Your TiVO Is Not Trying to Hack You
If you recently purchased a TiVO Stream 4K, you may have been a little put off by the security notice you received, implying that something you did has given a third party “broad access to your personal information.” Yes, and “You should remove his access if you are not sure you can trust him.”
Usually, getting such a message from Google should not be ignored. In fact, I would even say that you should probably trust his advice to revoke access to any app service that requested it, even if Google itself marks data sharing as problematic.
However, if you recently linked or are trying to link your TiVO Stream 4K to your Google account, you probably received a rather nasty security warning in your inbox saying that you should disconnect from the SEI Robotics device. or TiVO Stream 4K. You don’t really want to do this.
If you do, you are simply depriving your TiVO Stream 4K of the ability to function properly, as it is based on the Android TV operating system and therefore must have access to your Google account.
Worse, turning off this access can cause a little disaster among the rest of your Google-equipped home. As one person wrote :
As for the TiVo, this can only be a visual consideration. HOWEVER, following the recommended security alert actions will destroy Nest and Google Homes. Please, please pass this on to anyone, whoever your contacts on Google, as I believe we all end up in Nest Engineering telling us that we have decided to delete our homes (incorrect) and the problem is bigger than Nest – review Android TV device shouldn’t disconnect my Nest Protects and Lenovo Clock etc.
A TiVO spokesperson confirmed the issue in a forum post, but did not go into details on how removing access to a TiVO device could wreak havoc on your entire home.
Hi everyone, we worked with Google on this issue and found out where the error is. We are working with Google to fix this as soon as possible. Confirm that this is only a user interface issue and the TiVo has not gained additional access to your Google accounts.
TiVO may have fixed the issue since then, as some owners point out that their devices are correctly named TiVO Stream 4K and not SEI Robotics TV, and say that TiVO no longer issues any security alerts. However, we couldn’t be clearer: if you get a strange security warning after setting up the TiVO, ignore it. Do not deny him access to anything. You will save hours of re-configuring all other devices, although this is usually the right step in the field of security.