Your Robot Might Be Inadvertently or Deliberately Spying on You: A Critical Analysis of Privacy Practices in the Robotics Industry

Farida Eleshin, Patrick Iradukunda, David Ruberamitwe, Eric Ishimwe

2024

Abstract

In 2022, there were approximately 4.8 million operational robots, with 3.6 million of them serving industrial purposes and another 1.2 million dedicated to various service applications (Statistics, 2022). Robots, irrespective of their intended function, act as a kind of ‘third eye’ in the realm of activities. As we witness the growing capabilities of robotics, concerns about privacy implications in these domains are becoming increasingly common (Ryan, 2020). One notable aspect of these concerns is the profound impact of robots on surveillance. Their ability to directly observe and record information magnifies their potential for data collection. This paper delves into the externalities stemming from the use of data gathered by robots. It also investigates the themes of consent and choice in the context of data acquisition by robotics. Moreover, we explore privacy policies, protocols, and regulations applicable to robots and how robot companies comply with them. Surprisingly, our research unveiled the fact that not all companies seek explicit consent from their users to collect their personal information. This raises the unsettling possibility that your robot might be inadvertently or deliberately spying on you. In some cases, companies even go as far as selling user data to third parties, including data brokers.

Paper Citation

in Harvard Style

Eleshin F., Iradukunda P., Ruberamitwe D. and Ishimwe E. (2024). Your Robot Might Be Inadvertently or Deliberately Spying on You: A Critical Analysis of Privacy Practices in the Robotics Industry. In Proceedings of the 10th International Conference on Information Systems Security and Privacy - Volume 1: ICISSP; ISBN 978-989-758-683-5, SciTePress, pages 219-225. DOI: 10.5220/0012422200003648

in Bibtex Style

@conference{icissp24,
author={Farida Eleshin and Patrick Iradukunda and David Ruberamitwe and Eric Ishimwe},
title={Your Robot Might Be Inadvertently or Deliberately Spying on You: A Critical Analysis of Privacy Practices in the Robotics Industry},
booktitle={Proceedings of the 10th International Conference on Information Systems Security and Privacy - Volume 1: ICISSP},
year={2024},
pages={219-225},
publisher={SciTePress},
organization={INSTICC},
doi={10.5220/0012422200003648},
isbn={978-989-758-683-5},
}

in EndNote Style

TY - CONF

JO - Proceedings of the 10th International Conference on Information Systems Security and Privacy - Volume 1: ICISSP
TI - Your Robot Might Be Inadvertently or Deliberately Spying on You: A Critical Analysis of Privacy Practices in the Robotics Industry
SN - 978-989-758-683-5
AU - Eleshin F.
AU - Iradukunda P.
AU - Ruberamitwe D.
AU - Ishimwe E.
PY - 2024
SP - 219
EP - 225
DO - 10.5220/0012422200003648
PB - SciTePress