Ask HN: Robot vacuum but without the privacy invasion?

24 points

3 years ago

After six months of research I’d finally settled on my dream robot vacume. Sure it was expensive but it would do everything I wanted including having its own self emptying bin into another robot.

The company had a decent enough privacy policy and i was pretty much set to go.

Then word of the privacy scandal hit [1] and I ran a mile.

It’s 2023. I want a robot vacume but I don’t want the privacy compromise.

What options exist?

- maybe it’s a mainstream robot that can be put into offline mode so it never connects to the internet

- maybe it’s some software I install on my local network that intercepts traffic and helps the robot keep running none-the-wiser that it’s not actually phoning home anymore

- maybe it’s the holy grail, the release of the Framework laptop of robovacs. An open hardware dream.

What suggestions do you have for this privacy weary soul who just wants some automated help with household chores?

1. https://www.technologyreview.com/2022/12/19/1065306/roomba-irobot-robot-vacuums-artificial-intelligence-training-data-privacy/

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