I first mentioned "data sleaze" in reaction to the article disclosing that Uber was secretly collecting certain user data. In my previous post, I define data sleaze as:
Data sleaze is the data about one's own customers that are obtained secretly by businesses, and then sold to the highest bidders, also in secret transactions. The production of data sleaze is frequently justified by giving services away for "free." However, running a business as a "free service" fronting a profitable espionage operation is a choice made by management teams, not an inevitability. Indeed, many businesses that have a proper revenue model also produce data sleaze.
Data sleaze is going to explode with the introduction of so-called Internet of Things (in short, tech firms intend to have every device in your home beam data back to home base all day long). A warning of what's to come is in this Gizmo article about Roomba, the vacuum-cleaning robot. Gone are the days when customers cough up their data in exchange for some "free" service. Roomba's product is not free. The robot collects data about homes while it roams around performing its advertised function - cleaning the floors. The device creates a detailed map of the home of its user. Roomba then turns the data over to third parties for a fee - that was what the CEO told the investment community until it got some blowback and he seemingly backtracked, claiming that he has been misunderstood, and Roomba merely "share the maps for free with customer consent".
The CEO said the company will never sell the data but its privacy policy allows it to do so. Consumers cannot verify his statement because business contracts are not shared publicly. Some models of Roomba have a camera and the company states that "[the camera] is separated from any wireless or wired transmission." It did not say that video images or clips of people's homes are not transmitted beyond the device. Video files can still be transmitted even if the camera itself is not connected to a transmitter directly. The concept of "customer consent" has been irreparably compromised by the prevalence of forced consent ("if you don't want to consent, we won't serve you.")
The article confirms a few things about Roomba:
- The company has collections of maps about people's homes through cameras and other means. Such maps are beamed to the "cloud."
- The maps that Roomba possesses are more detailed than those that are shown to users via the Roomba app
- Roomba is talking to multiple third parties about selling or sharing data with them
- The data will survive the dissolution of Roomba - as it is free to sell the data to an acquiring firm
Another good article about this is in the San Francisco Chronicle (link).
Burglars and criminals everywhere are drooling uncontrollably.
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