However, the Chinese home robotics company claims its users are not being spied on and are "willingly participating" in a product improvement programme. Mainly because they did not read the terms and conditions properly.

When users opt into this programme through the Ecovacs smartphone app, they are not told what data will be collected, only that it will "help us strengthen the improvement of product functions and attached quality". Users are instructed to click "above" to read the specifics. However, there is no link available on that page.

Ecovacs's privacy policy — available elsewhere in the app — allows for blanket collection of user data for research purposes, including:

- The 2D or 3D map of the user's house generated by the device

- Voice recordings from the device's microphone

— Photos or videos recorded by the device's camera

"It also states that voice recordings, videos and photos that are deleted via the app may continue to be held and used by Ecovacs."