Taiwanese Man Jailed for Recording Wife via Robot Vacuum

A Taiwanese man has been sentenced to five months in prison for secretly recording his wife's affair using a robot vacuum cleaner, after the same footage helped him win a civil lawsuit against her. The case highlights the legal boundaries of privacy, even within a marriage. The man, whose name has not been released, married his wife in 2021. The couple occasionally stayed at a holiday home in Guishan, Taoyuan. In September 2023, the husband discovered a toothbrush at the property that did not belong to either of them. He reviewed security camera footage from the parking garage and reportedly saw an unknown man driving his wife home. In December 2023, the husband remotely accessed the robot vacuum at the holiday home through a mobile app. He intended to use its speaker function but instead activated its live camera feed, which showed his wife with another man. He then recorded footage of the pair, which captured them undressing and moving about the home. Armed with this evidence, the husband filed a civil lawsuit against his wife and her lover, seeking approximately NT$2 million in damages for the infringement of his marital rights.