iRobot, the maker of the popular Roomba robot vacuum cleaners, also makes a coding robot for kids six and up! Who knew? Their Root robot kits—they have two—let kids learn to code by programming the robots to drive, turn, draw, light-up, play music, express itself, and more. These kits are good for multiple coding skill levels—from coding with graphical blocks to actually using full-text code. It's very cool to see iRobot—a company we like because they seem to take protecting their users' privacy seriously—make these learning robots for kids.
Wat kin der barre as der wat misgiet?
iRobot, the Root's parent company, has had some privacy stumbles lately. Screenshots of a woman on the toilet recorded by a test-run Roomba in 2020 ended up on Facebook. And their ongoing acquisition by privacy-bad-guy Amazon is making privacy experts worry for their future. Eek. But since all that doesn't have much to do with their coding robot, we're keeping the iRobot Root in our good books. "Best Of" even!
iRobot Root and the iRobot Coding app do seem to have solid privacy practices. In their educational robots privacy policy, it says that iRobot does not “collect, store, or process personal information from any person.” Now that is one great way to keep your personal data safe -- just don't collect it in the first place! They also say that they don’t “sell, trade, lease, or loan any information” to third parties for any reason. Great again! We appreciate that they state these things explicitly. It’s one of the simplest privacy policies we’ve had the pleasure of reading.
iRobot also shares information about how they keep even analytics and crash reporting data safe. Cool! All in all, these learning robots feel pretty safe, and fun, for your kids despite their parent company’s recent concerns. The only worry we can think of is what might happen to iRobot Root's privacy policies once the Amazon deal to buy iRobot goes through as early as February 2024. It's something to keep an eye on.
Tips om josels te beskermjen
- Keep your WiFi network password protected with a strong password.
- Do not sign up with third-party accounts. Better just log in with email and strong password.
- Chose a strong password! You may use a password control tool like 1Password, KeePass etc
- Use your device privacy controls to limit access to your personal information via app (do not give access to your camera, microphone, images, location unless necessary)
- Keep your app regularly updated
- Limit ad tracking via your device (eg on iPhone go to Privacy -> Advertising -> Limit ad tracking) and biggest ad networks (for Google, go to Google account and turn off ad personalization)
- Request your data be deleted once you stop using the app. Simply deleting an app from your device usually does not erase your personal data.
- When starting a sign-up, do not agree to tracking of your data if possible.
Kin it my bespionearje?
Kamera
Apparaat: Nee
App: Nee
Mikrofoan
Apparaat: Nee
App: Nee
Folget lokaasje
Apparaat: Nee
App: Ja
Wat is der nedich om jo oan te melden?
E-mailadres
Nee
Telefoannûmer
Nee
Account fan tredden
Nee
Hokker gegevens sammelet it bedriuw?
Persoanlike
No personal information is collected.
Lichemrelatearre
Sosjale
Hoe brûkt it bedriuw dizze gegevens?
Hoe kinne jo jo gegevens beheare?
Hoe stiet it bedriuw bekend as it giet om it beskermjen fan brûkersgegevens?
iRobot Education has no known privacy or security incidents in the last three years.
Privacy-ynformaasje foar bern
Kin dit produkt offline brûkt wurde?
Brûkersfreonlike privacyynformaasje?
Keppelingen nei privacy-ynformaasje
Foldocht dit produkt oan ús minimale befeiligingsnoarmen?
Fersifering
Sterk wachtwurd
Befeiligingsfernijingen
Beheart kwetsberheden
Privacybelied
Brûkt it produkt AI?
Djipper dûke
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Amazon's Takeover of Roomba-maker on Course for Approval by FebruaryGizmodo
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Your Roomba May Be Mapping Your Home, Collecting Data That Could Be SharedNew York Times
Opmerkingen
Hawwe jo in reaksje? Lit it ús hearre.