EVERYONE’S favourite robot cleaner is about to get a lot less endearing.

The maker of the popular Roomba robot — the disc-shaped vacuum cleaner that drives around your house — is keen to start selling the data it collects about your house to big tech companies like Google and Apple.

With the rise of connected devices and smart homes, Roomba manufacturer iRobot thinks it can capitalise on the growing market by selling mapping data which currently helps guide the top-end, wifi-enabled Roomba models.

Speaking to Reuters, iRobot chief executive Colin Angle said his company could reach a deal to sell its mapping data to big tech firms in the next couple of years.

“There’s an entire ecosystem of things and services that the smart home can deliver once you have a rich map of the home that the user has allowed to be shared,” he said.

Companies like Amazon, Apple and Google might have plenty of interest in getting a closer look inside people’s homes.

There are plenty of internet-enabled vacuum robots on the market these days. 

The mapping data could be used to improve the performance and efficiency of various smart home products.

For instance a stereo system or smart speaker could cater to the acoustics of the room, smart lighting could adjust according to the position of windows and time of day and air conditioners could potentially schedule airflow more effectively.

Big time retailers like Amazon could also use the data gleaned from the self-navigating robot to prompt or recommend customers to buy certain home goods.

However privacy concerns were quick to be raised following Mr Angle’s comments. And some customers aren’t impressed with the idea of selling the mapping data to the tech leaders of the world.