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It's actually interesting to me that they explain what they store: "The Roomba 900 Series vacuuming robots capture mapping and navigation information via vSLAM

It's actually interesting to me that they explain what they store: "The Roomba 900 Series vacuuming robots capture mapping and navigation information via vSLAM, which stays on the robot. On all WiFi-enabled Roombas, usage data (e.g. how long did it clean, how far did it go, did it encounter any error codes, is it functioning correctly) can be sent to the cloud so it can be shown on the customer's mobile device. Images used for navigation are NOT sent to the cloud." Have to give them props for being so specific. That being said.. still don't know if I trust them, and I am sitting with my Roomba 960 vacuuming under my feet lol

uptown 9y ago
OT, but how do you like it? The 960 is the only model which would work with my space.
freeflight 9y ago
> "Images used for navigation are NOT sent to the cloud" Maybe I'm just too pessimistic for my own good, but the wording on that still leaves a lot of wiggle room in how it's "images" and "cloud". Not all file formats are images and not all servers are a "cloud". Could just as well used "data"/"upload" and covered all fronts. "Data used for navigation is not uploaded anywhere".
- eridius 9y ago
  But data is uploaded, if you opt-in to that. If you choose to allow it, the map that the Roomba generates is uploaded to the "cloud", where it's cleaned up and made available in the iRobot HOME app. This was explained in the very next paragraph. They simply cannot say "data is never uploaded" because it's not true, but they can say "images are never uploaded" because it is. And I wouldn't quibble about the usage of "cloud". It's generally understood that if the data is sent to a server outside of the customer's control then that's the "cloud".
- TFortunato 9y ago
  Hey, w/o getting too specific, speaking as a former iRobot engineer when the 900s were developed / released (unofficial, not representing iRobot, blah blah ) - the privacy implications were thought of a lot when these products were developed. There really aren't any images or data that could be reconstructed / assembled into images ever sent to the cloud, persisted on the device, or available to send to the cloud. I do understand the pessimism, especially with all the privacy horror stories you hear out there, but I can say that Colin / iRobot arent playing games with their words when it comes to this.
  - shostack 9y ago
    In your opinion, given the skepticism you observe here, is there something more that iRobot/Colin could do or say that could better alleviate concerns based on your insider knowledge?
    - TFortunato 9y ago
      To be honest I'm not sure, PR, marketing and such is not my strong suit. (Also, just wanted to add that any insider knowledge I share is solely on iRobot culture, and I cant divulge any insider info on technology, only whats publicly available. Sorry for the disclaimer, but this account is tied to my real name, haha!) If anything I would say that there is some good information on the webpage they need to make sure gets out there. I'd also say that they should get out there and talk about their vision for the future more. Colin has talked a lot about his vision of a smart home, and how iRobot can bring a lot to the table by providing users a map of their home that is updated fairly often. As such I think they could get people more excited by not just saying "no we arent selling your data", but by showing the potential. Imagine being able to say "OK google, vacuum all the bedrooms and mop the bathroom", and having it dispatch your roomba and braava. Or saying "Alexa, have you seen the tv remote?" and having it respond "the roomba spotted it inder the couch when cleaning earlier". (Not necessarily saying this is what is being worked on, again just my impressions I got that Colin / the leadership there is more interested in making cool bots and working to make a true smart home a reality, and willing to let users have access and share the kind of data a mapping robot can bring, and less about becoming a data/ad broker.)
- natch 9y ago
  Yep, and speaking of weasel words, "sell" is also a weasel word. There's always lease, rent, give, trade, share, expose, exploit, release, etc.
UnoriginalGuy 9y ago
That seems at best misleading at worst outright untrue... Their own cloud connected app shows a detailed layout of your home's floor plan[0]. The implication of "navigation information via vSLAM, which stays on the robot" suggests that such a floor plan could never be sent to the Roomba App, since it is, that statement is suspect. Plus the Roomba is updatable over WiFi without user intervention. So even if the above statement is true TODAY, there's no specific reason to believe it will remain true forever. They could push an update tomorrow, start collecting data, and then let you "opt out" if you don't want your intimate personal life shared with anyone who can pay. [0] http://i.imgur.com/6Brk5xV.png http://i.imgur.com/6Brk5xV.png
- eridius 9y ago
  Did you read the article? The very next paragraph explains that: > If a user agrees to having their map data viewable on their mobile device, then the map that the Roomba creates during a cleaning job is sent to the cloud where it is processed and simplified to produce a user-friendly map that ultimately appears in the iRobot HOME App.

