The photos were then found on the internet
A young woman was recorded while using the bathroom by a robot vacuum cleaner, and the pictures eventually emerged on Facebook. The data breach is from iRobot’s new Roomba J7 series robot vacuum.
According to this article, images from a test version of the household device’s camera were collected, and they were then submitted to Scale AI, a company that hires people from all around the world to tag audio, photo, and video data used to train artificial intelligence systems.
From there, 15 images mysteriously found their way onto personal messaging forums used by Venezuelan IT professionals, according to MIT Technology Review. iRobot, the company that invented the autonomous vacuum cleaner, acknowledged that its technology had taken pictures in 2020.
The images were captured by “special development robots with hardware and software modifications that are not and never were present on iRobot consumer products for purchase”.
They stated that the Roombas had been delivered to “paid collectors and employees” who had signed formal agreements stating that all data collected by the Roombas, including video, might be provided back to the company for training.
According to the company, the 15 photos that ended up on Facebook were among the two million images shared with Scale AI.
The test subjects were instructed to “remove anything they deem sensitive from any space the robot operates in, including children”. In addition, the company claimed that the special test devices had been labeled with stickers that made it clear video filming was underway.
However, when requested, the company refused to provide copies of the signed agreements or make any product testers available for interview.
The chief executive officer of iRobot, Colin Angle, has stated that the business is “terminating its relationship with the service provider who leaked the images, is actively investigating the matter, and [is] taking measures to help prevent a similar leak by any service provider in the future”.
Dennis Giese, a data security expert from Boston’s Northeastern University, specializes in protecting home appliances like Amazon’s Alexa assistant claims that robotic vacuums like the Roomba are especially dangerous since “you have no way to control that they can drive around in your home”.
