[Thread] Via iRobot, Amazon, one of the most powerful data collection companies on earth, will get another vast and intrusive set of data about people's homes

1. Hello. Amazon today announced it would pay $1.7 billion to acquire iRobot, the company behind the Roomba robotic vacuum. It may be the most dangerous, threatening acquisition in the company's history. A thread.

@ronmknox 2022-08-07 Ron Knox

Context & Ripple Effects

Amazon’s proposed $1.7B cash purchase of iRobot would leave Colin Angle as CEO while bringing the Roomba maker into Amazon’s orbit. The privacy concern has a clear antecedent: iRobot had previously explored selling users’ floor-plan data to major technology companies.

The deal also fits coverage describing Amazon’s iRobot and One Medical moves as a search for a fourth business pillar beyond its established businesses. Later reporting that EU officials prepared privacy questions shows why data access, rather than vacuums alone, became central to the transaction’s stakes.

First-order effects

Amazon’s proposed acquisition makes iRobot’s home-mapping and device data a focal point of the deal, while iRobot is positioned to retain its existing CEO under Amazon ownership.
Roomba customers and iRobot face immediate uncertainty over whether data collected by the devices would be governed within Amazon’s broader consumer-services operation.

Second-order effects

Privacy and competition regulators gain a concrete basis to examine how Amazon could combine iRobot’s household data with its existing consumer reach; EU officials subsequently prepared a privacy-focused investigation into the proposal.
Amazon’s rivals in connected-home devices face a sharper choice between remaining standalone and finding partners with comparable distribution, while iRobot’s prior interest in monetizing floor plans becomes harder to separate from the ownership question.

Third-order effects

If regulators treat connected-device data as a merger issue, acquisitions of consumer hardware makers may be judged increasingly on control of household information as well as product-market competition.
The deal points toward consumer-device ownership becoming a route to data and service distribution, with regulatory review limiting how readily large platforms can convert that access into an advantage.

The trend: Large platforms are pursuing consumer-device acquisitions for distribution and data access, drawing merger scrutiny that increasingly encompasses privacy alongside competition.

