Worried about how much robo vacs know about you?

Electronics & Technology
1

Hi everyone - I’m looking at what information robot vacuum cleaners collect about users and their homes. But first I want to know if anyone out there is worried about this, so:

  1. Have concerns about privacy ever stopped you from buying a robo vac?
  2. If you already own one of these appliances, are you ever worried about what it knows about you and your home? Why/why not?

Thanks!

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Never really thought about robo vacs. But this post prompted me to do a bit of Google searching and seems some of these things have cameras to spy on pets, connect to the Internet, report home to servers somewhere.

Interesting new issue to be aware of.

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4

Prior to purchase, I did research to find a robovac that didn’t require connection to the internet or home WiFi.
Since then I have avoided connecting my robovac to the internet/wifi so that it can’t send data about my home.
It would be no surprise to me that this data would be used to advertise furniture to you and/or build your profile for advertisers.

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5

I bought a robot vac about a year ago but haven’t connected it to the app or wifi due to privacy concerns. Downside is I can’t control where it goes - it does the whole house every time - but upside is I don’t have to do it myself!

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6

I personally didn’t until I mentioned getting one for my sister. Years ago, she said she would like one. But when I mentioned it again, she was very strong in not wanting one due to the “mapping”. But a friend of mine and I would still both like one - for me, with ADHD and multiple dogs often at my house, I need to clean my floors at least weekly, and they are lucky if they get one monthly. But I will look into it further when it becomes more of a reality. Home automation is something that really helps people day to day.

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Thanks for the comments everyone. Here’s our article on robot vacs and privacy:

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