ROOMBA VACUUMS CAUGHT LEAKING PHOTOS 📸 TAKEN FROM ITS DEVICE❗

⁣ROOMBA Vacuums Caught Leaking Photos taken from its Device👇

Source: https://x.com/Xx17965797N/stat....us/18903728084939243

Thumbnail: https://imgflip.com/i/9k8z6r [thanks to https://www.businessinsider.co....m/roomba-photos-reco 🖲]

Excerpt:

Roomba robot vacuums captured sensitive pictures that were later leaked on social media — including one of a woman sitting on the toilet — but the maker of the machines says they were taken by test models, not consumer units, MIT Tech Review first reported.

iRobot, which makes Roomba, said the self-driving vacuums were used by "paid data collectors and employees" as test units that would help the company develop its machine-learning capabilities. The disclosure comes as Amazon is working to close a $1.7 billion agreement to buy iRobot, raising questions about how tech companies use and protect the data they hoover up.

Data from these test units was marked by a contractor — noting things like whether the robot successfully made its way around an obstacle, like a coffee table. But images from that data got leaked to Facebook, Discord and other social sites, MIT Tech Review reported and iRobot confirmed to Insider.

The images included woman in a purple shirt, face blurred, sitting on the toilet, the Tech Review reported, and a child laying on his stomach as he stares at the object recording him.

The images were leaked by paid Venezuelan contractors at data startup Scale AI who posted them to private groups on Facebook, Discord, and other platforms in 2020, MIT Tech Review reported.

Even though the images did not come from Roomba customers, consumers often opt into getting their data monitored once they purchase "smart" devices as part of company privacy policies. Smart-device makers sometimes analyze the data, which can sometimes include personal or sensitive details, to train algorithms to improve their products.

James Baussmann, an iRobot spokesperson, confirmed the photo leak to Insider. When asked for further comment, Baussman referred Insider to a blog post from iRobot chairman and CEO Colin Angle.