iRobot Roombas

A few years back iRobot got into a bit of hot water because it appeared they were mapping users' homes with their Roomba robot vacuum cleaners with potential plans to sell that data. Since then, iRobot has stepped up and made it a point to show they don't sell users' personal data about their lives or homes. This is very good. And you can choose to not have map data transmitted to iRobot at all. Yay!.

We appreciate iRobot states in their privacy policy that no data is sold to third-parties and no data will be shared with third-parties without the customer's knowledge or control. They also say they do not share personal data with third parties for commercial or marketing purposes.

Now it seems the biggest thing you have to worry about with your Roomba is it rolling through dog poo on the floor and creating a huge mess. Oh, wait! The new J series Roombas come with what they call P.O.O.P. (Pet Owner Official Promise). According to the company, the P.O.O.P promise means certain robot vacuums “will steer clear of your pet’s waste as it gets down to its own business. If it doesn’t, we'll replace your robot for free. (for one year)). Roomba accomplishes this poop detection with a camera and artificial intelligence. Does this raise some privacy concerns? Yes. We also like all the measures Roomba takes to protect users like only recognizing a few objects (including poo) and shutting the camera off if it detects a human. Still, if the device were hacked, it’s possible those privacy protections could be circumvented.

What’s the worst that could happen? Well, if your Roomba were hacked, we suppose it could become a mobile camera loose in your house. This probably isn’t likely and you’re probably pretty safe having a Roomba clean up your messes...while avoiding your pet’s messes. Let’s hear it for no more pooptastrophies (their word, not mine)!