How Amazon Dominates Smart Home And Why It Wants To Buy iRobot

Amazon ships more U.S. smart home devices than any other company and says Alexa is now compatible with 140,000 devices, far beyond the Echo and Fire TV. But privacy advocates are concerned by all the data these devices collect, and are calling on the Federal Trade Commission to block Amazon’s latest smart home expansion. After acquiring video doorbell maker Ring in 2018 and mesh WiFi system Eero a year later, Amazon’s now looking to buy Roomba smart vacuum maker iRobot. In a rare move, the FTC is asking for more information before approving the $1.7 billion deal. Ahead of Amazon’s annual smart home event, we talked to Amazon’s VP of privacy to find out what really happens to all the data collected by its devices - and sat down with the head of smart home to hear the strategy behind Amazon’s race to dominate the internet of things.
Chapters:
1:41 First to market
4:27 Acquiring iRobot
7:41 How it uses the data
9:45 Privacy concerns
11:33 Ambient home of the future
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How Amazon Dominates Smart Home And Why It Wants To Buy iRobot

[@GeliCarlosJ]

Cost of convenience is privacy. Some want it, some hate it.

[@scepts]

i like how she specifically said "there is no group of employees listening to your audio" she never said an AI cant translate it to text which is what Alexa does anyways.

[@fabricekabongo]

That’s exactly what I said out loud when I heard that. Oddly specific.

[@Iquey]

Nahhh there have definitely been interviews with the Alexa/Echo teams hearing things they wished they didn't.

[@axxxonn]

Everything she said was calculated and specific. They may not be listening. But you're right in that it can be transcribed and read.

[@travisspazz1624]

The first 5 seconds alone creeped me out. Alexa is going to try to waterboard me!

[@lancelewis6591]

Well Jeff Bezos and Amazon has many well known and documented contracts with the CIA and Pentagon so I say your privacy is the good hands of warmongers and spies. So Nothing to worry about here.

[@shookfng]

Why was she smiling when she said there isn’t a room full of people monitoring our customers conversation? They don’t need a room full of people doing it, computers are doing it.

[@johnwang9914]

Because they want AI to do the monitoring not people. People and crowd sourcing are just the stop gaps to train the AI.

[@AndyFahey]

This is a dystopian nightmare I cannot believe so many people are willingly embracing.

[@samsadeniz]

Go live in the mountains

[@TomNook.]

It's so funny, the former founder of Ring is now in a trust and privacy role....Amazon has sold Ring data and footage to police and even made a documentary of it to put on its Prime Video service 😅

[@vishalarora13]

Documentary name please?

[@Daswars777]

That’s America.

[@againstthegraingolf301]

@@vishalarora13 “Ring Nation”

[@johnwang9914]

I was always waiting for access to cameras for home security, doorbells and for cameras on semi autonomous or autonomous vehicles to become accessible by law enforcement but I suspect people will first want such access to be voluntary by the owners as they are now when police must ask surrounding establishments for security video footage and the public for dash cam footage after the fact. Imagine if speeders were ticketed just by speeding past someone with a semi autonomous vehicle or dash cam. How many times have people complained about "where are the police" when passed by a speeding car, can you really justify allowing crimes however small to be undetected just on the basis of access...

[@N0Xa880iUL]

"How Amazon is taking over the home" Sounds menacing.

[@BuddhaJunkee]

Add a single word and suddenly “How the Amazon is taking over the home” Sounds amazing.

[@lancelewis6591]

Well Jeff Bezos and Amazon has many well known and documented contracts with the CIA and Pentagon so I say your privacy is the good hands of warmongers and spies. So Nothing to worry about here.

[@aliettienne2907]

Tracking your shopping habits online over the internet is not so intrusive but collecting data on your activities in your home is utterly inappropriate. My home privacy should be protected at all times unless I decide to allow a company to collect my personal life data.

