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Developer Alleges iLife Robot Vacuum Secretly Sent Home Maps, Then Was Remotely Disabled

The disclosure raises alarms over manufacturer control of connected appliances.

Overview

  • Harishankar Narayan says his iLife A11 transmitted telemetry and Google Cartographer floor maps to company servers without consent.
  • After he blocked the device’s data uploads by IP, the vacuum stopped functioning, and a repair center ultimately declined further service.
  • An exposed Android Debug Bridge port granted instant root access, revealing logs, configuration files and unencrypted Wi‑Fi credentials.
  • Device logs recorded an "RS_CTRL_REMOTE_EVENT" at the failure point; reversing the command restored operation, which he interprets as a kill switch.
  • His blog and subsequent tech coverage recommend isolating smart gadgets on separate networks and favoring local control, with no manufacturer comment included in the reports.