iRobot has finished a court supervised sale process that ends its earlier plan to be bought by Amazon. The company is now owned by Picea, a robotic vacuum manufacturer and service provider based in China and Vietnam. As part of this change, iRobot is going private, cutting debt, and bringing in new leadership. While most of the announcement is about the business side, the company also repeated its position on data safety and privacy for people who use Roomba and other products. That part matters for anyone who has smart devices moving around their home and collecting any kind of information.
In the release, iRobot said it is committed to keeping customer data secure and to handling it in line with strong privacy standards. They are creating a second subsidiary, iRobot Safe Corporation, to protect U.S. customer data. The company stated that its products, including connected robot vacuums, are built and managed with data protection in mind. The company made a point of saying that the change in ownership does not negate it’s commitment to data privacy or security.
The press release also mentioned that iRobot plans to keep investing in research and product development after the transaction with Picea. The company will continue to be US-based and operating out of Bedford, Massachusetts.
For people who already own an iRobot product, the company stated that their devices will keep working as they do now, and that existing privacy settings will stay in place. The move to private ownership and the new capital structure are described as financial and corporate changes, not changes to how the robots handle home maps, usage data, or account details. iRobot also said that customer support, including help with privacy questions and data requests, will continue to be available through its usual channels.
View the original press release.
