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How did Roomba-recorded photos end up on Facebook?

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Re: How did Roomba-recorded photos end up on Facebook?

#111

Post by astura »

hobbitstan wrote: post #79
autoexec wrote: post #70

Roomba is the company that planned on using their vacuum cleaners to map people's houses so they could sell that data to third parties. https://nypost.com/2017/07/25/roomba-maker-wants-to-sell-you... Considering that this is how poorly they protect the sensitive data their devices collect (even those used for development purposes) I guess it's a good thing that public backlash over their spying plans forced them to r…

There was a huge backlash to this. There was the potential for thieves to find out the layout of someone’s home and when it was unoccupied. Add cameras to that and you have a disaster waiting to happen.

Oh please - If someone wants to know the layout of my house they could just look at public property records which are published online.

Re: How did Roomba-recorded photos end up on Facebook?

#112

Post by EMIRELADERO »

taneq wrote: post #107
EMIRELADERO wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> And, so, did you do the right thing and return it or did you just accept and therefore effectively indicate to Roomba by your actions that you're ok with it? The burden is on them to not perform those actions, not on me. I should be fully entitled to make use of the product without agreeing to any additional contracts or permissions.

You should be, but you’re not.

Many consumer protection laws would disagree. Also check out the Andino v. Apple ongoing lawsuit

Re: How did Roomba-recorded photos end up on Facebook?

#113

Post by anshumankmr »

jonas21 wrote: post #25

The question I want to ask is: how did Roomba-recorded photos end up in a major publication on the Internet? And the sequence seems to be: 1. iRobot hires people to use special development versions of the Roomba in their homes to collect training data. These are clearly labeled, and the participants are informed that the images are being sent to iRobot for training. This seems fine - if you want to exchange some degr…

>1. iRobot hires people to use special development versions of the Roomba in their homes to collect training data. These are clearly labeled, and the participants are informed that the images are being sent to iRobot for training. This seems fine - if you want to exchange some degree of privacy for money, that should be your right as long as you're clearly informed about it.

No one would ever sign up for their pictures being taken in a bathroom.

Re: How did Roomba-recorded photos end up on Facebook?

#114

Post by anshumankmr »

quitit wrote: post #104
anshumankmr wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This can be fixed by an app update as they may check each time you open the app whether they have the required permissions or not.

Turning off “Precise location” can help with those apps, they’ll just get a vague location

I was talking about the parent comment's workaround to disallowing the location access permission after allowing it the first time.

Re: How did Roomba-recorded photos end up on Facebook?

#115

Post by brnt »

gernb wrote: post #65
huhtenberg wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here's a funny bit. Roomba iOS app refuses to go past its welcome screen unless its granted access to the location info. This is unreasonable, they don't need this info for their app to function. However their devices are all but unusable without an app, so they ultimately blackmail people into giving location data to them. Meaning they don't really give a sh#t about users' privacy, so it's not that "they are watchin…

And, so, did you do the right thing and return it or did you just accept and therefore effectively indicate to Roomba by your actions that you're ok with it? I've returned several "smart" devices that required an app and an account. One example is GoVee smart blubs. As soon as they refused to work without an account I sent them back. Another is some Meross smart outlets. I retuned them for Eve Energy outlets.

How I deal with this: I don't install the app. They still work pretty well without. I did recently buy one that has great Valetudo support, but for now the flash instructions are a bit too complicated with respect to the fact it works well without setting up apps or internet connection.

Re: How did Roomba-recorded photos end up on Facebook?

#116

Post by na4ma4 »

huhtenberg wrote: post #36
andrewxdiamond wrote: post #4

Key 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…

Here's a funny bit. Roomba iOS app refuses to go past its welcome screen unless its granted access to the location info. This is unreasonable, they don't need this info for their app to function. However their devices are all but unusable without an app, so they ultimately blackmail people into giving location data to them. Meaning they don't really give a sh#t about users' privacy, so it's not that "they are watchin…

The dishwasher I got was the same, the app wanted access to location at all times (precise not approximate).

If I disabled the permission it would stop working.

So I switched to the home assistant integration for it and removed the app from my phone.

Re: How did Roomba-recorded photos end up on Facebook?

#117

Post by noduerme »

na4ma4 wrote: post #116
huhtenberg wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here's a funny bit. Roomba iOS app refuses to go past its welcome screen unless its granted access to the location info. This is unreasonable, they don't need this info for their app to function. However their devices are all but unusable without an app, so they ultimately blackmail people into giving location data to them. Meaning they don't really give a sh#t about users' privacy, so it's not that "they are watchin…

The dishwasher I got was the same, the app wanted access to location at all times (precise not approximate). If I disabled the permission it would stop working. So I switched to the home assistant integration for it and removed the app from my phone.

Why on earth would a dishwasher need an app? You have to load it before you start it... later, you walk by, it's done, you unload it.

Re: How did Roomba-recorded photos end up on Facebook?

#118

Post by kramerger »

monocasa wrote: post #47
huhtenberg wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here's a funny bit. Roomba iOS app refuses to go past its welcome screen unless its granted access to the location info. This is unreasonable, they don't need this info for their app to function. However their devices are all but unusable without an app, so they ultimately blackmail people into giving location data to them. Meaning they don't really give a sh#t about users' privacy, so it's not that "they are watchin…

Is iOS like Android where Bluetooth permissions are a part of the location info permissions?

That actually changed in Android 12. Now there is a nearby devices permission that doesn't require GPS access

Re: How did Roomba-recorded photos end up on Facebook?

#119

Post by iforgotpassword »

noduerme wrote: post #117
na4ma4 wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The dishwasher I got was the same, the app wanted access to location at all times (precise not approximate). If I disabled the permission it would stop working. So I switched to the home assistant integration for it and removed the app from my phone.

Why on earth would a dishwasher need an app? You have to load it before you start it... later, you walk by, it's done, you unload it.

My friend's stove has an app... "Oh shit the milk is boiling over, quick get the phone, unlock it, tap the app icon, wait until it's loaded, navigate to the proper submenu and turn it off!"

Best thing it's he didn't even know at first. He bought a new washing machine that had app support, so out of curiosity he installed the app and scanned for devices, but the app only found his stove.

Technology was a mistake.

Re: How did Roomba-recorded photos end up on Facebook?

#120

Post by hbossy »

Dylan16807 wrote: post #100
Gigachad wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You need location to scan for Bluetooth in app, because scanning for Bluetooth was how advertisers got your location. You don’t need this to interact with a Bluetooth device, the user can connect to it from the settings.

And if it's a Bluetooth Low Energy device that doesn't use connections?

Especially if it's BLE. Commercial sites are full of tags that advertise their MACs. Phone app reads this and use it to deduce where you are. You can try something similar yourself with WiFi using Google geolocation API.
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