Discussion

@jathansadowski Jathan Sadowski on x
People forget that a while ago Roomba got caught making highly detailed maps of people's homes and selling that information to third parties. Now that's an Amazon company. https://twitter.com/...
@wagatwe @wagatwe on x
So now Bezos can have data on: - what you read - what you watch - who's outside your home - your meds - when you see doctors - what groceries you eat - how much you order out - THE LAYOUT OF YOUR HOME https://twitter.com/...
@carnage4life Dare Obasanjo on x
That Jeff Bezos looks and acts like a real-life Lex Luthor while funding two shows where a knock off Superman is the villain will always be funny to me. https://twitter.com/...
@mcnees Robert McNees on x
If I don't own a roomba should I just send Amazon a floor plan of my house and an itemized list of its contents. https://twitter.com/...
@seldo Laurie Voss on x
I mean sure but also you know you're not obligated to buy the robot vacuum right? https://twitter.com/...
@lindseyboylan Lindsey Boylan on x
This is an incredibly important story and point that is both little understood and hugely problematic. https://twitter.com/...
@joshconstine @joshconstine on x
Amazon's acquisitions give it surveillance on: 🥫What we eat: Whole Foods ⚕️Our health: OneMedical 💊Our medications: PillPack 🏙️What's on our streets: Zoox self-driving cars 🚪What's outside our homes: Ring 🏠And now, what's in our homes: iRobot/Roomba When combined... 👀👀👀
@ireneista @ireneista on x
One of the most frustrating things about having an accurate picture of what's going on with privacy topics is that people don't take it seriously because doing anything about it would mean fewer fancy consumer goods. https://twitter.com/...
@jason @jason on x
If I'm following this thread correctly, Amazon's acquisition of Roomba vacuums will let them create a surveillance state based on knowing the floor plan of your home. Ummm... not sure your floor plan matters compared to the 1,679 items I bought on Amazon so far this year. https:/…
@robleathern Rob Leathern on x
I do worry that Alexa might learn that I am mixing and matching Ikea and West elm furniture in the living room https://twitter.com/...
@shawk670 HawkManHawk on x
This is why my robot vacuum lost its internet privileges. Also self host all the things with https://home-assistant.io/. #oldmanyellsatcloud https://twitter.com/...
@antoniogm Antonio García Martínez on x
@benedictevans My chapter in ‘Chaos Monkeys’ on privacy is titled that. :) https://twitter.com/...
@benedictevans Benedict Evans on x
Advertisers do not, by and large, want to know every intimate detail of your life. P&G wants to show diaper ads to people who have babies, not show them to people who don't, and have some idea of which ads worked. They don't care about *you* at all.
@benedictevans Benedict Evans on x
Someone recently coined the phrase ‘privacy narcissism’ to describe this. And it distracts from all the reasons the USA actually does need some privacy laws.
@benedictevans Benedict Evans on x
(Naturally, Amazon's 6-7% of US retail revenue is a vast and terrifying monopoly.)
@sassycrass @sassycrass on x
So when your cat was riding your Roomba, it was actually spying on it to keep you and your house safe... https://twitter.com/...
@cszabla @cszabla on x
my partner refused to use our roomba today because, I quote, “it is spying on us for amazon” https://twitter.com/...
@dberkholz Donnie Berkholz on x
Now Amazon can hear your home (Alexa), see your home (Echo Show, security cams), and map your home (iRobot). https://twitter.com/...
@drpsybuffy @drpsybuffy on x
My robot vacuum (which is not a roomba) would just send help messages because it's always getting stuck https://twitter.com/...
@pt Parker on x
The people concocting robot vacuum surveillance fantasies about this definitely use zero of these products. https://twitter.com/...
@rawitt2 Rose Ann Witt on x
“Should law enforcement or governments demand access, so much #data about people in the hands of a single company poses the threat of being a single point of failure for #democracy & #HumanRights.” https://twitter.com/...
@glorialangreo @glorialangreo on x
“People tend to think of Amazon as an online seller company, but really Amazon is a surveillance company. That is the core of its business model, and that's what drives its monopoly power and profit [...]” https://twitter.com/...
@carnage4life Dare Obasanjo on x
The floor plan of your home is on Zillow and is more accurate than whatever your Roomba guessed from bumping around the furniture in your bedroom. https://twitter.com/...
@ibjiyongi @ibjiyongi on x
I actually gasped and said “oh no” This is actually potentially catastrophic and the Biden administration should move to block this under what remains of anti-trust law https://twitter.com/...
@carnage4life Dare Obasanjo on x
Lots of people complain about monopolies but their arguments often boil down to big tech companies, and only big tech companies, are too powerful to be allowed to acquire companies. This harms tech ecosystems as founders, employees & investors lose a valuable form of exits. https…
@datnofact @datnofact on x
I await the inevitable news of Amazon unilaterally handing over recorded roomba footage to the state. https://twitter.com/...
@pt Parker on x
People forget that every time a house sells Zillow (et al) post detailed pictures of every room, for free, to the public internet. I can still find the pics from our 2009 purchase. Conclusion: Amazon should buy Zillow. https://twitter.com/...
@benedictevans Benedict Evans on x
The general point that perplexes me about threads like this is the idea that anyone wants to know trivial and random details about your life - that this has any economic value. “Amazon will know where your furniture is!” No, it won't, but why on Earth would it care? https://twitt…
@privacymatters @privacymatters on x
1/ Lots of privacy takes on Amazon acquring Roomba. That Amazon will learn the layout of homes, rooms etc. Makes me think of smart tech already in homes / of smart homes. Such as a smart speaker, lightbulb, thermostat, camera may already be labelled as ‘hallway’ ‘living room’ htt…
@jessdheere Jessica Dheere on x
health data. reading data. shopping data. location data and connections between those locations. now the interiors that correlate to those addresses. there will be nowhere to hide from this voracious beast. https://twitter.com/...
@hypervisible @hypervisible on x
Think of the (dystopian) possibilities! Roomba contracts with 👮‍♀️! Roomba listening to your conversations! Roomba trying to diagnose you...The list is endless. h/t ⁦@nicholasadeleon⁩ https://press.aboutamazon.com/ ...
@mattmday Matt Day on x