[@amirmoradi9595]

I like how neither of these Amazon employees have a smart device anywhere in the background of their homes

[@Sim0000n]

You can apply for beta device as an employee which you can't show obviously

[@ARyan-yk9qh]

1:13 - She has a stick up cam, it is located on the top shelf of the China cabinet. 3:44 - She has, what looks to be, an Echo Show device to the left of the orange pot. However, this is not her home as it's merely a showroom for Alexa devices.

[@EliF-ge5bu]

How do you know? Where you given house tours?

[@Ellerich3]

Exactly!!!

[@eevor]

"You screw in a lightbulb, and it works." Wow, amazing, good job Amazon.

[@WhatDavidDoes]

IVOR, you made my day !🤣

[@johnwang9914]

The trend towards subscription services is also quite troublesome, the Eero requires a subscription to access features we have normally expected of WiFi routers for decades and of course the Ring doorbell requires a cloud storage subscription. At least the Prime video subscription is the same subscription you subscribe to for faster free home deliveries on selected products. If they would just unite all their subscription services to Prime then I wouldn't be too concerned but the last thing I want is to have dozens of subscriptions.

[@fafardh]

1:10 "Amazon takes its responsibility to [...] privacy incredibly seriously." Why did she have to say that while I was drinking? Now I have to clean my screen. xD On the flip-side, it's been a while since I laughed that hard. :)

[@chrisgraham2904]

If they take their responsibility seriously, then stop collecting data.

[@evereststevens5408]

Isnt it funny how data isnt deleted by default and you have to opt out of sharing it with the company 🤔🤔

[@iamjohnporter67]

Amazon is going turn into the CTOS of connecting to everything (For those who played the game Watch Dogs you will know where I'm going with this)

[@Bremend]

With every watchdog game, the premise becomes less and less futuristic and more closer to just regular life. At what point will the game series stop because it's just the world we live in?

[@1mezion]

1:08 👀 what the hell, did that teddy bear just twerk?

[@dmo848]

I thought I was seeing things😂

[@Iquey]

11:54 Alexa turning the lights on 3 minutes or so away from before you arrive home is a GREAT way for people to get robbed in their mcmansions at gunpoint when porch pirates and thieves are tipped off to your house's "smart routine".

[@thundurr]

I think you should probably be worrying more about the area you live in if that's the case.

[@cck4978]

I mean this is the same debate with other IT companies collecting your data through other services; opt out if you don't want to share any personal data. Nobody's forcing you to equip your home with smart devices. It's a delicate dance between convenience and personal privacy you need to make informed decisions about.

[@fafardh]

Yeah, but here's the thing: It would be entirely possible to provide smart devices and their convenience without requiring customers' souls in exchange. Manufacturers simply refuse to offer this and I think that's the real issue. At least it's what bothers me most.

[@cck4978]

@@fafardh I think you have a false understanding of what modern day smart devices are. In order for these devices to be "smart", it requires collecting data, storing data, analyzing data with cutting edge analysis tools and applying the analysis to future data all of which requires storage space and computational power which in turn would make the devices bulky and expensive. In order to make them affordable, all modern smart devices do is collect data and send it over to their cloud services where the above mentioned process is done for you. You can have bulky traditional system where the entirety of hardware is installed at your home but I don't think those are referred as "smart devices" and I imagine most people are not interested in this type of investment

[@fafardh]

@@cck4978 Correct and also incorrect. Yes, computations, data storage and if you really want to, analytics are necessary to provide the functionality. But keep in mind that each customer's setup only needs to process their own data, not the combined data of all users. That could easily happen locally, without any internet connection at all. You seem to seriously underestimate the computing power already available to those devices, while overestimating the cost of that computing power. And even if that's not enough, most of these systems have some sort of base station, which could easily handle those computations. But then manufacturers wouldn't get to collect & exploit users' personal data, which is the real "cost": The missed profits from exploiting users' personal data (aka. "opportunity cost"). There are open-source projects that can do just that, proving that it's possible. I run one of these for my own home automation. The downside is that, by their very nature as hobbyist projects, they're not exactly "layman-friendly": the user experience could definitely be more polished. Also, sourcing compatible hardware can be challenging at times, since manufacturers don't really have an incentive to produce any on purpose. Unless, of course, you want to build your own with e.g. an ESP32? But that's outside my skillset, and that of most other average users. The point is: It's possible. Manufacturers just don't want to.

