Smart pet feeder displays wrong home's surveillance to users
A Xiaopei smart pet feeder in Wuhan displayed another household's home surveillance video to its user after mainboard repair, exposing both homes' interiors. The company attributed the malfunction to either a transcription error during repair or a hacker attack, but did not provide a definitive explanation.
What happened
After returning a Xiaopei smart pet feeder for WiFi mainboard repair in July 2025, a Wuhan customer discovered that the device's mobile app displayed a different household's living room instead of her own home's footage.
The device had operated for approximately 20 days after repair displaying the wrong home's surveillance. The customer used the device's remote voice function to contact the other household, which then disabled its camera. Xiaopei initially blamed the issue on an incorrect serial number entered during repair, then changed the explanation to a hacker attack on the firewall.
Reported impact
The customer reported that both households could potentially view each other's home interiors during the malfunction period. She was concerned that others could control her feeder and monitor her home activities.
The customer rejected Xiaopei's compensation offer of a replacement device and one year's supply of desiccant, ultimately requesting a refund instead due to loss of trust in the brand.
Index analysis
An industry source indicated the most likely cause was a conflict between the new mainboard ID and the activated device account in the cloud platform following the repair, suggesting a failure in the service platform to distinguish between devices.
The source noted that many smart home devices with camera functions may lack adequate network intrusion prevention measures, recommending consumers purchase from established brands and physically obstruct camera angles for privacy protection.
Governance controls
Xiaopei's official customer service stated they had received no complaints about this issue. When contacted by media, the company's online customer service acknowledged receiving the report but provided no further response or public explanation by the time of publication.
Classification
Sources and evidence
This record was researched and written by the Index, based on the following original reporting.