the joke when Amazon launched its Astro home security bot last year was that at least Roomba could vacuum while it was wandering around. Guys, I've got some news: https://www.bloomberg.com/...
@anthropunk Dr. S.A. Applin on x
Roomba partnering with Echo to know which room you are in, Roomba analyzing what it collects to know details of your sloughed dermis, Echo hearing you make plans and Roomba scurrying to vacuum entertainment areas of your home, Roomba refusing to vacuum w/o Echo music playing... h…
@moonalice Roger McNamee on x
Dear @linakhanFTC - Amazon's Alexa and Ring products are already a massive threat to civil liberties. If you allow Amazon to buy iRobot (maker of Roomba), their surveillance of homes will be a dystopian nightmare. https://www.bloomberg.com/...
@anintelhome @anintelhome on x
So Amazon acquires @iRobot and @Apple sits twiddling their thumbs on product launches and/or acquisitions to build their #SmartHome system? Yep, it baffles the mind!
@vermontgmg Garrett M. Graff on x
Add this to Alexa, listening to you all day long, Ring, watching your front door all day long, and OneMedical, a company that knows all your secrets, and suddenly Amazon has built a pretty powerful panopticon controlled by Jeff Bezos. https://twitter.com/...
@munster_gene Gene Munster on x
Amazon is the most aggressive big tech buyer following the 2022 tech wreck. Big picture; Amazon is making it clear they have ambitions beyond commerce with recent One Medical and iRobots announcements.
@wadhwa Vivek Wadhwa on x
This should be code red for @linakhanFTC and other regulators. With Roomba, Amazon would gain private data on an unprecedented scale, with a home spying apparatus better than Big Brother and his disciple Mark Zuckerberg could ever dream about. https://twitter.com/...
@ow Owen Williams on x
Sorry if this seems overly alarmist but it does make me pause given how much modern Roomba competitors actually know about your house! The new Roborock vacuums can recognize furniture and even stuff you leave on the ground! I really wouldn't want Amazon knowing that? https://twit…
@jowyang @jowyang on x
Roomba 2023: we noticed your floors are 48% dirty with 24% traces of bacteria. We ordered Prime floor cleaner as a courtesy Roomba 2033: Amazon bot has finished your dishes, restocked fridge, and cleaned bathroom. https://techcrunch.com/...
@matthewstoller Matt Stoller on x
Amazon just bought iRobot, which has immense amounts of data about people's physical homes. It never ends. Congress should have passed @TomCottonAR's bill to bar big tech mergers. https://www.prnewswire.com/...
@raoulgmi Raoul Pal on x
With Ring, Alexa and now Roomba, Amazon tracks EVERYTHING that happens inside your house (even who visits you). This is all about getting data on YOU. Google Nest too. Homes were your last data sanctuary as you put your phone down, but not now. https://twitter.com/...
@colinangle Colin Angle on x
iRobot's mission is to create innovative, practical products like the Roomba and iRobot OS that make customers' lives easier. Amazon shares our passion, and I'm hugely excited to see what we can build together for customers in the years ahead. https://www.prnewswire.com/...
@buccocapital @buccocapital on x
LOL. Lmao. MSFT Acquisitions. AMZN Acquisitions https://twitter.com/...
@netgarden Mark Sigal on x
Amazon, Ring, Roomba, Alexa, One Medical, Prime Delivery...that's a LOT of behavioral and logistical data to trust one company with. Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely...see how #Amazon treats its warehouse workers as emblematic on this one. https://twi…
@caro_milanesi Carolina Milanesi on x
Glad Amazon bought iRobot rather than Google given what has happened with Nest. A missed opportunity for Apple IMO https://twitter.com/...
@stacyfmitchell Stacy Mitchell on x
No to this. Amazon has initiated another alarming acquisition — iRobot, maker of the Roomba. This is part of a strategy to control the infrastructure of the smart home and gather up a ton of data about our houses and how we live in them. https://press.aboutamazon.com/ ...
@ron_miller Ron Miller on x
Under Andy Jassy, the company appears to be making more strategic acquisitions. This one comes on the heels of Amazon buying One Medical. https://twitter.com/...
@celebrityhottub Ryan Nanni on x
i give it 4 months until the “well it turns out your vacuum's been sending your DNA to the cops” story https://twitter.com/...
@chetfaliszek Chet Faliszek on x
Alexa did you automatically send the ring doorbell footage to the police for the prowler last night? No, I sent a map of your house to the police for the raid today. https://twitter.com/...
@spdustin @spdustin on x
If you have a Roomba, Amazon will literally have floor maps of your home, data about the texture of flooring surfaces, the nature of the debris on your floors (dirt, dog hair, etc.), and a dataset that can predict what types of furniture you have. https://twitter.com/...
@ibogost Ian Bogost on x
You might know this already, but, a Rooma isn't principally a robot that vacuums your floors—it's a robot that creates maps of your house. https://twitter.com/...
@pierce David Pierce on x
The government: Big Tech is too powerful! Facebook can't buy a workout app! Amazon: we own the grocery store and the doctor's office and now we also own the robot vacuum that knows the exact floor plan of your house https://www.theverge.com/...
@caseyjohnston Casey Johnston on x
If I had a roomba I'd be throwing it like a frisbee off a mountain right now https://twitter.com/...
@jeffjarvis Jeff Jarvis on x
That's a wow. Let Meta in its febrile imagination aspire to rule the metaverse. Let Musk worship his phallic graven images of midlife crisis. Amazon will be the leader in robots, in real life, on earth, now at home. https://www.wsj.com/...
@bheater Brian Heater on x
There is going to (rightfully) be regulatory scrutiny around Amazon's acquisition of iRobot over privacy concerns. But if the deal has half the success of its Kiva acquisition, this is a watershed moment for home robots. https://techcrunch.com/...
@irobot @irobot on x
Exciting news! We've signed an agreement to be acquired by Amazon. With Amazon, we look forward to inventing more for the home. https://www.prnewswire.com/...
@jjvincent James Vincent on x
very big news for the home automation space, and worrying from a privacy angle given iRobot's push in recent years to map your home using Roomba's sensors. who owns all this data now? https://twitter.com/...
@nhageradio Nathan Hager on x
“Alexa, you missed a spot.” *AMAZON TO BUY IROBOT FOR $61/SHR IN CASH
@caleweissman Cale G Weissman on x
amazon acquires irobot, will soon have the floor plans of every roomba owner's home https://www.businesswire.com/ ...

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