Google has cut off Xiaomi security cameras’ Nest and Assistant integration after a user was accidentally shown feed images from strangers’ homes. The incident joins a long-running list of privacy disasters — a few of which have occurred in simply the last couple of weeks and raises additional issues on whether IP-based security systems can be trusted.
The problem was first marked by a Netherlands-based Reddit user who, when tried to stream his Xiaomi Mijia 1080p Smart IP security camera’s feed on a Google Nest Hub, noticed stills from random people’s homes as an option of his personal. A bunch of the practically dozen files he shared in a Reddit post offered disturbingly clear views of a sleeping baby in a crib, a person asleep in a chair, an incorporated porch, and more.
In an announcement to AndroidPolice, a Google spokesperson confirmed the bug and added: “[We] are involved with Xiaomi to work on a fix. In the meantime, we’re disabling Xiaomi integrations on our devices.”
The shutdown applies to all of the Nest-enabled Xiaomi security devices across the world and is already live. Pulling up a Xiaomi security camera feed on a Nest display, for now, throws an error message asserting the stream is unavailable at the moment.