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Roomba's Next Big Step Is Selling Maps of Your Home to the Highest Bidder (gizmodo.com)
The maker of the Roomba robotic vacuum, iRobot -- which we have talked about several times in the past -- has found itself embroiled in a privacy row after its chief executive suggested it may begin selling floor plans of customers' homes, derived from the movement data of their autonomous servants. From a report: While it may seem like the information that a Roomba could gather is minimal, there's a lot to be gleaned from the maps it's constantly updating. It knows the floor plan of your home, the basic shape of everything on your floor, what areas require the most maintenance, and how often you require cleaning cycles, along with many other data points. [...] If a company like Amazon, for example, wanted to improve its Echo smart speaker, the Roomba's mapping info could certainly help out. Spatial mapping could improve audio performance by taking advantage of the room's acoustics. Do you have a large room that's practically empty? Targeted furniture ads might be quite effective. The laser and camera sensors would paint a nice portrait for lighting needs that would factor into smart lights that adjust in real time. Smart AC units could better control airflow. And additional sensors added in the future would gather even more data from this live-in double agent.
Seriously.... who cares that they know your floor plan?
It's not what they're selling, it's that they're selling it at all. Consumers seem to have no control over their personal data anymore. They're at the mercy of whichever corporation decides that they'd like to squeeze you for a little more money. The answer shouldn't be "well, stop using that technology!". What we should be doing is demanding stronger consumer protection laws to prevent it from happening in the first place.
"Tell me doctor, with all of your defenses, are there any provisions for an attack by killer bees?"
Your local county assessor's office already has the floorplan and street view of your house publicly available on the internet for no charge in all likelihood.