[@Iquey]

Imagine your indoor air quality sensor/air purifier ratting you out to the cops for smoking weed.

[@hewhohasnoidentity4377]

One way for Amazon to "Dominate" is by sending any Google Nest or other Google branded smart home device that is returned to be destroyed regardless of the condition of the item. Meanwhile, Amazon products are evaluated and sent to the appropriate distribution channel to get the item to another customer.

[@johnle5908]

I wonder how much they paid CNBC for this ad video.

[@andrewjohnson1486]

Yeah, Amazon has a clear dominance in the smart home devices and credits to the smart Mediatek chips well for making these devices so good.

[@nolimitsouldier09]

People who want this tech, willingly put it in their homes. If you don’t want it, don’t buy it or put it in your home

[@thedude5040]

I have some smart devices, but none of them are amazon. I have a google home, its useful in the kitchen for setting timers, asking measuring for measurment conversions or general questions. My security cameras and door bell stores data localy on hard drives I physcially own and not backed up to a cloud. My lawn sprinkerlers are hooked up to the cloud to an AI that makes decisions to how much to water and has a rain sensor that turns off/delays watering once a threshold is reached. I also have a power over ethernet wifi mesh system that uses hard wire ethernet as the back bone so an upgrade wifi 6e is somewhat redundent.

[@ninjanerdstudent6937]

“There is absolutely not a room of people that is monitoring our customers and their behaviors.” There are actually hundreds of rooms of people doing just that.

[@MRLONG758]

Nope just AI

[@Hellooo134]

I live in a townhouse and hate that my neighbors have a ring doorbell. If they want to give Amazon their data that’s their prerogative but they have a detailed record of when I’m leaving and entering my own home every day. It’s unsettling.

[@jamiefrantz5020]

I love how even something informative on a reputable news source turns into an obvious product promotion for Amazon.

[@highlatitude64.84]

11:40 yes, that’s fine. But that’s not the question. The question / fear is that Alexa will know, based on your speed and music selection on your drive home, what ‘kind’ of home settings you’ll want when you get there. That get’s creepy, really quick…

[@jaysmith1408]

If I’m drifting curves to get home while jamming to Highway to Hell, I don’t want a cup of tea, I want emergency services.

[@KKISCRAZYFUL]

As an individual, I always thought my life was simple enough that small things like my home wouldn't be worth it to track. But now, I'm starting to change my mind. With AI they can absorbs so much data so quickly...

[@houchi69]

Ya, somehow I am not feeling confident in Amazon's privacy claims from Amazon executives...

[@gilberttorres8]

I wouldn’t either, remember that there are data brokers who they probably sell data to AND is not illegal.

[@kiwin111]

3:42 it must be really cold in that room LOL

[@OnurTheXbot]

I like these videos a lot.

[@mjookie]

I’m pleased to say my house is very stupid - and staying that way. I can’t do anything about them knowing what I look at or buy but that’s where it stops.

[@tridentgum63]

My entire apartment is Google Based. I would love to see a video about Google, Nest, C by GE Lights. I also would like to see what advantages and disadvantages does the smart home technology influences law enforcement and their connection with smarts devices.

[@mitchg707]

Google has formed a partnership with ADT, which is a company I trust FAR more than Amazon. Plus, the Nest (Google) Doorbell is far superior to Ring.

[@Bremend]

Currently google, but I'll be most likely switching to HA to run device based triggers

[@pcappabianca83]

Yes. Please do a piece on Google Nest!

[@lancelewis6591]

Google and all tech companies work with the NSA, CIA and FBI. So you're being spied on in your own home.

