Out of the corner of your eye, you see a silent shadow moving
across the living room while you’re headed to the restroom.
It silently follows, as you walk through the
house, watching your every move from below.
It won’t leave you alone, even when you want a
quiet moment to yourself seated on the toilet.
But the critter following you around isn’t a cat or dog,
and it isn’t a toddler that’s crawling around at your feet.
It’s a Roomba, a robot vacuum cleaner that
was made to make your life easier, right?
Little do you know, this Roomba is actually hiding
an evil secret, spying on your every movement…
In December 2022, MIT Technology Review published a
scandalous exposé revealing how the humdrum routine of
people’s everyday life from the privacy of inside their homes
were posted all over social media, without their consent.
One of the images captured a compromising
moment; a woman using the toilet in her bathroom.
Another showed a child sprawled on the ground, his face fully visible.
More photos showed people’s pets and the inside of their
houses, with furniture and decorations outlined with
descriptive labels, like “cabinet,” “chair” and “ceiling fan.”
It’s kinda like how I see the world.
But how could total strangers have access
to images of someone’s private residence?
The photos in this leak weren’t taken by people,
but by a robot living inside their homes.
Specifically, recorded by a beta version of
iRobot’s Roomba J7, a robot vacuum cleaner.
If you haven’t encountered a robot vacuum before, these convenient
little devices automatically leave their charging station to suck up
dirt around the house, cleaning surfaces without you having to lift
a finger, then go back to self-empty and recharge for its next run.
Robot vacuums have many advanced features, but the most
important is to identify obstacles in their way so that they
don’t end up bashing into your furniture or walls, so they map
inside your home to acquaint themselves with the layout, and
detect what’s around itself while going about its cleaning.
Which is why the specific model of Roomba had a
camera on its casing, and where problems began…
The Roombas in select people’s homes were not only vacuuming up dust,
while collecting data but also taking footage that was sent out.
The people who were recorded by the Roombas were
beta-testers, people who use test products and supply
the company with feedback on the user experience.
In exchange, they were to receive compensation.
But was it worth the invasion of privacy?
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iRobot, who is the biggest seller of robotic vacuums in the
world, admits that their Roombas captured these pictures and
recordings, but claims that specific model used with beta testers
had features that have never been included on consumer products.
According to their statement, all beta testers had
signed agreements acknowledging their data streams may
be sent to the company as part of the training process.
The beta vacuum model also allegedly had a sticker
warning that recording may be happening; and that
the users consented to let the Roombas record them.
The company claimed that it was the data collectors’ duty
to make sure that the robot wasn’t around any sensitive or
private information, and that the workers responsible for
data labeling were the ones who violated their contract…
The Beta testers’ agreement form contains acknowledgement of image
capturing and encouragement to not expose sensitive material to the
robot, but the sections about user data protection were vague at best.
One user, Greg, has been testing products for 10 years, and
understands that he consented to being monitored but doesn’t believe
he agreed to his data being shared in a global data supply chain.
The raw footage the robot vacuums had captured could have been
sent to any number of data annotating platforms for labeling.
The 15 images that got public attention, for example, were sent
to Scale AI, a third party company that iRobot had contracted,
who have workers around the world that manually label audio,
photo, and video data to train artificial intelligence.
Data labeling is tedious and repetitive
work, but it’s a growing industry.
According to Grand View Research, the market size was valued
at 2.22 billion US dollars in 2022, and is expected to surge a
whopping 28.9% by 2030 due to the technology being adopted in
more industries ranging from social media to self-driving cars.
A group of data labeling workers for Scale AI in Venezuela
posted screenshots on an online group where they would
chat about work, which led to the outcry from beta users.
Even though participants agreed that their data could be used for
machine learning, the guideline did not explain that this machine
learning training was done by other humans across the globe.
After images were leaked on social media, beta testers, upset with
how iRobot handled their data, came forward with their complaints.
The users felt misled about the extent of what
they were agreeing to, and their privacy violated.
While iRobot pointed out that no customer data was shared, and
highlighted the difference between consumers of the end product
and beta testers, this stance further confused the unhappy
testers, who felt that they are part of the larger market of
customers, and that this viewpoint is dismissive of their concerns.
But, regardless of whether they agreed that
information could be shared, the users never consented
or expected for the images to go on social media.
Even if the beta model had features that the consumer Roombas
didn’t, people still have other privacy concerns with these devices.
The internal mapping capabilities that advanced robot
vacuums have, can learn the floor plan of the home
they’re in with Lidar technology, and can remember up to
ten floor plans so that they don’t collide with walls.
