Harishankar Narayanan, a computer programmer, discovered that his iLife A11 smart vacuum cleaner was secretly transmitting a detailed 3D map of his home to servers located abroad. The data was generated using Google Cartographer technology — essentially giving outsiders a digital floor plan of his private space.
After blocking the data transmission, Narayanan found his vacuum had completely stopped working. Multiple repair attempts failed until the warranty expired. That’s when he decided to dig deeper, reverse-engineering the device’s firmware to uncover the shocking truth.
“The Android Debug Bridge was wide open with root access,” Narayanan explained, adding that a remote ‘kill switch’ command had been sent right after he blocked data sharing.
When he reversed the suspicious code, the vacuum powered up instantly — proving the manufacturer had disabled it remotely. The revelation has since sparked debates about privacy in smart home devices, with experts warning that even simple gadgets can become powerful surveillance tools.
This discovery raises urgent questions: how much of our home life is being quietly uploaded and analyzed without our consent? As smart homes become the norm, the line between convenience and surveillance keeps getting thinner.
Sources: futurism
