Getting Or Giving A Roomba? Consider EMFs And Privacy Issues First

This year we’re taking a Tech Wellness look at some popular Holiday Gifts.

Today—It’s The Roomba-the robot vacuum.

I LOVE this idea.  In fact, when they first came out, we probably owned two or three of them.  They were excellent at picking up German Shepherd hair, which is A LOT… it made the house feel cleaner and.. it was so cute zipping around.  It has kind of a happy personality.

But today, there are a couple of things to consider before putting one under your tree.  And I’m not talking about cleaning power. 

Consideration #1—EMF’s.  You know those videos that show cats riding around on a Roomba?  Not good for kitty.  This is about as much EMF as you would expect to get from a cell phone.  The flashing red light on the meter means that is an extreme level of RF radiation… an amount you should not be around for long periods of time.

There’s various sources inside…  Roomba’s have wifi… which feels like the main issue to me. They also use infra-red to help map your home—which we’ll talk about in a second…. And the electric motor is also a source.

This Roomba lights up as soon as you press the ON button.  And it stays on the whole time it’s motoring around.   So if you have a Roomba, it’s a good idea to park it somewhere as far away as possible from where the family hangs out to avoid as much of the radiation as possible.

Consideration #2--Now.. Let’s talk about privacy. There’s a lot to talk about.

First, many models have actual cameras that it uses to literally map out your home, to figure out where your furniture is and how it can most efficiently make it’s way around. 

So inside your Roomba there is a blue print for your house.

And your Roomba is connected to the internet, so you can use the Roomba app to tell it when to clean and which rooms to go to.  Now.. can that sensitive information get sucked out the Roomba and used by a third party??  There have been some concerns that interiors and even residents are captured and stored by the vacuum.  Do we need that??  Should we even care.

Well, in 2022, our data hungry friends at Amazon paid $1.7 billion dollars for Roomba. So now the people who know when you’re running out of toothpaste, could also figure out when it’s time to show you some new rugs…. Or dog dish… or shoes! Who knows.

To be very clear, there is no evidence that any user data has been compromised at this point.  But understanding how much Amazon knows about us already and how often our personal and private information is being hacked and misused every day… Is that a risk we want to take for a machine that doesn’t do as good of a job as pretty much any other vacuum cleaner you’ve ever had?   Plus think of  all those calories you can burn…. And EMF’s you can avoid… and privacy you can protect… just by having your husband vacuum by hand.  He loves to do it anyway! 

Happy Holidays and Be Well!!