Amazon’s $1.7 billion purchase of Roomba maker iRobot sparks privacy fears: ‘Homes were your last data sanctuary’

The emphasis added is ours.

Amazon.com Inc.’s deal to purchase Roomba maker iRobot Corp., which comes hot on the heels of the tech giant’s deal to acquire One Medical health clinics, is sparking more privacy fears.

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The last thing America and the world needs is “Amazon vacuuming up even more of our personal information,” according to Robert Weissman, president of consumer advocacy organization Public Citizen. “This is not just about Amazon selling another device in its marketplace,” he said, in a statement. “It’s about the company gaining still more intimate details of our lives to gain unfair market advantage and sell us more stuff.

“Amazon just bought iRobot, which has immense amounts of data about people’s physical homes. It never ends. Congress should have passed @TomCottonAR’s bill to bar big tech mergers,” tweeted Matt Stoller, research director at the American Economic Liberties Project.

“With Ring, Alexa and now Roomba, Amazon tracks EVERYTHING that happens inside your house (even who visits you). This is all about getting data on YOU. Google Nest too. Homes were your last data sanctuary as you put your phone down, but not now,” tweeted Raoul Pal, CEO of globalmacroinvestor.com.

“No to this. Amazon has initiated another alarming acquisition — iRobot, maker of the Roomba,” tweeted Stacy Mitchell, co-director at the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, an advocacy organization that fights corporate control. “This is part of a strategy to control the infrastructure of the smart home and gather up a ton of data about our houses and how we live in them.”

About the Author: Patriotman

Patriotman currently ekes out a survivalist lifestyle in a suburban northeastern state as best as he can. He has varied experience in political science, public policy, biological sciences, and higher education. Proudly Catholic and an Eagle Scout, he has no military experience and thus offers a relatable perspective for the average suburban prepper who is preparing for troubled times on the horizon with less than ideal teams and in less than ideal locations. Brushbeater Store Page: http://bit.ly/BrushbeaterStore

3 Comments

Ghostmann August 6, 2022 at 06:47

You know… you could always just not have the constantly on, internet connected microphone and the robotic vacuum in your house.

Tell me something, is it really that much of a problem to get the vacuum out of the closet, plug it in, and vacuum your rugs? If it is, man, you got other problems. The robotic vacuum always screamed to me of extreme laziness. Even a 350 lb fattie can push a vacuum.

The solution for this is literally just save your money and buy something useful, like a baofeng, instead of having an alexa and a roomba.
bibitor August 6, 2022 at 07:52

The breathless panic over Amazon buying more useless shit is annoying. The NPC’s with IoT vacuums were a lost causes well before Amazon added another appliance to their portfolio.

Amazon, in the midst of shuttering millions of square feet of distribution centers, is continuing their long held business plan of trading cash for data and data collection technologies. But in the grand scheme of things this is a minor deal.

If you want to know the real source of money, influence, and power look no further than AWS. The rest is window dressing.
Oughtsix August 6, 2022 at 11:36

Just say No. Don’t buy what they’re selling, don’t use their “services.”

Get a fkn broom, from the hardware store in your home town. Model all your consumer behavior on that.