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Google Photos sharing to Android TVs shut down over privacy bug

The glitch may've exposed hundreds of accounts.

Shelby Brown Editor II
Shelby Brown (she/her/hers) is an editor for CNET's services team. She covers tips and tricks for apps, operating systems and devices, as well as mobile gaming and Apple Arcade news. Shelby also oversees Tech Tips coverage. Before joining CNET, she covered app news for Download.com and served as a freelancer for Louisville.com.
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Google has temporarily disabled Google Photo sharing to Android TVs while it investigates a privacy bug.

The issue, discovered by Twitter user Prashanth, let hundreds of users' accounts be visible to other users, Android Police reported on Monday. On Tuesday Google confirmed it had shut down the feature while it looked into the problem.  

"We take our users' privacy extremely seriously," a Google spokesperson said in an email. "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."

Prashanth said he tried to access linked accounts on his Vu Android TV through the Google Home app. Another Twitter user, Aarjith Nandakumar, replicated the problem for the iFFalcon Android TV. Vu and iFFalcon weren't immediately available for comment.

When Prashanth contacted Google Support on Twitter, he was told to contact the TV manufacturer.

Until the bug is fixed, you won't be able to set a Google Photo album as your screensaver or view pictures with Google Assistant on your smart TV.

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