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A mother in Denver, Colorado, is urging other parents to be careful after she heard a mysterious voice from her baby’s Nanit monitor, which she believes may have been hacked.
Jane – who has chosen not to share her last name – explained to KGW that she has used the Nanit Wi-Fi baby monitor for almost two years. After noting that she has never experienced a problem with the monitor, she said that she was startled when she heard an unfamiliar voice coming through the monitor around 6 a.m when she was checking the device’s live feed on her phone.
"So, I heard him (her son) talking to himself over my phone, and it was cute, just listening to it first thing in the morning, and then I heard a weird sound," Jane told the outlet. "Initially I just had no idea what it was, but kind of panicked and ran straight to his bedroom and took him out of his crib."
She said it was difficult to understand the voice, though she knew it did not belong to someone in her home. She then ran to her baby’s room and reviewed the recording before she immediately disconnected the Wi-Fi-enabled device amid fears that it had been hacked.
"I was so horrified. There's really no way to describe how violating that feels because it wasn't a camera that I was routinely on, it was a camera that my child was on and something that we trusted. It's very violating," she said.
Following the incident, Jane contacted Nanit and sent the company the recording. The company, which manufactures the monitor, reviewed the device’s log and checked which devices had access to her account. However, they were unable to find any signs of unauthorized access.
Jane said that Nanit has not provided an official explanation for the incident, though they told her that the case has been escalated and is being looked into.
While Jane is still waiting for answers, she said she wanted to share her story to encourage other parents to be vigilant about the devices in their own homes.
"You know a lot of these products are specifically marketed because they make parents feel like they're keeping their child extra safe,” she said. “I think my advice would be to not necessarily pay attention to all the bells and whistles, maybe just kind of keep it simple.”