[@TyDaSpace]

Google is no different from Amazon. They are all in the BIG DATA business - profitting off selling user data. The only one I trust of all of them is Apple. I have over 200 smart home devices consisting of Alexa and Google devices over the past 10 years and I have just moved to Apple. I trust a company more that doesn't have high stake in Big Data. Apple doesn't have ecommerce or search engines or ad sense (Service offered to ecommerce where you can do targetted advertising), although Apple product costs more but I'd rather that than my data. Those days of not worrying about companies tracking you because you have nothing to hide and acquiring your data is over. They can now use your data in so many ways to influence you in ways beyound your imagination.

[@KazenoniKakuremi]

She changed the question to avoid answering if Alexa is always listening! There's no room of people monitoring and watching our customers

[@CapsLock33]

I love my amazon smart labs at home. It just works!!!!! Im not worried about privacy, i have nothing to hide.

[@sunshineimperials1600]

You’re unbelievable ignorant, all the billionaires wish everybody was like you.

[@hfbtrbdfnjbtrjtryg]

“I’m not worried about privacy, I have nothing to hide” is such a naive statement.

[@alejandromartinez3475]

The US government reading this: "say less my dude"

[@johnbee7729]

Incould imagine that smart labs would be great for cooking meth and the like.

[@nomaticors]

It collects your data and uses it to push more on you...or someone might see when you're gone and break in.

[@jesseonamotorcycle]

Good food for thought

[@Ellerich3]

Which then requires you to go through a myriad of menus just to opt out…I find it very strange that I can sign up for subscriptions on the app yet I can’t opt out of subscription to unsubscribe or cancel out of those subscriptions I have to go to the website to complete the task(which then they mobile opens by default) which makes it time consuming and exhausting 😊

[@saibadam]

What is that bear doing😊🤣😂

[@henryijeoma]

why do we need a twerking bear?

[@onetwo12onetwo526]

I thought it DISGUSTING

[@dmo848]

Teddy oh my😂

[@dmo848]

That booty shaking bear that talks was amazing😅

[@user-me1mv4vy9q]

6:30 can’t people just use the security drone instead to do dat? Unless astro is cheaper or there’s different features?

[@BsktImp]

IoT enthusiasts reacting to...: (a) IoT' hacker in a hoodie' in his mum's cellar - "horrible creep spying on my family. Honey, call 911" (b) Global megacorp mining every last possible bit of data on absolutely every aspect of your family's life - "Hey, I can turn off my light bulbs from my iphone!"

[@sebastianreyes8025]

Normies: I have every smart device Amazon offers Amazon software engineer: owns an analog watch and uses feature phone

[@oakmonster2164]

HA - privacy and trust. Produce an *on device processing*, offline ONLY, roomba, that cannot "phone home to the data center" and we coo

[@KazimaliMawji]

This is why I never buy a smart speaker. Already Google recommends me videos on things I talked about with someone.

[@3rdworldgarage450]

Wow! How much do I not want any of these products in my house? The issue is that once the data is created, all it takes is a change in law for a government to acquire it. Worse still, all it takes is a TOS change for them to sell it to a government, which has happened with some products already. Sorry, but I will not create even more data in the cloud if I can avoid it.

[@chrisgraham2904]

Imagine if Hitler had access to this type of information concerning the Jews.

[@tazpupper7828]

Smart devices are all good and dandy except you sign your privacy away when you install them and use them in your home.

[@rudiruttger]

apparently amazon will not hesitate to turn off your home's products if it feels it has justification to punish you.

[@Jim-xz1ew]

OMG !!! What are we going to do? I know . Don't buy the smart devices.

[@dougpatterson7494]

Yes... this is unsettling. I won't be buying "smart home" devices anytime soon. I have heard of a divorced husband using smart home technology to torment his ex-wife who got the house after the divorce. Turn on the heat on a hot summer day, blast the stereo at 3:00 am, etc.

[@robertagren9360]

who has the keys to your house now?

