Amazon Astro home robot slammed as a "privacy nightmare"

The launch of Amazon's Astro home robot was marred by critics labelling it a "privacy nightmare" due to its potential for invasive surveillance.

Critics argued that the robot's design and capabilities raised serious concerns about user privacy, especially as the bot is equipped with cameras and microphones that could be exploited for unauthorised data collection. 

Internal development documents and video recordings subsequently leaked to VICE suggested the robot perform edpoorly and its person recognition capability was 'heavily flawed'. 

The documents also revealed that Astro designers worried that the product is "absurdist nonsense", "potentially dangerous", a "disaster that's not ready for release" and that it may "throw itself down stairs" "if presented the opportunity."

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• https://www.vice.com/en/article/akgbbe/amazon-unveils-astro-a-privacy-nightmare-robot-that-follows-you-around

• https://www.vice.com/en/article/93ypp8/leaked-documents-amazon-astro-surveillance-robot-tracking

• https://www.theverge.com/tldr/22699251/amazon-astro-robot-cannot-fetch-your-beer

• https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/amazon-astro-robot-leak-motherboard-stairs-b1929061.html

• https://interestingengineering.com/amazons-new-home-robot-astro-just-launched-and-it-could-be-a-nightmare