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Roomba's Next Big Step Is Selling Maps of Your Home to the Highest Bidder
gizmodo ^ | July 24,2017 | rhett jone

Posted on 07/24/2017 7:54:34 PM PDT by BenLurkin

The Roomba is generally regarded as a cute little robot friend that no one but dogs would consider to be a potential menace. But for the last couple of years, the robovacs have been quietly mapping homes to maximize efficiency. Now, the device’s makers plan to sell that data to smart home device manufacturers, turning the friendly robot into a creeping, creepy little spy.

While it may seem like the information that a Roomba could gather is minimal, there’s a lot to be gleaned from the maps it’s constantly updating. It knows the floor plan of your home, the basic shape of everything on your floor, what areas require the most maintenance, and how often you require cleaning cycles, along with many other data points.

(Excerpt) Read more at gizmodo.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Computers/Internet
KEYWORDS: home; maps; roomba; selling; smarthomedevices
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To: BenLurkin

I got a family member’s Alexa so made she shut down and would no longer respond. Snowflake programming for sure.


21 posted on 07/24/2017 9:39:19 PM PDT by Wilderness Conservative (Nature is the ultimate conservative.)
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To: catnipman
i can see county assessors buying this information wholesale looking for home additions built without permits, and thereby showing less square footage in the assessors’ databases than exists in reality.


They have been doing exactly that from aerial surveying for decades.

22 posted on 07/24/2017 9:52:22 PM PDT by az_gila
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To: BenLurkin

Somebody can do a drive-by or fly-over with microwave radar and map your home interior, including plumbing and gun safes. And you’ll never know the information exists unless, perhaps, if it’s put to use.

Unless you literally live in a hole in the ground.

Welcome to the 21st century.


23 posted on 07/24/2017 10:30:29 PM PDT by JustaTech (A mind is a terrible thing)
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To: BenLurkin

I wonder how much criminals will pay to have a map of your house?


24 posted on 07/24/2017 10:34:16 PM PDT by Jonty30 (What Islam and secularism have in common is that they are both death cults)
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To: BenLurkin

Where do I get such a map?

I’m on the lookout from some lost stuff.


25 posted on 07/24/2017 11:09:01 PM PDT by Paladin2 (No spelchk nor wrong word auto substition on mobile dev. Please be intelligent and deal with it....)
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To: BenLurkin

And most house plans are available to those who are thinking of buying/building.


26 posted on 07/25/2017 3:20:32 AM PDT by trebb (Where in the the hell has my country gone?)
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To: JustaTech

“Somebody can do a drive-by or fly-over with microwave radar and map your home interior, including plumbing and gun safes. And you’ll never know the information exists unless, perhaps, if it’s put to use.”

This. With drones.

If we thought of it then motivated criminals will come up with something cheaper and more effective than that even.


27 posted on 07/25/2017 4:05:47 AM PDT by pharmacopeia
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To: BenLurkin

But they cannot stop it from spreading dog poo all over your house.


28 posted on 07/25/2017 4:08:27 AM PDT by mad_as_he$$ (Not my circus. Not my monkeys.)
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To: mad_as_he$$

Only a matter of time before Anton makes your roomba his minion.

29 posted on 07/25/2017 4:21:53 AM PDT by Theophilus (Repent)
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To: Theophilus

Saw one of those monsters at Lowe’s a few weeks back. WOW! Talk about a privacy invasion.


30 posted on 07/25/2017 4:57:08 AM PDT by mad_as_he$$ (Not my circus. Not my monkeys.)
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To: Theophilus

The black obelisk from 2001, but now with beer.


31 posted on 07/25/2017 5:32:15 AM PDT by KarlInOhio (The Whig Party died when it fled the great fight of its century. Ditto for the Republicans now.)
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To: trebb
“And most house plans are available to those who are thinking of buying/building.”

And that may be true, but that information, along with data on where my furniture is and what might look like a gun safe, combined with information gathered and transmitted by my Samsung phone from my TV viewing habits, won't all be available in just a few minutes in the same location.

If you don't think the deep state, with it's IT capabilities, doesn't pose a danger to you then check out what has happened to folks who pose a danger to the Clintons or the CIA agenda. Read Wikileaks data for yourself—not just what is available through the filter of the press. None of us are guaranteed innocence—it's just a matter of who you offend.

32 posted on 07/25/2017 5:35:05 AM PDT by binreadin
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To: binreadin
And our antique chiffonier looks about right for a gun safe - same can be said for small bedside dresser/end table units.

I'm well aware of what the Clintons and the deep state traitors are capable of but this is stretching beyond paranoia. I can keep my TV viewing habits masked as I have satellite service and need to have the wi-fi active for the data to be transmitted. If one is really concerned, one can take measures. Who the hell buys these Rumba vacuums anyway?

I guess if I had one of those "smart" refrigerators, I would have to be sure not to store money/guns/ammo in it.....

Best way to fight what you fear is to actively support those who have an agenda to band together and fight those we need to fear...

Donate to FR

33 posted on 07/25/2017 6:04:43 AM PDT by trebb (Where in the the hell has my country gone?)
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To: KarlInOhio

One could argue that it’s HAL from 2001 too.


34 posted on 07/25/2017 8:06:49 AM PDT by Theophilus (Repent)
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To: KarlInOhio

I'm sorry Dave, you've had too many beers...

35 posted on 07/25/2017 8:09:00 AM PDT by Theophilus (Repent)
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To: ifinnegan
“What if a sort of casing database pops up on the dark web targeting apparently well-off households, not just contents but providing a convenient map? "

Or perhaps a time map of when homeowners are not in the residence based on when Roomba operates and how?

36 posted on 07/25/2017 8:35:56 AM PDT by Bloody Sam Roberts ("Good judgment comes from experience, and a lot of that comes from bad judgment." - Will Rogers)
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To: catnipman

Precisely!


37 posted on 07/25/2017 10:41:33 AM PDT by null and void (This is how socialists work: Erase the past, Bankrupt the present, Steal from the future.)
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To: Fireone
"No problem, I don’t vacuum the tunnels."

no problem...I don't vacuum.....

38 posted on 07/25/2017 10:43:04 AM PDT by cherry
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