[@SlaughterDog]

Take a shot every time you hear “Amazon says…”

[@Allan-om6qw]

Giving a robot the ability to scan your entire home just do you don't have to spend 10 mins hoovering every day is mind-boggling. Also, there's absolutely no such thing as anonymized data; especially with the sheer amount of data points Amazon and other services have on us. They can and do deanonymize this data.

[@TJMartinek]

"takes privancy very seriously"... turns over videos to police without a fight. No way am I going to trust you to not turn over a map of the inside of my house.

[@guardianoffire8814]

Sounds like you got something more to hide than the typical person. The police only need to know the layout of inside of a house if they have to flush out a dangerous criminal whose got hostages inside dwelling.

[@ST-jy7qm]

I think everything has good and bad. This might be auspicious for people with disabilities. But for regular people that might increase the speed of physical and mental deterioration.

[@trinathkonduru3831]

So they all join together and form "Skynet"..!!?

[@robertagren9360]

A.L.I.C.E doesn't like that name.

[@hellhound-si5oz]

The Amazon show I took the motor out of the one I have so it cannot follow

[@saibadam]

Most if these devices are just smart lights. So yeah i would say this industry is very young.

[@LumenCache]

Everyone. Absolutely everyone has the same experience with wireless products: "great when they work".

[@Theoryofcatsndogs]

My wife got a google smart speaker from work. We both agree never use it. Since it is still under wrap, we want to give it away to a friend, but no one wants it. I will take it as a good sign of humanity. If the speaker is from amazon, I will just burn it, just to be safe.

[@billycopeland2653]

Today is Nov 7th 2023 and irobot hit a yearly low. It's time to go full Rumba 🚀🚀🚀

[@TechReviewInsider]

I have Google Home in my house . I have the voice control disabled and NOT SMART SPEAKER 🔊 . I use my Android phone Home App for all its functions . Alexa devices are cheaper and more products yet I can't really see Amazon using my data in a good way .

[@lancelewis6591]

They're all spy devices.

[@ninjanerdstudent6937]

I do not use any smart home devices.

[@weird-guy]

I love technology but still not convinced on smart home,I already have an iPhone and Siri is dumb as brick , security cameras I can understand roomba understands but why need to know the layout of my house., but smart fridges,microwave, washer and dryer what the point if have to do the task anyway. if they create a human butler that another story.

[@randomthoughtguy5209]

well, when you buy these products, you know that you have sold your privacy in exchange, its that simple !

[@Bat_Boy]

Just to set to “crispy” to microwave your brain. 😂

[@heinousanus9352]

Amazon wanna smell my dinner c'mon over Amazon I got some smells for ya right here!

[@ksgraham3477]

Hasn't anyone seen, '2001 A Space Odyssey?' "Hal?" It was a warning about AI taking over. Heed.

[@curtisharvey2405]

People getting lazy means Amazon gets more money,info and potential control

[@yongchen4158]

Future smart home

[@rokana9641]

What was that Teddy 🧸 doing? 😂😂 Good grief!

[@jackieboyle9002]

Convenience OR Surveillance ??

[@ML-jw8kf]

My only beef with this is that Google is not catching up. I already have many google devices, and Alexa is racing ahead so fast.

[@captain7492]

Agreed! Google has all but given up. Certainly on their customers. They have so many old bugs that they will never fix. Their support is useless. For the first time I finally used my Show 5’s for more than just a clock. Last week I finally had enough of Google breaking everything they touch in home/nest. I loaded all the skills into Alexa, and was blown away with the simplicity. Yes I will keep the existing Hub Max’s and both pairs of Nest Audio’s, but I just sold 3 of my Nest Hubs, and all my Mini’s. I will not replace the rest when the stop working. I am so done with Google and their terrible integration of acquisitions. Just look at the Nest integration disaster.

[@ML-jw8kf]

@@captain7492 Whoa....Now I am regretting more. Just 3 months back as my new Home got ready, I invested a whole lot in the google ecosystem. Darn it.

[@wessydafall]

Are we just gonna not talk about the bear?

