Roomba Mapped Your Home, iRobot Wants to Sell Data to Tech Companies

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Roomba devices — build by iRobot Corporation (NASDAQ:IRBT) — apparently map your home and this data may be sold to tech companies.

RoombaThe cleaning robot maps information about its surroundings in order to better determine how to clean it. However, iRobot may be selling the data it has collected now to industry titans such as Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) and Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG,NASDAQ:GOOGL).

The Roomba maker insists that the move will not be an invasion of your privacy as it will only use the data of those who give the company permission to do so. The purpose would be to have a better idea of a house’s layouts in order to enhance the performance of other smart devices.

Whether they be cameras, smart lamps or security devices, there is no telling how much of your home will consist of smart devices in the future, and iRobot believes its cleaning robot can provide key information to tech giants in order to improve your home.

“For example, in order for the lights to turn on when you walk into a room, the home must know what lights are in which rooms,” the company said.

However, the move still raises security concerns as hackers may be able to access your house settings and alter them or disconnect them if they enter them.

IRBT stock fell 2.3% Tuesday.


Article printed from InvestorPlace Media, https://investorplace.com/2017/07/roomba-irobot-corporation-irbt/.

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