Amazon unveiled its “domestic robot” Astro, which follows you while making a video call, as well as acting as a security camera on wheels when you are away from home. But the company’s internal documents reveal that Amazon’s facial recognition and behavior learning Astro work badly, in addition to being a privacy risk. And two Amazon employees warn that “he will commit suicide by jumping down the stairs”.
Amazon Astro is a privacy risk (and it works poorly)
The Amazon robot has just seen the light, presented by the company as a revolution in the home. But Vice has already collected some sources inside the company and exclusive documents that reveal how the robot is not ready for the market. And it is an extreme risk for the privacy of those who buy it.
According to the documents (which refer to the robot with the code name “Vesta“) Uses the Facial recognition to recognize who is in front of him. This makes it possible to distinguish between homeowners and potential intruders. Also, it uses the behavior recognition to understand when you are doing something out of the ordinary, to stay alert. This way you can check for any suspicious activity.
This in itself presents a privacy problem, so much so that it convinces many users not to use this type of device at home. But according to those who worked on it, the robot it does not perform these two mechanisms perfectly. In fact, it happens that he does not recognize a family member and activates the alarm, or that he sends you notifications on the smartphone because the dog is sleeping in a different room than usual.
One employee commented: “Astro is terrible and yes will certainly throw from the stairs if the opportunity presents itself. Recognition of people is unreliable when it is right, making the possibility of using it for home security laughable ”. Another comments: “In my opinion, it is a disaster that is not ready to be released. They break and will certainly throw themselves down the stairs in your home. Furthermore, it is also (to me) a privacy nightmare and demonstrates how our company trades privacy for convenience with devices like Vesta ”.
Before judging, you have to try, but these statements do not bode well, especially for a device that costs 999 euros within the launch program and 1499 euros when fully operational. But we are sure that yes they will know the details of this robot better domestic in the coming months. If you want to read the statements of the Amazon employees in their entirety, here is the Vice article.