Company acknowledges people’s privacy concerns

“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,” he said. In iRobot’s vision, the Roomba will become a kind of machine mediator, improving other key features of the future connected home, including “music, TV, heat, blinds, stove, coffee machine, fan, gaming console, smart picture frames or robot pet,” Angle said.

Amazon, Apple and Alphabet, Google’s parent company, are also invested in a version of this strategy, with each tech giant offering (or soon to release) a voice-activated, internetconnected home assistant.

Customers at home can already activate their Roomba through Amazon’s Alexa and Google Assistant. And while Angle said that no specific plan exists for iRobot to sell its mapping data to these companies, he told Reuters on Monday that iRobot “could reach a deal to sell its maps to one or more of the Big Three in the

“IRobot takes privacy and security of its customers very seriously. We will always ask your permission to even store map data.” COLIN ANGLE IROBOT CEO

next couple of years.”

But the prospect of selling information derived from the intricacies of people’s homes — and their literal dirt — raises potential privacy concerns, which Angle says the company acknowledges.

“IRobot takes privacy and security of its customers very seriously,” he said. “We will always ask your permission to even store map data. Right now, iRobot is building maps to enable the Roomba to efficiently and effectively clean your home. In the future, with your permission, this information will enable the smart home and the devices within it to work better.”