IRobot's Data Collection Leaks Sensitive Photos

IRobot's Data Collection Leaks Sensitive Photos
Short Title	iRobot Leaks Sensitive Photos
Location	Venezuela
Date	Fall 2020
Solove Harm	Secondary Use, Exposure
Information	Identifying, Physical Characteristic, Family
Threat Actors	iRobot Contractors, IRobot
Individuals
Affected	iRobot Consumers
High Risk Groups	Consumers
Tangible Harms	Embarrassment, Loss of Trust

iRobot's vacuum captured sensitive images of a user which had unknowingly spread beyond the company.

Description

Sensitive photos captured by iRobot devices were leaked to social media platforms in Fall of 2020 by iRobot data contractors. iRobot's Roomba J7 series vacuums collected images from users' homes and sent them to an AI data labeling startup called Scale AI. These images included a woman on the toilet and a child sprawled out on the floor. While iRobot claimed that users had consented to data collection for training purposes, consumers may be unaware of the extent to which their data is being collected and used for. Despite the contractors being under a strict NDA, the images shared amongst them still spread with no information of any action taken against them.