With the launch of the Astro robot, similar cries of privacy violations have once again emerged. But are these concerns justified?
To be fair, the company has always put in a lot of work in that regard. Some of its cameras come with shutters. And microphones on the company’s smart home gadgets can be turned off. Cloud data culled from your home can be deleted.
The most apparent privacy loophole of the Astro robot is in one of its greatest strengths—mobility. It’s one thing to have a camera staring at a fixed field of view, but it’s a different ballgame to have one that moves around your home. There is going to be a lot of video footage it picks up that you don’t want sitting around in the cloud.
Barely hours after its launch, a leaked internal document reviewed by Vice’s Motherboard showed that the Astro robot was designed to send loads of consumer data to the cloud. Although this data may not necessarily be video footage or audio recording from an Astro unit, it would nonetheless be personal data.
There’s no assurance that the company wouldn’t unethically use the data to target consumers for sales or for other obscure purposes.
Just how secure is the Astro robot? Is its security tight enough to ensure that your private footage remain private?
In a December 2019 incident reported by the Wall Street Journal, a hacker gained access to a Ring camera and used it to shout obscene words to an 8-year-old in her room. The hacker wasn’t just able to speak to the girl; he could see and hear her. Worst off, the hacker could have been watching for days. He even had the option to keep watching as long as the camera was there.
While the incident has since fizzled away from the headlines, the hacking threat remains. There’s a likelihood of a similar incident occurring with the remotely-driven Astro robot. It’s chilling to imagine a hacker taking control of a robot that can access every part of your home.
Additionally, the app that controls the robot must be paired with it to access the live stream. There’ll also be a way to show which mobile device is currently in control of the robot.
Another interesting countermeasure to keep snoopers at bay is an indicator light on the Astro’s periscope camera. The indicator light will turn green to indicate that there’s streaming in progress. If a hacker breaks into your Astro, you should be able to see if there’s currently a live stream.
At the press of a button, you can turn off Astro’s cameras and microphones, effectively preventing it from capturing audio and video footage. You can do this whenever you want to engage in activities you wouldn’t want the Astro to record.
Before you start worrying about what could go wrong if hackers break into your Astro unit, can the Astro robot even be hacked? How easy would it be to pull off such a hack?
Since the Astro Robot is still new, it’s a bit too early to establish exactly how hackable it is. However, there’s no such thing as a foolproof security measure. Poke any smart home gadget long enough, and you’ll find security holes.
Even with the raft of security measures deployed on the Astro, the robot is not without vulnerabilities. Smart home gadgets are typically awash with security holes. From exposed ports to poor software update processes, there are generally tiny holes for hackers to remotely access this kind of device.
A Tradeoff Between Privacy and Convenience
While some call the Astro Alexa on wheels, critics call it a privacy nightmare waiting to happen. However, no matter of what you think about the Astro, it remains a fantastic gadget that could come in quite handy.
Need a digital guard dog? Need a futuristic gadget that moves around your home, can carry a pizza or two, winks, and can help with home automation? Get an Astro. It’s really up to consumers to make the tradeoff between privacy concerns and convenience.
Whether the privacy concerns will morph into potent threats, or they’ll remain the ramblings of critics, only time will tell.
