Would you let Amazon put the layout in your house? If you're a Roomba customer, you won't be able to choose.
In a statement released on Friday, the e-commerce giant said it was acquiring iRobot, the company that makes the popular vacuuming robot, Roomba. The consumer robot company will be purchased by Amazon in an all-cash transaction.
"Over many years, the iRobot team has proven its ability to redefine how people clean with products that are incredibly practical and inventive," said Dave Limp in the announcement. I'm excited to work with the iRobot team to invent ways to make customers' lives easier and more enjoyable
Imagine what an Amazon-owned Roomba would look like. The company could lower the barrier to entry by subsidizing the cost of the devices and offering users subscription options. The voice-controlled A.I. assistant will probably be integrated into the robot vacuum.
Privacy experts are not fond of these possibilities. They are concerned about what a merger between the e-commerce giant and a company with home- mapping abilities would mean for consumers' data. Data collected by the vacuums have already been scrutinized. The robot vacuums need to map out your house. Sometimes the data is shared with third parties.
Robert Weissman, president of the consumer advocacy organization Public Citizen, said that federal regulators shouldn't allow Amazon to suck up iRobot. "Amazon shouldn't be allowed to use its retail market power to increase its market share of connected home devices."
Amazon has begun to move into the smart home space. According to a report from Strategy Analytics, Amazon's Ring doorbell sold over one million units in a single year. Amazon's connected devices would be in more households. iRobot has sold more than 40 million consumerrobots in the last two years.
Over the years, the Ring doorbell has been criticized for its use of Ring data. As Amazon continues to acquire companies in the smart home space, there are antitrust concerns to consider.
Sarah Miller is the executive director of the American Economic Liberties Project. It's time for Congress to shut down Big Tech's acquisition spree and give the FTC the resources it needs.
It's not clear what Amazon has in mind for iRobot. Consumers should be careful about the privacy concerns that come with the potential for a robot to mimic Rosey the Robot from The Jetsons.
According to Amazon, it's not in the business of selling customers' personal information, including mapping data.
Weissman says that Americans and the world don't need Amazon vacuuming up more of our personal information. This isn't just about Amazon selling more devices in its marketplace. The company is gaining more intimate details of our lives to gain unfair market advantage and sell more stuff.
iRobot already offers products that are compatible with voice assistants and we have no plans to change that.
"Alexa, stop collecting my data" is a command that could be used to stop the collection of data.
There is an update at 12:00 p.m. The statement provided by Amazon has been changed. Customer trust is something we have worked hard to earn and we think we have been very good stewards of people's data across all of our businesses.
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