Comcast adds motion sensing to routers — with a privacy catch

Comcast has rolled out new motion-sensing technology to its latest home routers, letting homeowners get notifications about activity detected inside their house while they’re away. The free feature, called Wi-Fi Motion, turns newer Xfinity gateways into motion sensors by detecting interruptions to the wireless network’s Wi-Fi signal and sends a notification through the Xfinity app.

As first reported by The Verge, Wi-Fi Motion works on advanced Xfinity gateways — the XB7 and newer models — and is opt-in, meaning users must actively switch it on in the Xfinity app. Comcast told the publication the feature can help homeowners detect motion and provide a basic layer of home security.

There’s a privacy trade-off, though. By enabling the feature, Comcast says it may disclose information generated by a customer’s use of Wi-Fi Motion to outside parties for a broad range of reasons — and that it doesn’t have to tell the customer when it does. “Comcast may disclose information generated by your Wi-Fi Motion to third parties without further notice to you in connection with any law enforcement investigation or proceeding, any dispute to which Comcast is a party, or pursuant to a court order or subpoena,” an Xfinity support page reads.

That’s something to weigh before switching the feature on, particularly for anyone who’s privacy conscious.

Why it matters

The convenience of free motion sensing comes with a real privacy cost: opting in means agreeing that Comcast can hand over data about activity in your home to law enforcement or other third parties without telling you first.