Scam: Online Cleaning App Was Recording Your Home; Uproar Ensues After Revelation..
Pronto, a Bengaluru-based home help service startup, has now found itself embroiled in a privacy controversy. The company stands accused of recording videos inside customers' homes while performing cleaning services. According to reports, these videos were being utilized to train physical AI and robotics systems. As soon as the matter came to light, a heated debate erupted on social media, with people expressing grave concerns regarding the sanctity of home privacy. The company acknowledged that it was indeed conducting such a pilot project on a limited scale, but asserted that explicit customer consent was a mandatory prerequisite for doing so.
**Matter Revealed Through Investor Reports**
The issue surfaced when Entrackr—a platform that tracks the internet economy—published a report based on investor documentation. The report alleged that Pronto was gathering "real-world data" through its domestic workers to train physical AI and robotics models. Citing an internal memo from Gladbrook Capital—one of the company's investors—the report stated that, alongside organizing India's informal labor market, Pronto was simultaneously generating the data essential for AI training. The report further noted that the company was already running pilot projects in collaboration with several physical AI labs and was actively moving towards rapidly commercializing this strategy.
**Pronto's Clarification**
As the controversy intensified, Pronto admitted that it was conducting a limited pilot initiative related to AI data collection. The company maintains that the recording process was entirely contingent upon the customer's explicit permission and that this feature was not enabled by default for any user. According to Pronto, the service professionals carried a small camera designed to record only in the direction of the work being performed. The company also claimed that the recorded footage was subsequently shared with the respective customers. Pronto explained that training physical AI systems requires data on human activities performed in real-world environments—such as washing dishes, folding laundry, and general cleaning. The company asserts that this data will serve as a foundational base for future AI machines and robots.
Why Public Outrage Surged
Following the emergence of this news, people took to social media to express their outrage in full force. Many argued that one's home is the most private of spaces, and conducting recordings there constitutes a breach of trust. Typically, apps gather user data through clicks and online activity; however, in this instance, reports surfaced of video recordings being conducted directly inside people's homes. This is precisely why public anxiety has escalated significantly. Nevertheless, Pronto has explicitly stated that this pilot project was extremely limited in scope and that there are no plans to extend it to a wider customer base in the future. Meanwhile, Ayush Agarwal, the founder of Snapbit, also issued a statement on social media asserting that his company has never recorded inside customers' homes, nor does it have any intention of doing so in the future.
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