What if the same vacuum that cleans your floors, hallways, and bedrooms was quietly collecting data that could end up in the hands of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)? That’s the concern surrounding iRobot, the maker of Roomba vacuums, which recently filed for bankruptcy.
What’s happening: A proposed acquisition of iRobot could give a CCP-linked supplier control of the company, potentially exposing private data from American households and putting U.S. national security at risk.Â
That raises serious red flags. These smart home devices don’t just clean floors — many collect mapping and usage data inside your home. If a foreign adversary can exploit a bankruptcy process to access that information, it’s a risk we can’t ignore.
That’s why I led a bipartisan letter urging Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to immediately launch a review to determine whether this deal should be blocked to protect U.S. national security.Â
Why it matters: For Iowa families, this comes down to privacy and security. China has a long history of targeting American agriculture, technology, and innovation. We can’t allow backdoor takeovers that put our homes, data, and economy at risk.Â
Bottom Line: Iowa families deserve to feel safe in their homes. I’ll keep fighting to ensure foreign adversaries can’t exploit our system at your expense.Â