back and the statement reads as follows,

We’re aware of the issue and are in contact with Xiaomi to work on a fix. In the meantime, we’re disabling Xiaomi integrations on our devices.”

Looking at the statement, it seems like the claims are not dubious. Google must have disabled Xiaomi integration only after it has found the issue. Let us hope that the issue is fixed and companies like Xiaomi exercise a greater degree of caution when it comes to user security and data privacy.

[via Android Authority]