Is Pronto Recording Your Home? AI Pilot Triggers Privacy Concerns

Pronto, a Bengaluru-based start-up, which provides services for domestic help in 10 minutes, has come under scrutiny for reportedly recording video inside customers’ homes while the professional is cleaning, reported Mint.

Entracker, an independent platform that monitors the emerging internet economy, published a report which cited investor documents that indicated the on-demand household services startup was recording videos to train AI-enabled robotics.

The report has thrown customers into a frenzy over privacy concerns, with Pronto reportedly admitting to running a pilot on tracking data to train artificial intelligence (AI) models.

Household Data Captured

The Entracker report cited an internal memo by one of Pronto’s investors, Glade Brook Capital. It reportedly said, “Pronto is seeking to formalise India’s vast informal labour markets and in the process generate data to help train physical AI and robotics.”

Citing the memo, Mint reported that the company is already “piloting real world training data with leading physical AI labs.”

The report cited another investor note, which said Pronto is “developing a data business leveraging its workforce to capture real-world household data for robotics labs”. It added that early partnership interest has been “encouraging” and that the company is “moving quickly to commercialise the strategy”.

Customers Could Voluntarily Choose

Pronto further told Mint that it has been running a limited pilot around AI-related data initiatives but asserted that customers could voluntarily choose to have jobs recorded.

Reports say that the professional carries “a small camera that faces outward at the work,” and customers receive the footage afterwards.

Pronto reportedly underlined that it needed to capture “a first-person video of people doing real tasks, such as washing dishes and folding laundry in real world environments” to train physical AI systems.

Physical AI refers to artificial intelligence systems that operate in and interact with the physical world rather than existing only in software or digital environments.

Pronto added that capturing real-life behavioural data—in the form of work performed by its professionals—forms the foundational layer of physical AI.

Growing Privacy Concerns

According to a March 2026 study published in the journal ‘Person-Oriented Research’, we now live in a world of “digital surveillance economy”, where a massive volume of personal information is acquired and exploited, not just by government agencies for security purposes but also by corporations with the aim of manipulating consumer behaviour, through targeted advertising, to maximise revenue.

Experts globally have long warned about the risks associated with collecting real-world behavioural data inside private spaces, that can create significant surveillance and consent risks, especially when used to train AI systems. Similar debates have emerged around smart devices and workplace monitoring, with regulators stressing transparency, informed consent and strict safeguards for sensitive household data.