Robot vacuum sucks up home’s secrets
Robot vacuum cleaner company Roomba is sweeping up more than dust when it scoots round your rooms; its chief executive has admitted the robot is also collecting data on the house and its equipment – which he is planning to sell to companies such as Amazon or Google.
When first on the market the Roomba was limited to little more than being able to avoid obstacles in the house and then return to its base after cleaning the floor. Now it is able to make its own computerised map of the houses, flats and rooms that it cleans.
It uses a technology called ‘Simultaneous Localization and Mapping’ to give 100% floor cleaning but also to map what other equipment is in use in the house. Although the firm said up until recently it did not collect client data, Colin Angle, the head of Roomba’s parent iRobot, said new models were now able to do so.
He said: “There’s an entire ecosystem of things and services that the smart home can deliver once you have a rich map of the home that the user has allowed to be shared.”
Mr Angle added that he planned to sell on the data to companies that use ‘voice assistants’ such as Amazon’s Alexa or Google Home in the next three years.
These companies would then be able to use the information – which could include details on which internet-enabled smart devices were installed and even the house layout.
Amazon or Google could then use this information to target advertising at the user or to better target advertising at other users knowing what would interest a typical Roomba user.
IRobot has already signed a deal with Amazon to make Roomba compatible with Alexa.
Consumer groups such as UFC Que Choisir and CLCV say they have not yet taken a position on the plans, which are so far limited to the statement from Mr Angle to a news agency.
The firm has no mention of how it uses consumer data on its website (some sales sites link to French data watchdog, Cnil) but Cnil has told Connexion that users have the right in French law to access any data Roomba/iRobot holds on them and make changes.
Cnil added that it and 29 authorities worldwide were auditing how the ‘internet of things’ affected personal privacy and could carry out more formal checks on companies.
Mr Angle has said no data would be passed on without customer consent – although some Roomba features do not work if this consent is not given. He felt customers would want to give approval to use Roomba smart-home functions.