uptown 9y ago

OT, but how do you like it? The 960 is the only model which would work with my space.

freeflight 9y ago

> "Images used for navigation are NOT sent to the cloud" Maybe I'm just too pessimistic for my own good, but the wording on that still leaves a lot of wiggle room in how it's "images" and "cloud". Not all file formats are images and not all servers are a "cloud". Could just as well used "data"/"upload" and covered all fronts. "Data used for navigation is not uploaded anywhere".

eridius 9y ago
But data is uploaded, if you opt-in to that. If you choose to allow it, the map that the Roomba generates is uploaded to the "cloud", where it's cleaned up and made available in the iRobot HOME app. This was explained in the very next paragraph. They simply cannot say "data is never uploaded" because it's not true, but they can say "images are never uploaded" because it is. And I wouldn't quibble about the usage of "cloud". It's generally understood that if the data is sent to a server outside of the customer's control then that's the "cloud".
TFortunato 9y ago
Hey, w/o getting too specific, speaking as a former iRobot engineer when the 900s were developed / released (unofficial, not representing iRobot, blah blah ) - the privacy implications were thought of a lot when these products were developed. There really aren't any images or data that could be reconstructed / assembled into images ever sent to the cloud, persisted on the device, or available to send to the cloud. I do understand the pessimism, especially with all the privacy horror stories you hear out there, but I can say that Colin / iRobot arent playing games with their words when it comes to this.
- shostack 9y ago
  In your opinion, given the skepticism you observe here, is there something more that iRobot/Colin could do or say that could better alleviate concerns based on your insider knowledge?
  - TFortunato 9y ago
    To be honest I'm not sure, PR, marketing and such is not my strong suit. (Also, just wanted to add that any insider knowledge I share is solely on iRobot culture, and I cant divulge any insider info on technology, only whats publicly available. Sorry for the disclaimer, but this account is tied to my real name, haha!) If anything I would say that there is some good information on the webpage they need to make sure gets out there. I'd also say that they should get out there and talk about their vision for the future more. Colin has talked a lot about his vision of a smart home, and how iRobot can bring a lot to the table by providing users a map of their home that is updated fairly often. As such I think they could get people more excited by not just saying "no we arent selling your data", but by showing the potential. Imagine being able to say "OK google, vacuum all the bedrooms and mop the bathroom", and having it dispatch your roomba and braava. Or saying "Alexa, have you seen the tv remote?" and having it respond "the roomba spotted it inder the couch when cleaning earlier". (Not necessarily saying this is what is being worked on, again just my impressions I got that Colin / the leadership there is more interested in making cool bots and working to make a true smart home a reality, and willing to let users have access and share the kind of data a mapping robot can bring, and less about becoming a data/ad broker.)
natch 9y ago
Yep, and speaking of weasel words, "sell" is also a weasel word. There's always lease, rent, give, trade, share, expose, exploit, release, etc.

UnoriginalGuy 9y ago

That seems at best misleading at worst outright untrue... Their own cloud connected app shows a detailed layout of your home's floor plan[0]. The implication of "navigation information via vSLAM, which stays on the robot" suggests that such a floor plan could never be sent to the Roomba App, since it is, that statement is suspect. Plus the Roomba is updatable over WiFi without user intervention. So even if the above statement is true TODAY, there's no specific reason to believe it will remain true forever. They could push an update tomorrow, start collecting data, and then let you "opt out" if you don't want your intimate personal life shared with anyone who can pay. [0] http://i.imgur.com/6Brk5xV.png http://i.imgur.com/6Brk5xV.png

eridius 9y ago
Did you read the article? The very next paragraph explains that: > If a user agrees to having their map data viewable on their mobile device, then the map that the Roomba creates during a cleaning job is sent to the cloud where it is processed and simplified to produce a user-friendly map that ultimately appears in the iRobot HOME App.