
iRobot (Roomba) shares customer data with Google and other affiliates - lettergram
https://webapi.irobot.com//Legal/Documents/North-America/United-States/Legal-Documents/Privacy-Policy.aspx?sc_lang=en#2
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cronix
Thanks, I don't need a vacuum that sends data to you, or anyone else. It's not
necessary to the function of the product. The convenience does not outweigh
the cost of my privacy, and I'm certainly not going to pay you to extract it
from me. You should be paying me to use your product if you want the data.

~~~
technofiend
I don't disagree but the attitude in corporate America is simply anything for
profit is good and justified. iRobot will happily argue their service will
cost more unless they share your data when what they really mean is you'll
have to offset this new revenue stream for them if you want them to stop.

~~~
toomuchtodo
So it all comes back to regulation, right? iRobot does this because there is
no law against it. AT&T is walking back its selling of location data after the
online outrage kicked in, but they'll go back to selling it once everyone has
forgotten. Facebook and Google sell your data because there is no law against
it.

Push your legislator(s) for regulation of your data privacy rights. It is _the
only way_ these encroachments on citizen privacy get fixed. Europe does this
right (<3 GDPR), and the US has _a lot_ of room for improvement.

~~~
dgzl
edit: lost interest in the battle. /Whiteflag

~~~
technofiend
I realize you're being sarcastic but customers don't agree to it in any
reasonable sense: shrinkwrap agreements are notoriously long winded and
obscure and there is usually no way to opt out. iRobot knows if the product
actually said "Shares your personal data" on the box it would negativity
affect sales.

So yes I agree with the person above you who said regulation is the answer. If
you make it impossible to share data then it's not longer a revenue stream or
a competitive advantage and companies can focus their efforts on improving the
product for the consumer to drive profit rather than milking the customer for
data and selling it.

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userbinator
It seems that these days you should assume that any product which needs an
Internet connection to function is going to phone home through that. There's
certainly a market for "smart, but not _too_ smart" devices; unfortunately I
doubt it's very large.

~~~
cronix
It's another reason why I quite using fitbit. There is no reason at all you
need internet connectivity to send the data 3 feet from the device to the
phone via bluetooth. They don't need to collect the data at all, and since
there is no opt-out, I just quit using it.

~~~
johnchristopher
Did you replace it with anything ?

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cronix
No. I go on regular walks on a regular route, so I know how far it is after
using it a few times. I don't really need to know down to the step how far I
walked each day, just that I at least did what my goal is.

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tylermenezes
You're being deliberately misleading to stir the pot. It says they use Google
Analytics and Ads, just like the other 3/4 of the internet.

~~~
kylec
Why does a vacuum cleaner need Google Analytics or Ads?

~~~
CamelCaseName
The privacy policy covers irobot.com, their products, and their mobile apps.

Their website, marketing tools, and apps are the ones that connect to third
parties. See below:

Information collected automatically.

We and our third party service providers may collect certain types of usage
information when you visit our Website or mobile Apps, read our emails, or
otherwise engage with us. We use this information to enhance and personalize
your user experience, to monitor and improve our websites and services, and
for other internal purposes. In some instances, we and our third party service
providers may combine this usage information with personal information. If we
do combine any usage information with personal information, the combined
information will be treated by us as personal information.

We typically collect this information through a variety of tracking
technologies, including cookies, web beacons, embedded scripts, location-
identifying technologies, file information, and similar technology
(collectively, “tracking technologies”). We, and our third party partners, use
tracking technologies to automatically collect usage and device information,
such as:

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andr
If you scroll up from where the link sends you, you will see a section called
“Information We Collect from Registered Devices Equipped with Smart
Technology“, which completely negates the premise in the title.

~~~
dvfjsdhgfv
I always wonder how many people read only titles. In this case it's enough to
glance the fragment in question to realize the title is imprecise.

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tyfon
WTF.

Why are these machines on the internet? I have one ordered that will arrive in
a few days, I really hope that I can turn that off. I don't want any "internet
of things to be hacked" devices in my house.

~~~
danielparks
I haven’t connected mine to the Internet. It still works, you just can’t
control it or get diagnostics through your phone.

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Gaelan
OK, this is confusing. They explicitly say they share with Google/Amazon if
you use Assistant/Alexa, which makes sense, but then also "From time to time,
with selected third parties who we think may offer you products or services
you may enjoy." So I don't think it's fair to say that they're giving your
data to Google unsolicited, but they're definitely sharing it with SOMEONE
unsolicited.

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Shebanator
I must be missing something. Where do they say they send data to google?

Are we talking about the Assistant/Alexa integration, which sounds fairly
focused? I guess the key question is whether or not they are sending data when
you aren't using Assistant or Alexa.

