Today I submitted my first ticket to Yarbo about a problem. They fairly quickly got back to me, which is great. But in their email I was very surprised when they wrote that they are “remotely diagnosing the problem” with my robot.
I didn’t realize they could do that.
This seems a little creepy to me. It leaves me wondering: What information are they collecting from the robot? What control capabilities do they have remotely? E.g., Are camera feeds activated and do they have access to that? Etc.
I like their robot, it has been great (up until this most recent problem happened). But I can’t say I know the company well enough to just blindly trust them. I don’t know which national laws they are subject to. I think we all know by now there are numerous cases of companies abusing and misusing information.
What is Yarbo able to control remotely?
What kind of information is Yarbo extracting from the robot?
From my (limited) troubleshooting experience: when I was first asked to power on my Yarbo for “remote diagnostics,” I was freaked out too. Tech Support told me they cannot remotely control/drive the robot like we do in the app, and they do not have live camera access (I asked on the phone). They said they can only see status/logs (network/cellular/RTK/Data Center, HaLow, sensors, module status, etc.).
That said… they obviously have backend access to logs, and we don’t fully know the scope unless Yarbo confirms it officially. If anyone gets an official Yarbo statement (privacy policy / what data they can access), please share it here.
One more practical note: if you’re troubleshooting with support, you may need to keep the unit powered on + connected overnight, since their working hours can be ~12 hours offset from the U.S. I usually power mine off in sub-zero temps, so coordinating troubleshooting can be inconvenient.
You are bang on for time coordination. I had powered mine down not realizing they needed remote access.
My issue was stuck drive motor.
I know they have software and firmware access obviously. They did what I am guessing is was a firmware patch as they solved the issue. I am also fairly sure they do have drive capability as its location moved. At least I think it did. Was a confusing time around my house so I am not positive.
I think we are fooling ourselves if we believe they dont have the capability of accessing the cameras. I’m not saying they use it or that it’s really an issue if they do but it’s all theirs. I’m sure they can do whatever they wish.
Like you, I have no evidence of Yarbo having access to or actually accessing or sharing any information. But in these times, sadly I think we need to assume the worst, and my default position is that companies do have access and do share information and do have remote control capabilities until and unless they prove to me that they do not. I wish it were not so, but we’ve seen there’s too much political pressure from all governments and too much tempting revenue from data brokers for nearly all companies to resist sharing what is morally our data.
Realistically though. Our payment method etc from purchase is far more valuable to others than anything they can get from the core including video in my opinion. And we gave that to them freely.
Not a big issue for me. Just act accordingly. Your cell phone is far more of a concern to me with all the data it potentially hangs onto or sends to others and we all carry them.