28 December 2022

Privacy Is Such a Quaint Idea

This is more than a little disturbing. A Roomba recorded a woman on the toilet. How did screenshots end up on Facebook? | MIT Technology Review

In the fall of 2020, gig workers in Venezuela posted a series of images to online forums where they gathered to talk shop. The photos were mundane, if sometimes intimate, household scenes captured from low angles—including some you really wouldn’t want shared on the Internet.

In one particularly revealing shot, a young woman in a lavender T-shirt sits on the toilet, her shorts pulled down to mid-thigh.

Click thru for a discussion of the hows and the whys of what happened. But don't worry... Roomba says it was all done with authorization! And only on special "development versions" of the Roomba. I'm sure the woman in question - or whoever in her household bought the Roomba - knew exactly what they were agreeing to when they opened the box/signed the consent form/whatever. (You know every time you open a package or install a new piece of SW that you have downloaded from the internet and click "agree" to the terms conditions you may be signing up for more than you realized.)

Every once in a while I think it would be nice to have a robot vacuum. And then I think again.

Hat tip to Pixy Misa, who had this to say.

If you have pets, small children, or a Roomba, always remember to close the bathroom door. (MIT Technology Review)

And while your dog might want to keep you company, at least it won't take pictures and post them to Facebook.  Probably.

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