Intimate pictures of a woman sitting on a toilet have been shared on Facebook. The images were captured by a robot vacuum cleaner and shared with contract workers around the world. These workers are tasked with labelling audio, photo, and video data used to train artificial intelligence. The images were shared among closed social media groups, raising privacy concerns around the use of internet-connected devices.
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Toilet photoshoot
The development versions of iRobot’s Roomba J7 series robot vacuum, entered the bathroom and captured shots of a woman who could be seen sitting on the toilet with her shorts pulled down to her knees.
14 other images shared in closed groups on Facebook were intercepted by the team at MIT Technology Review. One of the images was of a boy lying on his stomach while looking at the device. These images were then sent to Scale AI, a startup with contract staff around the world who label these data. According to MIT Technology Review:
The other shots show rooms from homes around the world, some occupied by humans, one by a dog. Furniture, décor, and objects located high on the walls and ceilings are outlined by rectangular boxes and accompanied by labels like “tv,” “plant_or_flower,” and “ceiling light.”
The images are believed to have been shared by Venezuela-based contract workers in 2020.
The internet of things and privacy
iRobot is the world’s largest vendor of robotic vacuums and was recently bought by Amazon at $1.7 billion in a pending deal. The company confirmed to MIT Technology Review in a statement that these images were captured by its Roombas in 2020.
According to the statement, the special development robots were not for purchase. Instead, they were given to paid collectors and employees who signed written agreements acknowledging that they were sending data streams, including video, back to the company for training purposes.
So basically, the company is absolving itself of blame in the distribution of the images, as the MIT article summarizes:
In other words, by iRobot’s estimation, anyone whose photos or video appeared in the streams had agreed to let their Roombas monitor them.
Sources used:
Daily Mail: Robot vacuum cleaner took photos of woman on the toilet…and the images ended up being shared on Facebook
MIT Technology Review: A Roomba recorded a woman on the toilet. How did screenshots end up on Facebook?
