IEEE Consumer Electronics Magazine - March 2018 - 105

For instance, if the Roomba scan reveals that there is
very little furniture in the house, then a marketer may
find ways to entice you into furnishing your home at its
store. Additionally, companies know that if you are currently trying to sleep without a bed, then you're likely to
pay a bit more than someone who is just looking to
replace a bed.
Knowing the square footage of your home can also be
useful to marketers. Catalog companies have adjusted their
prices for different zip codes for years. They generally charge
wealthier areas more money than poorer areas, figuring that
will maximize both the number of sales they can make and
the money they'll make from each sale. With an exact square
footage of your house, they can fine tune those calculations
even more. You may want to limit your Roomba to your summer cabin rather than your palatial estate to keep down the
costs of your online shopping.
Furthermore, if your Roomba suddenly maps out a floor
plan very differently from the previous one, then it's not too
difficult to make the assumption that you have moved. A
number of companies have already set up arrangements with
the U.S. Post Office to send coupons to people with changing
addresses since those who are moving into new homes are
often engaged in a whirlwind of spending. Your Roomba
would offer a simple method to let the world know that you
are in the midst of a transition and will likely be in the market
for a variety of things.

the roomba can see everything
While much of this discussion has focused on the maps, the
Roomba may ultimately generate concerns far beyond letting
others know the layout and precise location of the rooms and
furniture in your home. Additional questions are raised by the
camera installed on the robot. The company seeks to assuage
any concern on its website by arguing that:
The iAdapt® Localization Camera is used to map out
your home in order to ensure complete coverage.
It does not record video or images, nor can video or
images be shared with iRobot or third parties.
But cameras can collect huge amounts of information other
than images. According to the company's website, the robot
doesn't just focus on your floor plan. The diagram illustrating
the system shows the robot's camera scanning tabletops, pillows, and the tops of chairs-data that have nothing to do
with the map of the floor the Roomba is supposed to create.
We already know the Roomba uses algorithms to turn
visual data into maps of your house. It doesn't seem too
much of a stretch to suggest that other simple algorithms
could be developed to determine things like how big your
television is, the brand of your refrigerator, and whether there
is a new baby in the house-all without permanently recording a single image. Perhaps a bit of direct-to-consumer
advertising could make you feel a little inadequate for only
having a 40-in plasma TV? Maybe your social media will

If the Roomba scan reveals that
there is very little furniture in the
house, then a marketer may find
ways to entice you into furnishing
your home at its store.
suddenly be filled with more personalized messages such as:
"It looks like you prefer Bakewell appliances...did you know
that they are rated poorly by a major consumer magazine, and
that there are better replacements that you can get with this
coupon?" Or, perhaps: "Everyone knows that new babies love
the feel and comfort of Fluffy brand diapers! Good parents
buy Fluffy."
Companies don't necessarily want to purchase pictures
of the interior of your house-they want data to know how
to market to you. The more they know about you, the easier
it is for them to shape your decisions. If they can shape your
decisions, then they can compel you to do things that will
benefit them. iRobot's investors must think it works,
because on 26 July 2017, the day after the CEO's plans
were widely reported, the value of iRobot stock increased
by over 20%.

modern-day subterfuge
The lure of giving up privacy is strong in the current day and
age. Technology has allowed companies to bombard us with
requests on a near daily basis. Often, we don't even realize
we're being asked, and we accidentally give consent. In other
cases, we simply don't have the time to read the hundreds of
pages of detailed user agreements written in confusing legal
language, so we say yes just to get on with our lives. Furthermore, corporations require that we consent or they will withhold services from us, even after we've paid them money for
those services.
I suspect that many of the 900-series Roomba owners may
not be completely comfortable with the privacy rights they
have abandoned. Many likely agreed to invite the iRobot Corporation into their home without quite realizing the
implications of what they were doing. It is a bit like the subterfuge used by vampires to gain access to homes they were
previously forbidden to enter. The main difference here is
that once invited into a house, vampires can't invite their
friends along, but iRobot can.

about the author
Jameson Wetmore (wetmore@asu.edu) is an associate
professor in the School for the Future of Innovation in Society
at Arizona State University and coeditor of Technology and
Society: Building our Sociotechnical Future (MIT Press).

March 2018

IEEE Consumer Electronics Magazine

105

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