this post was submitted on 05 Dec 2025
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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
72 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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[–] whoisearth@lemmy.ca 2 points 19 hours ago (6 children)

Play stupid games win stupid prizes.

I have a standard vacuum. I spend about 10 minutes a day vacuuming. Miele has no telemetry whatsoever lol

[–] zalgotext@sh.itjust.works 1 points 18 hours ago (1 children)

Ugh. Stop shaming people for wanting to automate mundane tasks. No one's playing a stupid game here, the problem isn't robot vacuums. The problem is that manufacturers insist on holding features hostage on the basis that you connect said vacuum to the Internet, so they can harvest (and then sell) your data. Be mad at that, not at normal people wanting to make a boring chore less burdensome.

[–] whoisearth@lemmy.ca 1 points 16 hours ago

Disagree. My experience is they still don't get everything, can't do furniture or corners well or under furniture. They're stupid. They're expensive and if you really can't spend 10 minutes or less to vacuum your house daily or every other day it speaks volumes on the type of person you are.

I stand by what I said. More money than brains.

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