this post was submitted on 27 Oct 2025
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Man Alarmed to Discover His Smart Vacuum Was Broadcasting a Secret Map of His House (futurism.com)
submitted 4 days ago by themachinestops@lemmy.dbzer0.com to c/technology@lemmy.world
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[–] madjo@feddit.nl 23 points 4 days ago (1 children)

That is why I have denied internet access for my robot vacuum cleaner. Xiaomi doesn't need to know the blueprint of my house, and if it can't connect to the internet, there's no need for firmware updates.

I'll start the thing by pressing the button at the top.

[–] ohshit604@sh.itjust.works 2 points 4 days ago (3 children)

I’m unfamiliar with Xiaomi “smart” products, I assume there is an app to control the vacuum, if it does have an app does it still work for you strictly behind your LAN network?

[–] madjo@feddit.nl 8 points 4 days ago (2 children)

It does have an app, but I'm not using it. It also doesn't work, because it can't find the vacuum on the network.

The device has 2 buttons: "turn on/off" and "find home", those are the only two I need.

A vacuum doesn't need internet access.

[–] ohshit604@sh.itjust.works 5 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

Did a little digging, not sure if you’re someone who self hosts (or owns Homekit enabled devices) but Homebridge appears to offer plugins for Xiaomi smart vacuums this will give you more “smart” functionality without the cost of exposing it to the internet.

Shame they don’t offer that flexibility natively.

[–] sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works 3 points 4 days ago

It would be nice if it had Bluetooth or something to control from the app. There's no reason I'd want to run the vacuum outside a defined schedule when not at home, so the only useful feature of an app is local config.

[–] ICastFist@programming.dev 2 points 4 days ago

It's Xiaomi, of course the app will not work without internet access

[–] smeenz@lemmy.nz 2 points 4 days ago

The app talks to the servers, the servers talk to the robot