A Twitter user has discovered a strange privacy issue in the Google Android TV platform. In fact, the user has also shared his experience on the social media platform. Let’s see what the issue is actually; As the user notes, the issue shows Google accounts of some strangers being linked to Google Home app. Not just that, the Twitter user also notes that the issue is giving access to strangers' Google Photo albums as well. This problem involving the Google Android TV platform was first reported on the Vu Android TV and then was seen by another user on iFFalcon Android TV. The Vu Android TV user who reported about the issue also shared a small video describing the issue. The Twitter user notes, “When I access my Vu Android TV through the @Google Home app and check the linked accounts, it basically lists what I imagine is every single person who owns this television. This is shocking incompetence. Oh my god. Private @googlephotos of strangers are being shown to me in the ambient mode screensaver.”
Google Replies to This Major Android TV Bug
As noted by the Twitter user, the bug shows linked accounts of several Android TV users on the Google Home app and also gives access to personal details and pictures of thousands of unsuspecting users. The good bit is both Vu and Google have commented on the issue.
The Twitter user said that while going through the device setting of his Vu TV via Google Home app, he discovered that thousands of accounts were linked to the Android TV. These accounts were not his own, of course. The user also noted that he could also set up the ambient mode and see photos from Google Photos of multiple other linked users. Meanwhile, another user using an iFalcon Android TV reported of facing a similar issue.
According to Gadgets 360, a Vu spokesperson said, “We were recently notified that there was a malfunction of Google Home App in some of the Android TVs. After verifying the incident we have informed our customers that it was not an issue of Vu Television, but it was software malfunction of the Google Home App. We take your privacy very seriously. Vu has a long-standing commitment to protecting the privacy of the personal information that our customers entrust to us.”
Commenting on the same issue, a Google spokesperson told the website that the company is investigating the matter right now. The spokesperson noted, “We take our users' privacy extremely seriously. While we investigate this bug, we have disabled the ability to remotely cast via the Google Assistant or view photos from Google Photos on Android TV devices.”
