Tech: We hacked a robot vacuum - & more

Subject: Tech: We hacked a robot vacuum - & more
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 08 Oct 24 - 07:56 PM

Interesting things are happening in the Land of Oz in this Brave New World, here are 2 stories posted yesterday & today!

Anything like this going on in your little bit of paradise?

We hacked a robot vacuum — and could watch live through its camera

These car brands are collecting and sharing your data with third parties

Subject: RE: Tech: We hacked a robot vacuum - & more
From: Nigel Parsons
Date: 08 Oct 24 - 08:27 PM

(If true) this is worrying.
Why would a vacuum cleaner even incorporate a camera?

Subject: RE: Tech: We hacked a robot vacuum - & more
From: Helen
Date: 08 Oct 24 - 08:43 PM

For navigation, maybe?

Subject: RE: Tech: We hacked a robot vacuum - & more
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 09 Oct 24 - 12:27 AM

Drive one of these car brands? This is how much of your data they're tracking

Subject: RE: Tech: We hacked a robot vacuum - & more
From: Thompson
Date: 09 Oct 24 - 01:48 AM

"…a woman who fled an abusive relationship with three children and few belongings found her perpetrator easily tracked her down to each high-security refuge she visited. Staff eventually realised the man was using anti-theft technology inside the woman's car." \

"Popular car brands are collecting and sharing driver data from braking patterns and odometer readings to vehicle location and voice recognition information, consumer advocacy group Choice has found."

"Tesla collects short images and videos from cameras inside and outside their cars. Tesla workers have been caught sharing among themselves highly invasive camera recordings of Tesla customers in the nude, as well as images of crashes and road-rage incidents."

"The findings of the Choice investigation are similar to those of the US-based Mozilla Foundation, which last year found 25 car brands collected customer data ranging from facial expressions to sexual activity and where and how people drive. Cars were a "privacy nightmare on wheels" and "the official worst category of products for privacy" the foundation said it had ever reviewed."

Subject: RE: Tech: We hacked a robot vacuum - & more
From: DaveRo
Date: 09 Oct 24 - 02:36 AM

Our robot vacuum contains a microphone (no camera). It does not have voice control. It can be connected to the internet via wifi - but I don't.

Our TV, however, is connected to the internet - it needs to be to stream stuff.

Smart TVs Are Like 'a Digital Trojan Horse' in People's Homes

Subject: RE: Tech: We hacked a robot vacuum - & more
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 09 Oct 24 - 06:37 PM

I am a weirdo in that I don't have TV, don't watch stuff on my Mac apart from the occasional music video, or even go to movies!

Way back in the 90s I was at a meditation weekend chatting to friends while we waited for the first presenter, when a stranger turned about & said "But you must have a TV, everyone has a TV" & carried on so much another stranger added that her family didn't have a TV & received the same comments. I did wonder later if the upset TV owner received as much from the program as we all did.

1984 is here & has been for a long time.

Subject: RE: Tech: We hacked a robot vacuum - & more
From: Helen
Date: 09 Oct 24 - 06:51 PM

Sandra, that's funny! "1984 is here & has been for a long time".

I was talking to Hubby yesterday about this Mudcat topic and said that I read so many sci-fi books about 50 years ago and they were out-there, far-fetched, and so outside of the bounds of possible reality, but now that reality is here. One of the first books I thought of was 1984.

Subject: RE: Tech: We hacked a robot vacuum - & more
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 10 Oct 24 - 12:31 PM

Has anyone logged onto Alexa at Amazon to see what they have recorded on your account? I expect it's me shouting at the dogs to stop whatever they're doing mixed in with requests to play Symphony Hall on SiriusXM for two hours or turn on one of the lights.

Subject: RE: Tech: We hacked a robot vacuum - & more
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 10 Oct 24 - 01:51 PM

I've seen a story like this before, but this happened to pop up in the Facebook feed - about a Roomba that hit loose puppy poop. Clearly didn't have any detector operating to avoid a lumpy mess like this. A reason to put a light or an infrared light and a camera on one of these. Let AI figure out not to hit the object but to go around it?

Sometime between midnight and 1:30am, our puppy Evie pooped on our rug in the living room. This is the only time she's done this, so it's probably just because we forgot to let her out before we went to bed that night. Now, if you have a detective's mind, you may be wondering how we know the poop occurred between midnight and 1:30am. We were asleep, so how do I know that time frame?

Why, friends, that's because our Roomba runs at 1:30am every night, while we sleep. And it found the poop. And so begins the Pooptastrophe. The poohpocalypse. The pooppening.

If you have a Roomba, please rid yourself of all distractions and absorb everything I'm about to tell you.

Do not, under any circumstances, let your Roomba run over dog poop. If the unthinkable does happen, and your Roomba runs over dog poop, stop it immediately and do not let it continue the cleaning cycle. Because if that happens, it will spread the dog poop over every conceivable surface within its reach, resulting in a home that closely resembles a Jackson Pollock poop painting.

Subject: RE: Tech: We hacked a robot vacuum - & more
From: Helen
Date: 10 Oct 24 - 02:03 PM

That's so funny, SRS!

Well, it is funny because it didn't happen to me, and I don't have a Roomba or a pooping puppy.

Subject: RE: Tech: We hacked a robot vacuum - & more
From: Helen
Date: 10 Oct 24 - 04:45 PM

Robot vacuum yells racial slur at family after being hacked

"Robot vacuums in multiple US cities were hacked in the space of a few days, with the attacker physically controlling them and yelling obscenities through their onboard speakers.

"The affected robots were all Chinese-made Ecovacs Deebot X2s — the exact model that the ABC was able to hack into as proof of a critical security flaw."

Subject: RE: Tech: We hacked a robot vacuum - & more
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 10 Oct 24 - 05:18 PM

does the vacuum empty itself, enquiring minds want to know.

I looked at the pic & my very own barrel vacuum's full bag & just wondered.

Subject: RE: Tech: We hacked a robot vacuum - & more
From: Helen
Date: 10 Oct 24 - 06:44 PM

No, you need to acquire a vacuuming robot for that.

Subject: RE: Tech: We hacked a robot vacuum - & more
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 11 Oct 24 - 12:17 PM

A friend posted a video on Facebook today of her pitbull finally deciding he wasn't afraid of the Roomba, and instead barking and nudging at the base, as if he's figured out where to grab it to stop it. A camera or listening system on a device like that might help it avoid the animals, or go into a quiet mode until they leave the room.