One of the big three will just buy them and the data is theirs. Google bought Waze and siphons off user data from Waze to show realtime traffic data on its mapping app.
I'm a proud owner of the Roomba 890.......I had a gift voucher I got from www.robotbox.net so I decided to top up and get a 980, it's the latest model with VSLAM. I really loathed the idea of the 980 taking pictures of your home. My sister has the cheaper 960 and from how you can monitor your house remotely, I won't lie to you....iAdapt 2.0 is like a spymaster's technology.....But on iRobot sharing your data, I'm not sure but it's very possible especially with the recent wave of hacking claims.
If you don't like the idea of a robot vacuum taking images of your home, get the Roomba 890 that's way cheaper and does the job just right, whether you have a carpet or even pets! In fact, if you do some research or you read a good Roomba comparison review, you will see that the 890 is real value for money. Have had mine for 8 months and I can't complain, it does the 750 sq. ft. daily without any hassle, but remember I don't have pets! It's actually my best pick when it comes to the best Roombas in 2018
Is this just a verbal swoosh from the CEO or is he willing to put his money where his mouth is and put this in an amended EULA/contract with every Roomba user?