Clickbait. There is no news here. No privacy was infringed. This was a private dev version.
Even those who opted-into this data collection certainly didn't opt-in to it being posted publicly on Facebook?
How did Roomba-recorded photos end up on Facebook?
11–20 of 148 posts
Re: How did Roomba-recorded photos end up on Facebook?
#12Since Scale.ai provides labeling services to the US Department of Defense, how do they address the issues presented in this article? Have their labelers go through government background checks? Provide labeling software but not the labor?
Re: How did Roomba-recorded photos end up on Facebook?
#13These are internet-connected devices with cameras. A firmware update could be sent to record everything you do and stream it on youtube all day, and another later applied to remove any remnant of what happened. Any privacy you have with a device like this comes from either the benevolence, a lack of a profitable opportunity, or a fear of being caught by the company that has root on that device.
Re: How did Roomba-recorded photos end up on Facebook?
#14Clickbait. There is no news here. No privacy was infringed. This was a private dev version.
Well the picture of the woman on the toilet is in the article, so it's fairly safe to say her privacy has been infringed.
Re: How did Roomba-recorded photos end up on Facebook?
#15Why does a Roomba need a camera looking UP?
Why are they labeling furniture in home that Roomba can't possibly reach from the floor?
Re: How did Roomba-recorded photos end up on Facebook?
#16Yeah, I’m not sure I buy their explanation about special development roombas since they offered zero proof. I have an ancient Roomba that’s still going and dread having to replace it one day.
You could buy a lidar based robot vacuum instead of visible-light camera. The only benefit I know of that visible-light provides is so-called "poop detection" and avoidance, but that's somewhat unreliable anyway.
Lidar, in theory, could create a photo-like image, but that resolution costs money and none of these robot vacuums are anywhere near that. Plus they map depth, not texture, so anything it does create is somewhat abstract.
Re: How did Roomba-recorded photos end up on Facebook?
#17Misleading title. They should try to have the title give some indication it was a development roomba in a special opt-in data collection program.
Re: How did Roomba-recorded photos end up on Facebook?
#18Key paragraph for our friends who don’t RTFA > iRobot … confirmed that these images were captured by its Roombas in 2020. All of them came from “special development robots with hardware and software modifications that are not and never were present on iRobot consumer products for purchase,” the company said in a statement. They were given to “paid collectors and employees” who signed written agreements acknowledging…
I read the article and I don’t think your interpretation of the “suggested” narrative is there. The title is “ A Roomba recorded a woman on the toilet. How did screenshots end up on Facebook?”. That’s not really implying a “they’re watching you narrative” - who’s “they” and if it’s global syndicate why did they do something as innocuous as putting it on Facebook? But yes, the real story is that training data (and “re…
The part that's missing is that it isn't just "a Roomba", it's "a Roomba labelled with “video recording in progress”". Saying 'a Roomba' implies that it could've been done from any Roomba.
Re: How did Roomba-recorded photos end up on Facebook?
#19The silver lining of is that now I can show this article to anyone who accuses me of being overly paranoid.
I just wish the companies making these devices had the same level of care with other people’s privacy as I would if I was making these devices. It’s not right.
At the very least, companies should have sign an oath to protect their customers and employees - not to abuse them… similar to how health professionals have an oath to do no harm. Is that too much to ask in this world.
Re: How did Roomba-recorded photos end up on Facebook?
#20Why does a Roomba need a camera looking UP? Why are they labeling furniture in home that Roomba can't possibly reach from the floor?
Say a couch has shiny metallic legs that mess with the depth estimation. An estimate of where the corners of the couch are could give better estimate of the legs and weight one possibility more than another.