Comcast is adding motion detection to millions of routers, and I’m worried it’s a privacy nightmare

Worried about intruders sneaking around inside your house when you’re out of town? You could get one of the best home security cameras , but what if your existing router could do some of the heavy lifting? That’s what Comcast has just started offering its customers, but the move has been met with considerable controversy.

Dubbed WiFi Motion , the new feature is coming to Comcast-owned Xfinity’s internet services.

Once you opt in, WiFi Motion detects changes in the Wi-Fi signals emitted by the company’s routers and other smart home devices to detect the presence of people in your home.

While there’s no video surveillance involved, it can be used as a basic way to sense people who should not be inside your house.

When that happens, you’ll receive a notification in the Xfinity app.

While Xfinity told The Verge that WiFi Motion would provide “a basic level of security,” it’s caused a degree of consternation among the general public — and not for the first time .

On Reddit , for example, one user described it as “Flock for your bedroom,” likening the system to Flock’s controversial numberplate-recognition cameras .

Another worried that “A few years from now they’ll be hit with a few million-dollar fine or lawsuit while profiting hundreds of millions from selling the data.” In a world where user data forms a lucrative trade and data brokers increasingly siphon off people’s private information, it’s unsurprising that users are apprehensive about where their presence data might end up.

“Conspiracy guys were saying for probably a decade that they could use Wi-Fi to fully map out the interior of your house and track you,” added another Redditor.

“Crazy that it’s just out in the open now.” A potential privacy nightmare (Image credit: xFinity) The privacy concerns for technology like this are wide-ranging.

While many people already have indoor security cameras that can see who is walking around inside their homes, these people have consciously bought these products and opted into the system.

When surveillance is added to a router, though, we’re talking about orders of magnitude more people being affected — potentially many millions, in this instance.

Moreover, most of them will not have bought a router for its tracking abilities, yet will find themselves with a device that can do just that.

That’s enough to make anyone feel uneasy.