Google suspends Xiaomi from Home Hub over camera privacy glitch

Google has temporarily disconnected Xiaomi‘s IP cameras from its Home Hub service after a user reported that he was seeing images from other people’s devices.

Google’s Home Hub is the company’s answer to Amazon’s Echo – a connected home automation display controlled via the GUI and a voice assistant. You can use it to control your thermostat and lighting, ask Google Assistant questions, and to see images from the connected IP cameras around your house. Unfortunately, Xiaomi’s cameras began displaying images from other peoples’ houses too.

Reddit user u/Dio-V found that Xiaomi’s Mijia 1080p IP camera was sending still images from other peoples’ homes when he accessed it via his Google Home Hub.

The camera, which Dio-V said was purchased new and had up-to-date firmware, sent multiple images from other peoples’ Xiaomi cameras when connected to the Google device. To prove his point, he posted images on Reddit including a sleeping baby, a person resting in a chair, and someone else seated at a table. Whoops.