this post was submitted on 05 Dec 2025
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466
Manufacturer issues remote kill command to disable smart vacuum after engineer blocks it from collecting data — user revives it with custom hardware and Python scripts to run offline (www.tomshardware.com)
submitted 1 day ago by spaghettiwestern@sh.itjust.works to c/technology@lemmy.world
130 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

An engineer got curious about how his iLife A11 smart vacuum worked and monitored the network traffic coming from the device. That’s when he noticed it was constantly sending logs and telemetry data to the manufacturer — something he hadn't consented to. The user, Harishankar, decided to block the telemetry servers' IP addresses on his network, while keeping the firmware and OTA servers open. While his smart gadget worked for a while, it just refused to turn on soon after. After a lengthy investigation, he discovered that a remote kill command had been issued to his device.

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[–] GreenShimada@lemmy.world 180 points 1 day ago (17 children)

The fact that this isn't considered outright fraud is disturbing. This person OWNS the device, yes? They're not leasing it.

FFS, this should be illegal.

[–] Vorticity@lemmy.world 50 points 1 day ago (9 children)

I agree with you that this should be illegal. I expect this was in the terms of service, though. Since we have no laws restricting this kind of bullshit, the company can argue that they're within their rights.

We need some real legislation around privacy. It's never going to happen, but it needs to. We need a right to anonymity but that is too scary for advertisers and our police state.

[–] Ininewcrow@piefed.ca 0 points 23 hours ago

When an authoritarian country does it, everyone goes crazy

When a company does it to make more money and take more control, it's just business as usual.

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