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Roomba's Next Big Step Is Selling Maps of Your Home to the Highest Bidder

posted by Fnord666 on Tuesday July 25 2017, @09:57AM   Printer-friendly
from the darknet-sales-are-up dept.

canopic jug writes:

Gizmodo writes that Roomba's Next Big Step Is Selling Maps of Your Home to the Highest Bidder:

The Roomba is generally regarded as a cute little robot friend that no one but dogs would consider to be a potential menace. But for the last couple of years, the robovacs have been quietly mapping homes to maximize efficiency. Now, the device's makers plan to sell that data to smart home device manufacturers, turning the friendly robot into a creeping, creepy little spy.

And Reuters writes that the Roomba vacuum maker iRobot is betting big on the 'smart' home including possibly a lot of related side-deals:

Angle told Reuters that iRobot, which made Roomba compatible with Amazon's Alexa voice assistant in March, could reach a deal to sell its maps to one or more of the Big Three in the next couple of years.
Amazon declined to comment, and Apple and Google did not respond to requests for comment.

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  • (Score: 5, Insightful) by BsAtHome on Tuesday July 25 2017, @11:29AM (3 children)

    by BsAtHome (889) on Tuesday July 25 2017, @11:29AM (#544124)

    For the best experience when robbing a house is to know its layout beforehand. Will iRobot be accessory to burglary for providing inside information?

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 25 2017, @01:08PM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 25 2017, @01:08PM (#544146)

    iRobot Roomba + Amazon Alexa = conspiracy + RICO

    • (Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 25 2017, @02:19PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 25 2017, @02:19PM (#544168)

      According to someone on Twitter [twitter.com] (via the Internet Of Shit [twitter.com]):-

      my vacuuming robot unscheduled left its dock, found my Amazon Echo, and pulled out the Echo's plug. Guess they had a fight while I was away

      Anyhow, just say no to this idiocy. Or, indeed, fuck, no [soylentnews.org].

  • (Score: 2) by EETech1 on Thursday July 27 2017, @03:37AM

    by EETech1 (957) on Thursday July 27 2017, @03:37AM (#544999)

    iRobit:)