Or are we talking about the fact that they are using ad networks to show ads?
The latter isn't anything different than any site that sends ads.

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username223
> We may share your personal information in the instances described below...
> From time to time, with selected third parties who we think may offer you
> products or services you may enjoy.

In other words, "whenever we feel like it." I'm not sure why they bothered
with the other clauses.

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kevmo
I recently learned that there is a name for this phenomenon where our reality
is being increasingly digitized and financialized - "surveillance capitalism".

 _Surveillance capitalism is a novel market form and a specific logic of
capitalist accumulation that was first described in a 2014 essay by business
theorist and social scientist Shoshana Zuboff. She characterized it as a
"radically disembedded and extractive variant of information capitalism" based
on the commodification of "reality" and its transformation into behavioral
data for analysis and sales._

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surveillance_capitalism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surveillance_capitalism)

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CamelCaseName
The title is needlessly alarmist. The linked privacy policy covers the various
robots as well as irobot.com and their mobile apps.

Most of the comments here are about their robots so let me copy and paste the
relevant passage from the policy below:

Information We Collect from Registered Devices Equipped with Smart Technology.

Some of our Robots are equipped with smart technology which allows the Robots
to transmit data wirelessly to the Service. When you register your Robot with
the online App, we collect information about the Robot, such as a Robot name
and device number, and information about the Robot and/or App usage, feature
usage, in-App transactions, technical specifications, crashes, and other
information about how you use your Robot and the product App. For example, the
Robot could collect and transmit information about the Robot’s function and
use statistics, such as battery life and health, start and stop times, and
number of missions.

Certain Robot models are equipped to collect information about the environment
in which the Robot is deployed. For example, the Robot collects information
about its movement throughout the environment to create a location ‘map’ of
the space accessible to the Robot. The spatial map is a digital representation
of the Robot's domain and does not include recognizable images from the
location environment. To create the map, the Robot converts computer-vision
images to abstract features and landmarks to generate a spatial representation
of the Robot’s territory indicating the presence of objects, obstacles, floor
coverings like carpet or tile, WiFi signal strength, and dirt detection.

We use this information to collect and analyze statistics and usage data,
diagnose and fix technology problems, enhance device performance, and improve
user experience. We may use this information to provide you personalized
communications, including marketing and promotional messages, such as emails
providing product order information when your device indicates a battery needs
replacement. We consider location mapping data to be sensitive, confidential
information and we do not share this information with third parties for
marketing purposes. Please visit our Data Security page to learn more.

Our Robots do not transmit this information unless you register your device
online and connect to WiFi, Bluetooth, or connect to the internet via another
method. It is possible to use our smart technology Robots without WiFi or
Bluetooth data transmission, simply by disconnecting your WiFi or Bluetooth
from the device or by never connecting it at all. You can also choose through
your settings in the App to not to have location mapping data transmitted to
us.

~~~
ardy42
> Some of our Robots are equipped with smart technology which allows the
> Robots to transmit data wirelessly to the Service.

As far as I know _all_ their current Roomba lineup is equipped with that
technology. I actually just bought the last non-wifi Roomba I could find,
specifically to avoid it.

~~~
danielparks
You don’t have to connect the Roomba to the Internet. My 690 isn’t connected
and it works fine.

~~~
ardy42
Can you program schedules without wifi? It's missing the scheduling buttons
mine has, and the product description makes it seem like you need to use the
app for that:

[https://store.irobot.com/default/roomba-vacuuming-robot-
vacu...](https://store.irobot.com/default/roomba-vacuuming-robot-vacuum-
irobot-roomba-690/R690020.html)

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darkpuma
When did they start doing this? The one I've got doesn't have any form of
radio.

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donaltroddyn
Is there an alternative to Roomba that doesn't have mandatory telemetry?

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mrep
I bought a cheap one off amazon on black Friday for like 180$ and it works
great. It may have fancy online features but I've never even tried to find out
that as there is not much point in automating it further nor do the fancy ones
solve the current automation problems (avoiding liquids like vomit/pee from
your pet so you still need to be at home when you run it, emptying the bin,
cleaning the bristles, avoiding problematic items that will clog it like
cords).

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ardy42
I like Roombas, but I refuse to buy any that uses Wifi. It's totally
unnecessary, opens up the possibility of privacy invasions, and a smartphone
app is a UX regression over physical buttons.

I really wish they'd develop a mapping Roomba that did all processing onboard,
and could be totally configured using built-in controls. I'd buy it in a
second.

~~~
CamelCaseName
I assume all the processing is done onboard, FTA:

"It is possible to use our smart technology Robots without WiFi or Bluetooth
data transmission, simply by disconnecting your WiFi or Bluetooth from the
device or by never connecting it at all. You can also choose through your
settings in the App to not to have location mapping data transmitted to us."

