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Comcast just made it easier to spy on your pets

A new artificial intelligence-powered filter will sort through motion-triggered Xfinity Camera footage to find the family dog and other critter companions.

A scene from "The Secret Life of Pets." Dogs, cats, and other critter companions may have fewer secrets if their humans employ the "pet filter" on Comcast's Xfinity security cameras.
A scene from "The Secret Life of Pets." Dogs, cats, and other critter companions may have fewer secrets if their humans employ the "pet filter" on Comcast's Xfinity security cameras.Read moreUniversal Studios / MCT

Are you stalking your pet online?

According to a Comcast-commissioned survey of Pennsylvania dog or cat owners who use security cameras to monitor their pets’ activities, 42 percent look in on their pets remotely at least four times a day, with 93 percent saying it’s one of the best parts of those days.

Comcast, whose products include the Xfinity Home Camera, announced Wednesday that it was adding a “pet filter” to the camera. “The filter uses artificial intelligence to quickly sort through hours of footage to identify just those with pets in them out of the more than one hundred motion-triggered video clips a typical camera can generate each day,” the company said.

It’s possible, of course, that your pet might not be ready for prime time, much less the surveillance state.

According to the survey conducted for the company by Wakefield Research, what camera users see isn’t always a pooch or feline on its best behavior:

“Eighty-four percent of respondents have checked in on their pets and caught them doing something naughty such as sitting in a forbidden place (36 percent); making excessive noise (33 percent); eating human food that has been left out (31 percent); damaging furniture or accessories (29 percent); hiding or moving objects around the home (24 percent); relieving him/herself on the floor or on the furniture (28 percent); vomiting (19 percent); or getting stuck somewhere (13 percent).”

Most of which, I have to admit, sounds more exciting than watching a dog sleep.

For those who prefer a pet that’s unlikely to commit such onscreen no-nos, may we recommend — goldfish?