How were intimate photos taken by a robot vacuum cleaner published on social media?
A woman sitting on the toilet in her shorts down to mid-thighs, a boy lying on his stomach in a corridor, a playful dog, messy interiors, others much better organised… Thousands of photos taken by robot vacuum cleaners have been accidentally published on social networks and in particular on Facebook.
This is the website MIT Technology Review which reveals this case dates back to 2020 when employees of a Venezuelan supplier of a major brand of robot vacuum cleaners posted a series of images on online forums to discuss the data collected by these so-called smart objects.
At the center of the photos, domestic scenes but also other more intimate ones that should never have ended up on the internet.
To improve artificial intelligence
According to MIT Technology Review, the photos were not taken without the knowledge of the robot’s owners. They had given their consent and were even paid to participate in a large system improvement program.
Therefore, the colossal data recorded by the vacuum robots was regularly transferred to these service providers located all over the world to enhance the artificial intelligence of the robot.
While typically stored in the cloud, this data should be ultra-secure and never leave your internal network. Nothing today explains why they were broadcast on Facebook.
They knew they were being filmed
The case is making a lot of noise and is being taken very seriously by iRobot, the world market leader, recently acquired by Amazon for $1.7 billion. In a press release, iRobot recalls, however, that participants in their program are notified of the recording of a video by a green light placed on the robot and that they have the ability to “delete any content deemed sensitive captured in the space where the the robot works, including images of children”.
In other words, iRobot believes that the people filmed have tacitly agreed to let their Roombas monitor them.
