The big eyes of Astro, the new Amazon robot, look at everything… too much. At least, that is what a series of documents obtained and published by Vice, where it is ensured that behind its innocent appearance there is software designed to collect information on user behavior.
Those who have worked in the development of Astro say this, since they assure that the recognition system it uses is one more threat to the privacy of people and the home.
How much does Astro cost? The Amazon robot sells for $ 999, although after the launch promotion it will increase to $ 1,500. Once it is turned on, it asks that the face and voice of all those who make up the household be registered. It is precisely there that the leaked documents indicate that there are privacy problems.
In the documents, where Astro is identified by its development name, Vesta, it is explained that the robot has a “Sentinel” mode that allows it to be alert in case it identifies strange people or warns voices other than those of the members of the home.
In this sense, the developers who worked on Astro say in the document that the detection of people is “unreliable” and that selling it as a security device is “laughable”.
The same developers, who also assure that the price is “absurd”, say that the periscope camera breaks easily and that Astro cannot be controlled when that happens. They even claim that it is “potentially dangerous.”
Another worrying point is the collection of data on the activity of its owners and their behaviors.
Amazon, for its part, denies that there is a privacy problem and that the huge amount of data is used only to learn how to interact efficiently with its owners.
“The visual identities of household members are stored securely on the device locally, and both Astro and Echo Show use local processing to recognize those registered customers,” he says. Amazon on his blog.
Astro can do many things for its owners. For example, the user can put the robot in an “away” configuration, to indicate that it is not at home and needs the robot to patrol periodically.
The user can then go live and see what the robot sees on another device, such as their phone, while they are not at home.
Users can also initiate two-way video calls through a companion app and the robot.
The Astro robot can be integrated with Amazon’s Ring security system.