As digital technology continues to advance, personal privacy is becoming increasingly unsafe. On one hand, there are personal information leaks and targeted big data advertisements; on the other hand, there are various miniature recording devices that can secretly film individuals, leading to unexpected appearances of oneself online.In fact, as early as last year, I, along with a few team members, came up with a topic:To reveal to our friends the criminal cost of purchasing a miniature pinhole camera, from buying to promotional pages to product experience, and just how low it is.
However, due to the fact that this idea was too “criminal” and too “punishable,” considering various factors, we ultimately shelved this topic.Unexpectedly, a year has passed, and now the secret photographers are becoming increasingly brazen: Using smart speakers to spy in vacation rentals, can you believe it?
Can smart speakers spy?
On July 1, a netizen named Ms. Yang posted a video revealing that while staying at a vacation rental in Benxi City, Liaoning Province, she unexpectedly discovered that the Baidu smart speaker in her room had a camera function.
Initially, when checking in, Ms. Yang did not pay much attention to the smart speaker; she just picked it up to play with it out of boredom. However, this turned out to be quite significant.By chance, the Baidu smart speaker activated a monitoring mode, and when Ms. Yang looked at the screen, she noticed a front-facing camera, which instantly made her feel uneasy.
Fortunately, Ms. Yang was cautious, as she saw in the speaker’s video library that the first video was of her female friend walking around the living room, which made her feel extremely uncomfortable.As Ms. Yang continued to scroll, she discovered multiple videos of herself and her friends, as well as previous guests’ private videos. This means that everyone who stayed at this vacation rental had their private lives filmed completely.
Based on the dates and expiration times of the videos, as well as the date of the incident, I suspect that these videos are automatically retained by the Baidu smart speaker for seven days before being overwritten. This long retention period provides ample time for criminals to retrieve and copy the videos.Ms. Yang stated that after discovering these videos, she immediately communicated with the vacation rental owner and reported to the police the next day. Ironically, the owner expressed surprise, stating that they were unaware of who had placed the speaker there, suggesting it might have been someone else who stayed there.Goodness, I want to ask, this is your property, and you don’t even know if things are missing or added, how can you be so casual?
Moreover, this also reflects a flaw in vacation rentals.Those who have stayed in vacation rentals know that some of the access codes are sent by the owner via WeChat, and the cleaning before check-in and after check-out is done by hourly cleaners. If it’s not an entire building or a rental where the owner also resides, you might not see the owner in person from check-in to check-out.This leaves loopholes for criminals to install such smart speakers with cameras and other spying equipment without the owner’s knowledge.I’m not trying to exonerate this owner, as these videos appear to have been saved for over a week. Not checking the property even once a week is simply unacceptable.Continuing with the news, on July 5, staff from the Gaoyu Police Station of the Benxi City Mingshan Public Security Bureau stated that they have opened a case regarding this matter, and the investigation is ongoing.
In the news, Ms. Yang also mentioned that she had previously stayed in hotels with similar speakers but had never paid attention to them. She exposed this incident to raise awareness about the issue of spying.The investigation is still ongoing, and it remains unclear who placed the device. Meanwhile, Baidu has issued an official response.
Baidu: Supports Rights Protection and Will Cooperate Fully!Today, Baidu’s AI assistant @Baidu Baidu issued a statement regarding the incident where a woman claimed that a smart speaker in a vacation rental was spying on guests’ privacy:They strongly demand that the business immediately cease such behavior, have contacted the individual involved in the video, and will firmly support the individual’s rights protection, fully cooperating and assisting the police in their inquiries and investigations.Additionally, regarding the recording function displayed in the video, Baidu pointed out that this is the “Care Assistant” feature of the Baidu smart screen.The original intention of developing this feature was to help users monitor the elderly and children at home through the smart screen’s camera while they are away, allowing for timely handling in case of emergencies.Then, the key point came. Baidu specifically mentioned that the Baidu smart screen does not automatically turn on the camera or the “Care Assistant” feature by default; only the device administrator has permission to do so.
In other words, this is not a misunderstanding; someone is deliberately spying on guests’ privacy.As for whether it was the landlord or a previous tenant, or someone else entirely, I, along with my friends, will wait for the police’s follow-up investigation results.Baidu also mentioned that the Baidu smart screen used in that vacation rental is a standard user version. According to Baidu’s “Care Assistant Agreement,” the standard user version product is only allowed for use in family scenarios.
In other words, whether intentionally or unintentionally, using a standard user version smart screen in a vacation rental violates user regulations.Because of this regulation, Baidu has specifically developed a hotel version of the Baidu smart screen for commercial use: which removes the camera, has no exposed physical ports except for the charging port, and eliminates the OTG port, using a secure ADB solution to increase the difficulty of external cracking, preventing flashing or brute-force cracking to implant malicious software, thus maximizing user privacy protection.After reading this announcement, I feel that Baidu really has no fault in this matter; no matter how good the product and technology are, they cannot withstand malicious use. Based on all this information, it is indeed a premeditated spying crime.
How to Protect Privacy from Spying?Thanks to the increasing attention to personal privacy issues in recent years, mobile phone manufacturers have also taken notice of this point.Currently, brands like Vivo, OPPO, and Huawei have camera detection features that can detect network cameras under wireless networks.
I tested it with the X80 Pro in the office, and it indeed worked, detecting the anti-theft camera installed in the company.
If you are worried about missing something, it also provides a manual detection feature that uses the principle of detecting suspicious light to find cameras. Before starting, you should close the curtains and turn off the indoor lights to ensure you are in a dark environment.
Using the same principle, even if you do not have a phone from these brands with the corresponding function, you can still close the curtains, turn off the lights, and open the camera facing areas where you suspect there might be a camera. If there is a camera, a red dot will appear. Of course, not every red dot is a camera, further confirmation is needed.
Additionally, if you stay in a hotel, I recommend checking the ceiling, TV, lampshades, sockets, bathrooms, and mirrors, as these are common places where miniature cameras can be installed, leading to privacy breaches.Have you learned this, friends? Remember to use these tips next time you stay in a hotel or vacation rental!Editor:Question MarkReferences:IT Home:Baidu Responds to “Woman Discovers Multiple Guests Filmed by Smart Speaker” Video screenshots source: Zhengguan NewsImage source: Internet, Baidu Official BlogBeware of spying, it’s useful to like!