In addition to the possible monopoly position, the criticism relates to the features of iRobot's robot vacuum cleaners.
Since the j7 model, the Roombas have been equipped with AI-supported front cameras. Previously, these “eyes” were pointed toward the ceiling, which aided in navigation. However, with the newer view forward, the little helpers can also recognize objects in the apartment. At least that's what initial analyzes say, according to which around 43 million objects have already been recognized and transmitted to iRobot.
This seems to be extremely interesting for Amazon: the online giant wants to shell out $1.7 billion for the US company.
Amazon chose a good time for this, as iRobot recently reported a 30 percent decline in sales .
When Alexa and the like check out your living room
If the deal between Amazon and iRobot is completed, the Roomba will join Amazon's smart home buddies: Alexa along with the smart speakers Echo, Blink security cameras, video doorbells from Ring and Wi-Fi router manufacturer Eero. There is no doubt that there is already a lot available here to set up your smart home.
Data protection advocates are probably throwing up their hands, as Ron Knox from the Institute for Local Self-Reliance wrote on Twitter:
In his thread he explains his fears:
“Amazon's interest in purchasing a popular product like Roomba is obvious. But by acquiring iRobot, Amazon would get so much more: a competing product, a massive data set, and a new way into people's homes and lives. […]
It is also purely data collection. The most advanced versions of Roomba collect information about your home as they clean. He knows where you keep your furniture, how big each room is, and so on. It is a vacuum cleaner and a mapping device.
This would allow Amazon, the company that wants to know everything about American consumers - where we live, how we shop, what we eat, and so on - to buy a company that has perhaps the most data about size, shape and arrangement of the interiors of our houses.”
Ron Knox, Twitter
Fear of monopolization
In addition to the data protection fears, there is also the possibility of a monopoly position, which is why there are supporters that the deal between Amazon and iRobot should still be reviewed by the federal agency FTC.
Ron Knox also writes about this in his thread:
“Jeff Bezos has said that Amazon wants to buy its way to dominance.
Ron Knox, Twitter
By acquiring Roomba and combining it with its enormous monopoly power backed by its Prime system, it would do just that. There may be other smart vacuum cleaners today, but that won't be the case once Amazon owns Roomba.
[…] The company can force its competitors out of the market through predatory pricing and thus achieve a monopoly position. That’s the Amazon way.”
Even without iRobot, there's little that Amazon doesn't know about its customers' lives. This includes personal information such as what people eat, buy, watch, read or listen to. Soon it will know about every inch of the home. This may certainly have many advantages for users, but data protection concerns will not simply be ignored.
Source: derStandard , Verge , Reuters
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