Some models have low-resolution cameras to
help with this and avoid bumping into objects.
These privacy concerns were thrown into the spotlight when iRobot
was acquired by online retail giant Amazon in August 2022, and
understandably, a company known for gathering as much information
as they can about their customers was foreboding for experts.
In an interview with Wired, Evan Greer, director of the
nonprofit digital rights organization Fight for the Future,
said: “People tend to think of Amazon as an online seller
company, but really Amazon is a surveillance company.
That is the core of its business model, and
what drives its monopoly power and profit.
Acquiring a company that’s essentially built on mapping
the inside of people’s homes seems like a natural extension
of the surveillance reach that Amazon already has.”
In a series of tweets, Ron Knox, a senior tech researcher and writer at
the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, explained why he thought it may
be the most dangerous, threatening acquisition in the company’s history,
“with its acquisition of iRobot, Amazon would get so much more: A rival
product, a vast dataset, and a new way into people's homes and lives.
This is how privacy concerns and antitrust go hand in hand.”
Some people who are less concerned about their privacy
argue that their home layout is public information already,
whether it’s on real estate websites or city planning.
But, there are more things that can be revealed with
the information gleaned from an internal house plan.
Using the robot vacuums, Amazon could get details
such as home size—which implies income level—
daily routines, and lifestyle information.
The company could figure out if the home has a crib
or a dog bed, then focus targeted advertisements
including baby products or dog toys to the user.
There were also questions that came up concerning where else
the information goes, and how long it would be kept for.
In addition to watching you, people worry that
robot vacuums may also be listening to you.
A team of researchers from the University of Maryland
tested how valid these concerns are by remotely
hacking into a robot vacuum to collect audio.
The device was not meant to have this function, but the
team was able to collect information from its navigation
system, which uses Lidar technology, and applied signal
processes and deep learning techniques to recover speech.
They were even able to identify a TV series playing
in the same room as the vacuum, as well as a human
voice speaking out numbers with 90% accuracy.
This means that any device with light detection
technology can be made to collect sound.
Other users were concerned about whether the Roomba’s
camera could be hacked, since viewing the footage
for other brands of robot vacuums is possible.
And a Redditor claiming to be a beta tester revealed that
live streaming was one of the features they were able
to test out, posting the camera footage and some stills.
So, are robot vacuums just the tip of the iceberg?
Well, considering the amount of ways that user
data is collected, Amazon’s iRobot isn’t the
only security flaw you can invite into your home…
In 2020, multiple class action lawsuits were filed against Amazon, after
users were made aware that their in-home Ring smart cameras were hacked.
Hackers were recorded talking through the camera’s
speakers to the users, in some scary incidents.
A family in Cape Coral was subjected to slurs, while
another woman in Connecticut was taunted to respond to
the hacker who infiltrated multiple cameras in her house.
In another household, a Texas couple went through an
incident where the hacker asked for $350,000 in Bitcoin.
Children were also targeted — a 13-year old boy was
followed throughout his home through multiple Ring cameras,
while an 8-year old girl suddenly heard a voice claiming
to be Santa Claus, and saying “I’m your best friend”
Girl: “Who is that?”
Hacker: “I’m your best friend!”
So, what happens now with the Roombas?
Colin Angle, iRobot’s CEO made a statement, explaining “iRobot is
terminating its relationship with the service provider who leaked the
images, is actively investigating the matter, and taking measures to
help prevent a similar leak by any service provider in the future.”
While these claims may offer some reassurance to customers,
many of the complainants were disappointed, as they did not
get to keep their test devices or receive the final products as
they were promised while signing up to the beta test program.
Instead, they received gift cards ranging from $30
to $120 as compensation for running the device in
their homes many times a week for several weeks.
Whether it was worth it, considering that testers were unknowingly
sharing their personal data every day for months, is debatable.
It wasn’t.
With the increasing reliance on smart devices in our daily
lives, it's essential that steps are taken to protect user data.
A more proactive approach to user privacy could be a solution.
Measures could include increased transparency around data
collection and usage, regular security audits, and more robust
data processing agreements when it involves third party companies.
In the end, it's up to companies like iRobot to clean up
their act and ensure products are safe and secure for users.
However as consumers, we should also consider our personal privacy
and how our data is used when selecting devices for our homes.
After all, we don't want to be left in the
dust when it comes to protecting our privacy.
Based on our last video, we put a poll on twitter asking,
"Would you want to live to be 111 years old if it meant
you had to spend the last 30 years of your life alone?"
Most of you said no, unlike the 111-old man in our last
video who, according to his family, locked himself in his
room for 30 years, meditating until he was mummified alive.