When you buy* an electronic device: a phone, laptop, rice-cooker, Christmas lights, TV, anything the first thing you should do is find out:
1. Does this have an operating system? (Are there other options?)
2. What applications does it have? (Are there other options?)
3. What options can I adjust in the system settings? Are there hidden settings?
4. Does it use the internet? Why? Does it need to? Does this make me happy?
*ideally some of this should be research before you buy
5. Does it contain a microphone? How difficult is it to break or remove said microphone?
@Catfish_Man @futurebird heh, thank you, because these are helpful questions in a work context for us
@angelastella @Catfish_Man @futurebird oh trust us, we remember the roomba every single day
it's a valuable object lesson to us in how privacy intrusions quickly stop being newsworthy, but continue to quietly keep happening, and most people just assume that if it's not in the news it's fine