The arrival of more affordable smart security cameras should be a source of, well, security for users. But it looks like the various OEMs and brands need to fix some bugs within their systems as there have been some disturbing lapses of late. The latest one involves a Xiaomi camera connected to a Google Nest Hub that seems to be streaming other people’s content. Google has now revoked Xiaomi integration for Google Home and Assistant as they try to figure out this problem.
A Reddit user initially reported that his recently bought Xiaomi Mijia 1080p Smart IP Security Camera suddenly started showing images from other people’s security cameras when he connected it to his Google Nest Hub. They were actually still pictures of including a clear view inside of a stranger’s house, a man sleeping in a chair, and an infant sleeping in a crib. It had Xiaomi/Mijia branded timestamps and they seem to be broadcasting from a different time zone.
Google shared a statement, saying they are now aware of the issue and they are working with Xiaomi to fix this disturbing error. But as a precaution, they are now disabling Xiaomi integrations with their Google Home and Google Assistant devices. In fact, all Mi Home integrated devices used through Google Home and Assistant are also affected by this as some users are seeing a “stream is currently unavailable” notice.
Of course, it’s possible that this may be “an elaborate hoax” says Android Police, but given the evidence, it may be the real deal. Some of the images shown are intermittently corrupted and instead of showing a video feed, you get still images, which may be too much effort for something that’s fake. It may also be just test images that are being streamed because of a bug, but still, that means there’s something wrong with the system.
Xiaomi has not yet issued a statement or a reaction about this. Hopefully, this is because they’re too busy working with Google to fix this issue.