Re:How did Roomba-recorded photos end up on Facebook?
by wafflemaker on Tuesday December 20, 2022 @03:32AM
(#34063179)
Not sure about iPhone, but on Android, the permission to let apps pair things in surroundings using BT/WiFi is included in the location permission.
You can't pair anything with an app unless you turn the location on.
Main feature of the Roomba app is to pair a vacuuming robot using phone's wifi and a special wifi network between phone and vacuum.
So while it's not a perfect solution to block you from going further, you can't really be that paranoid about them asking for that access. And ofc, I'm sure your location flew to the iRobot servers along with your other details that could've been scraped from starting the app on your phone.
Re:How did Roomba-recorded photos end up on Facebook?
by npteljes on Tuesday December 20, 2022 @03:48AM
(#34063309)
You can pair Bluetooth with location off, but not Bluetooth Low Energy devices. But it's even more complex in reality, depending on the Android version, see here:
You can't pair anything with an app unless you turn the location on. Main feature of the Roomba app is to pair a vacuuming robot using phone's wifi and a special wifi network between phone and vacuum.
So while it's not a perfect solution to block you from going further, you can't really be that paranoid about them asking for that access. And ofc, I'm sure your location flew to the iRobot servers along with your other details that could've been scraped from starting the app on your phone.
edit: added paragraphs for readability.