[@terrenceperkins5282]

I feel sorry 4 my kids & grand kids . No 1 man should have that much power . Jeff

[@ChiefLightsOut]

Definitely always listening and data is their business

[@Iquey]

1:08 what on earth is that bear doing????💀

[@CrimsonAlchemist]

This is how Skynet starts

[@chang-kp9sp]

Isn't it really necessary to connect to Alexa ?

[@zzslpr]

I hate how people are getting lazier nowadays. Just go get up and do it yourself you don't need alexa and robot vacuums and smart thermostats

[@iamjohnporter67]

Its inevitable but this is going to be the future.

[@nolimitsouldier09]

It’s no lazy, it’s about time management. Washing machine washes my clothes, roomba vacuums my floor and dishwasher washes my dishes. This frees me up to do my hobbies, hang out with my kids, or so I can go wash the car.

[@guardianoffire8814]

@@nolimitsouldier09 Wash your car with Alexa car washer robot.

[@movingman07]

​@@nolimitsouldier09 that's the part people don't understand. time management. truth be told people waist a lot of time doing unnecessary things.

[@Slugbunny]

Buying out or starving out the competition, yeah. Sick.

[@simarpreetsingh3533]

And this is the whole point of buying smart devices… then why is the concern of privacy??

[@carterhope348]

I had to unplug my echo to watch this video 😂

[@gdew9643]

basic simple question about privacy, what happens when you are in the shower, walking around half-dressed in the home, others embrace nudity, how is that part of PRIVACY covered?

[@NGUTheFallen]

Pro tip - don’t say smart speaker wake words in a video people with smart home devices will likely watch. You will trigger their devices.

[@Adrianlover89]

I never used this. Too expensive and everything will need to be wifi connected. I will just simply turn on my lights by hand..

[@thundurr]

Since when was Alexa expensive??

[@markmedeiros3137]

Is it that effin’ difficult to flick the light switch in a home ?!?! 😂

[@darrinfassett1848]

Being physically disabled I have a hard time walking and deal with slot of pain walking. So it is nice to be able to control my home with my voice

[@skapunkoialternativeliving6522]

I do not want this thing in my house,,

[@MysteryKmt]

Tuya Smart

[@MOBMJ]

Plz stop saying alexia my alexia keeps going off 😂😂

[@kingreef2160]

job security yeahhhh

[@harryo989]

what a waste of water

[@Whitemink32]

😂

[@bigdeal6852]

Wow ! Does it or Amazon wipe your butt when you need it also ? 🤣 Amazing how people would allow intrusiveness or giving up their freedoms to come into their home just for the sake of a little inconvenience.

[@jasonl7887]

I mean… you are using a smart phone these days right? It has a camera, it has a microphone, it knows where you are….

[@lancelewis6591]

I don't own a smart phone.. to many government spies.

[@mukkaar]

Nobody cares what these devices actually do,as in what they do, that's on customer. But what we do care about is how data is used and stored. Deleting data means nothing if data is already being used. I mean who would delete their data if they didn't have any concerns for privacy and security? Invasive device is not invasive as long as data is just encrypted inside the home and company can't snoop on it.

[@lancelewis6591]

Well Jeff Bezos and Amazon has many well known and documented contracts with the CIA and Pentagon so I say your privacy is the good hands of warmongers and spies. So Nothing to worry about here.

[@mitchellquartero]

I have five echo devices

[@rathemis2927]

Dystopia.. Can't think of another word

[@TomNook.]

Take me Daddy Bezos

[@BogdanBelcea]

Top Joke at @11:11 Of course there is not a room of people monitoring the customers and their behaviours. Amazon has AI for that.

[@Canvas73120]

"We value customer privacy...." Seriously, do you feel anybody will trust you and these companies. It's sort of like a 360 degree surveillence. Too much price to pay for convenience. And for US, they must stop Amazon if they donot want another Standard Oil.

[@mack-uv6gn]

It’s Amazon! Danger Will Robinson! Danger!

[@madk5864]

Amazon 🚀

[@pulkk3770]

Time to replace my irobot with a different brand