A shocking incident has come to light where a woman's Roomba robot vacuum cleaner snapped embarrassing pictures of her on the toilet, only for them to end up on Facebook, shared by gig workers in a foreign country. This disturbing revelation was recently reported by the MIT Technology Review.
The MIT Technology Review recently revealed that during the fall of 2020, gig workers based in Venezuela posted various pictures on online platforms and discussed work-related matters. These images, some of which were intimate in nature, showed scenes from inside homes taken from a low perspective.
One of the images that were posted by gig workers in Venezuela showed a young woman sitting on a toilet with her shorts pulled down to mid-thigh. According to the MIT Technology Review, these images were taken by her Roomba J7 series robot vacuum made by iRobot and were later sent to Scale AI, a startup that contracts workers to label audio, photo, and video data to train artificial intelligence. It is worth noting that Amazon is currently in the process of acquiring iRobot, potentially driven by a desire to collect as much data as possible from their customers.
Internet-connected devices, such as the woman's Roomba vacuum cleaner in this case, have the ability to capture photos and videos and send them back to the cloud for review. However, earlier this year, the MIT Technology Review obtained 15 screenshots of private photos that were posted to closed groups on social media sites like Facebook. This raises concerns about the potential for Big Tech employees and contractors to potentially eavesdrop on customers, as previously reported by Breitbart News in relation to Amazon employees and contractors sharing Alexa recordings in groups.
According to the MIT Technology Review, the series of photos featured a range of subjects and varied in the amount of personal information they disclosed. The most private images were a set of video frames showing a young woman on the toilet, with her face obscured in the main image but visible in the following, low-resolution shots. Another photo depicted a child, estimated to be around eight or nine years old, lying on his stomach on a hallway floor with a triangle of disheveled hair falling over his forehead. The child's face was clearly visible and he appeared to be amused as he looked at the camera, which was positioned just below his line of sight.
According to a statement provided to the MIT Technology Review, iRobot explained that the people whose photos were shared on social media by contractors were aware that they were being recorded.
iRobot—the world’s largest vendor of robotic vacuums, which Amazon recently acquired for $1.7 billion in a pending deal—confirmed that these images were captured by its Roombas in 2020. All of them came from “special development robots with hardware and software modifications that are not and never were present on iRobot consumer products for purchase,” the company said in a statement. 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. According to iRobot, the devices were labeled with a bright green sticker that read “video recording in progress,” and it was up to those paid data collectors to “remove anything they deem sensitive from any space the robot operates in, including children.”
You can find more information on the story from the MIT Technology Review here.
Trending Political News
Kamala Harris' Word Salad Leaves Africa's Young Leaders Scratching Their Heads
How many times have we seen Vice President Kamala Harris give a speech where it looks like she's just making it up as she goes? Kind of like she's giving a book report on a book she didn't read. Well, we have another example of it.
While speaking to the young leaders in Africa, things became a little dicey for Harris but she just kept speaking.
Paul Pelosi's Attacker's Son Questions What Happened at Pelosi House, Floats His Own Theory on What Happened
David DePape, the man accused of attacking Paul Pelosi with a hammer, has had a traumatic life full of abuse according to an interview Daily Mail had with his son.
There is "almost no person on this planet that has gone through so much suffering," Nebosvod "Sky" Gonzalez said. "If you look into his eyes, you can see he's such a sad person.
Former Hooters Waitress Accused of Murder Stuns Judge With How She Can Pay Bond
A former Hooters waitress cheering on the fatal beating of another person. She asked the judge to lower the amount and pointed out that she could cover a lower amount thanks to the money she's pulled in from OnlyFans.
If you're not sure what OnlyFans is, it's a platform where their creators are paid in exchange for sharing exclusive video and photo content.
Did SNL Go Too Far With This Biden Joke?
Not long ago Saturday Night Live made jokes at the expense of former President Donald Trump on a weekly basis. Now, SNL has finally grown a pair and decided to make some jokes at the expense of President Biden.
Michael Che made the joke during the weekly "Weekend Update" segment.
Bill Clinton Caught in Viral Moment at NFL Game
Bill Clinton attended the NFL game Sunday between the Philadelphia Eagles and New York Giants. The game happened to be a blowout.
During the game, the former president took a nap and it comes as no surprise that someone caught it on video.
Nancy Pelosi Snaps at Reporter Who Asks Very Harmless Question
Nancy Pelosi was wound tight during a presser earlier today. So tight that she was gripping both sides of the podium during it. Or perhaps she was just hanging on for balancer? Either way she was fired up.
All it took was a simple question from a reporter about her serving out her full term for her to fly off the handle.
