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iRobot Wants to Sell Mapping Data Collected by Roomba Vacuums to a Tech Company Like Apple

The mapping tech on the newest (and most expensive) Roomba is pretty good.
After he has finished his job, you can see a map of the area he has cleaned in the app.
Not 100% accurate, because everything he can't pass is just a white spot or wall for him (he doesn't know how high the object is), but i guess it might have some uses.
 
Dear Mr. Angle, nothing would prevent me from buying another Roomba faster than the prospect of you collecting data about my home (much less selling it)

Thanksmuch.
 
We have Roomba 980 (one with camera and wifi), and quite frankly it maps the house really poorly. Often then not, it would go into mudrooms or bathrooms that have a step down. All these sensors can't even foresee a step. Once in awhile, it would go under a drawer and then it sends out an error message saying it's stuck. Sometimes it takes ages for a Roomba to return to the charging base, because supposed "mapping" can't give it a guidance. (perhaps the mapping only lasts only a single clean-cycle?)

At any rate, if iRobot is willing to utilize Apple's or Google's or whichever the company it is that might make more sense out of the data a Roomba collects, fine. But if they are planning on monetizing those infos without even an attempt of making it anonymous, with everything that camera must have seen in my house, I'm not keeping that Roomba no more.
 
You guys are overreacting. They're probably just thinking of ways to make your lights turn on in a nicer fashion. But I'm totally done with smart home stuff. After I sat trying to reprogram an old Lutron system to work with iOS, I realized it's easier to just press the light switch.
 
I have a Neato Botvac and it works surprisingly well. The mapping is very acccurate, so is area estimation.

As to selling mapping data? If iRobot gives vacuums for free maybe
 
The Roomba I bought 8 years ago broke after 1 year and they wouldn't fix it. They sent it back "fixed" but still just went around in circles.
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Michaelgtrusa said:
As long as they have one's consent.
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yeah, and not by default!
 
Soft broom, dustpan, mop and bucket, three kids. No issues, no problem.
 
If this were April 1st I'd have thought this was a joke.

First, they'd need every individual's permission to sell their home's details to someone else. They could do this openly (good luck with that) or bury it in an elaborate TOS agreement (good luck with the fallout).

Second, is there even a TOS agreement? Do you have to have an account to own a vacuum cleaner?

Third, how does iRobot get your data in the first place? Have Roomba owners already given this away for them to now sell to the highest bidder?? As soon as I saw a charging dock with WiFi, I'd grab the receipt and bring it back to Suckers R Us.
 
Now we need government mandated labeling on consumer products indicating the level of spying activity.
 
jdillings said:
Nice....crooks don't have to case a house anymore...just buy the data from iRobot.
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Attached is my map. You can sell my data yourself.
 

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We have a Roomba top of the line, but a few years old. Its dumb as a rock. Does not map and fails miserably in our open house (one room kitchen, dinning, family, breakfast). Gets lost. Does the southeast corner 100 times, fails to do the northeast corner. Misses the bath room. Etc. Cleans surprisingly well.

But, the newest Roomba supposedly does map and will handle multiple rooms. If they offered an upgrade, then I'd be interested. As it is, they lost me as a customer. There was no sales collateral that indicated it would not work, and by the time we figured out how bad it was doing, too late to send back.

But, if they are going to start mining data then no way will I ever let another Roomba into the house. The thing was like $800 and they want to sell my data too. What la-la land do they live in.
 
I have the Roomba 960 with the mapping tech and I can't say I really have any problems with it. The mapping isn't perfect but it gives you an general overview of how it cleaned. The 960 doesn't just randomly go around, it usually starts in one area and then works it's way to the other side of the room. It also then goes back and tries to do all the edges as well. Overall I've been happy with it. I usually have it vacuum while I'm at work. Once in a while I'll get an error message, usually it's on a door mat and thinks it's stuck on a cliff but overall I'm pretty happy with it. It picks up a lot of stuff even though it's not a full on vacuum. Sometimes it does seem like it takes forever for it to dock that may be because the dock might be a little too close to my couch.
 
This "leaked" announcement is intended for investors. A promise of a new revenue stream (at 90% gross margin) to offset the fact that this company is floundering. The whole "AI is almost here!" magic spell that has levitated so many Sillycon Valley companies is about to break.
 
I just saw Neato’s pathetic post on Facebook saying they won’t sell data. Poor execution Neato.

Room a will have an opt in feature that allows bots like the 980 that I have to share layout, windows, etc to smart thermostats so they can work better, etc. yes there would probably be advertising recommendations that could go along with it, but I’m sure there will be different opt in options.

My guess is a future Roomba will be depth aware in a more detailed way and be able to pin point where ykur nest is and communicate temperature to it so adjustments can me made. I’m all for this.

I’m sure Roomba is already collecting and using data from my 980 for internal purposes, the same way Apple uses Navigation data from iPhone.
 
TheAppleFairy said:
I got to be honest, I don’t think my Roomba keeps a map of my house or has mapped it very well. I once told it to dock right after it started and it took nearly 30 minutes to find the dock.
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So it wasn't ready on its intelligence mission and kept snooping for half an hour before deciding to finally call home.
 
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deleted didn't contribute to discussion all that great. o_O
 
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4jasontv said:
For what it's worth, almost everything that Anker makes is solid. I can't say how smart their vacuum is, but their bluetooth devices are a lot better than some other more expensive brands. Their robot gets pretty decent reviews (88% 4 stars+, 73% 5 stars). The biggest issue seems to be that they don't support replacing the battery. At $200 its hard to say how bad of a deal that is (except for the enviromenent).

For those of you who don't know, Anker is also the brand Eufy. Eufy is where Anker seems to be releasing their home goods (lamps, humidifiers, etc.).

I think their customer service is fairly top notch too. Had one item fail and they replaced it without neededing the old one sent back. I find it weird that they don't brand their vacuum with the Anker badge, but I guess they want to expand their portfolio without looking so diverse. If any of you have never used their stuff before I encourage you to try them (if you need something they make). If you hate Amazon, but have no issues with Walmart, then you are in luck because (at least in my area) Walmart now sells Anker products.
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Yeah, Anker has pretty good customer service. I've mostly had issues with their low tech products, such as their car mounts. That and I had one of their 1ft braided lightning cables that I use with their battery pack have an issue with the braided part coming off at the connector, although the wires inside seem to be secure. But I have like 7-8 other braided cables that don't have issues. Anker seems to really be expanding lately into a few different brands which is great because they're cheap and quality.
 
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