The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has asked home services platforms whether they are selling or sending footage recorded inside Indian homes to physical AI developers outside India. The Economic Times reported that MeitY Secretary S. Krishnan chaired a meeting on November 12 with representatives of Pronto, Urban Company, Snabbit and robotics companies.

“Pronto has been asked to submit a detailed representation on its SOPs and data collection practices,” a person aware of the meeting told The Economic Times.

Pronto’s workers wear cameras while doing household chores, and the company uses the footage to train AI models for robots. In October, Pronto’s founder and CEO Anjali Sardana launched Provision Labs, a San Francisco-based company that collects data to train physical AI systems. On November 8, Pronto declined to answer Inc42’s questions about whether and how the two companies work together.

Some executives at the meeting criticised collecting data in India and selling it to overseas AI developers, saying it “did not put the country in a favourable light.” The executives asked MeitY to regulate the sale of such data to overseas AI developers. Robotics startups argued that India should build its own physical AI capabilities instead of only supplying data to foreign companies.

What else did MeitY ask?

  • Contracts and retention: What data-sharing contracts companies have with vendors and clients, and how long they keep the data before deleting it.
  • Data collection and use: How much data companies collect, whether they link recordings to workers’ identities, and what they use the footage for.
  • Consent: How companies obtain workers’ consent and protect the privacy of household members and customers appearing in recordings.
  • Worker pay: How companies inform workers about the recording and how much they pay them for it.

After the meeting, Pronto said it “shared its current practices, which are designed to be compliant with applicable regulations.”

Where could Pronto’s footage go?

Pronto’s links to US physical AI companies have grown since it started recording:

  • May 2026: An internal memo from Pronto investor Glade Brook Capital, which Entrackr first reported, said Pronto was “developing a data business leveraging its workforce to capture real-world household data for robotics labs.” The memo also described Pronto as “piloting real-world training data with leading physical AI labs.” Pronto confirmed the pilot, said “all footage is deleted within 48 hours,” and said it doesn’t share data with third-party AI labs. MeitY took note of the issue that month.
  • May 2026: Pronto’s privacy policy, last updated in November 2024, allowed it to use data “indefinitely” for research. The policy didn’t mention video recording or AI training.
  • July 2026: Pronto turned the pilot into Verified, a paid, opt-in premium service.
  • October 2026: Sardana launched Provision Labs. Days later, Provision Labs said it is acquiring Mumbai-based Basilisk Industries, which builds hand-tracking and touch-sensing technology for robots. Lachy Groom, co-founder of US-based AI startup Physical Intelligence, has invested in both Pronto and Provision Labs.
  • November 8, 2026: Pronto said it deletes raw footage immediately after the work is done. Customers can view an anonymised recording for 48 hours, and “after that, anonymised footage is used for AI training,” it said. Pronto didn’t say who trains on that footage, or where.

Pronto’s account has shifted. In May, it said it deleted all footage within 48 hours. In November, it said it keeps anonymised footage for AI training. Meanwhile, its founder has set up a US company in the same business.

What about Urban Company and Snabbit? Both have decided not to record inside homes, according to The Economic Times. They also said so in May:

  • Urban Company: “We do not engage in any such activities, have never done so in the past, and have no plans to do so in the future,” founder Abhiraj Singh Bhal said.
  • Snabbit: It ran a one-time assessment in a training centre and didn’t go ahead. It signed a mutual non-disclosure agreement with robotics data startup Human Archive, but said the agreement “did not create or imply any form of commercial or operational relationship.”

Why it matters: The Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act lets companies send personal data abroad unless the government restricts a country, and it hasn’t restricted any so far. The DPDP Rules let the government set further conditions on such transfers, but these obligations take effect only in May 2027. Until then, no Indian law specifically stops companies from sending footage of Indian homes, workers and children to AI developers abroad.

Truly anonymised data falls outside the DPDP Act. But blurring faces doesn’t necessarily make footage of a person’s home anonymous.

“A monitoring service in the home and the onward sale of footage to third-party AI labs are two distinct purposes,” Apar Gupta of the Internet Freedom Foundation told MediaNama in May.

Each purpose needs its own consent, Gupta said. Once footage leaves Pronto, or India, it becomes harder to tell who is responsible for it and who holds the consent, and Indian regulators have little say over how others use it.

What we asked:

MediaNama has sent questions to Pronto, Urban Company and Snabbit.

Pronto

  1. What is the relationship between Pronto and Provision Labs? Are they separate legal entities?
  2. Who owns the footage recorded through Verified? Has Pronto transferred, licensed or shared this footage or rights to it with Provision Labs, Basilisk Industries or any other company?
  3. In May, Pronto said it would delete footage within 48 hours and wouldn’t share it with third-party AI labs. Does this reflect Pronto’s current practice? If so, where does the company store the footage?
  4. Does Pronto send any footage, or data derived from it, to developers or servers outside India?
  5. How much does Pronto pay workers for recording, and how does it get consent from workers and household members, including children, who appear in the footage?
  6. What has Pronto submitted to MeitY?

Urban Company

  1. Can you confirm that Urban Company does not record, and has no plans to record, inside customers’ homes for AI training?
  2. Does it collect any other data from workers or customers for AI training, itself or through partners?
  3. What did MeitY ask Urban Company, and has it asked for any information?
  4. What is Urban Company’s position on regulating the sale of such data to overseas AI developers?

Snabbit

  1. Can you confirm that Snabbit neither records nor plans to record footage inside customers’ homes for AI training?
  2. What is the scope of its agreement with Human Archive, and does it involve any data from Snabbit’s workers or customers?
  3. Does it collect any other data from workers or customers for AI training, itself or through partners?
  4. What did MeitY ask Snabbit, and has it asked for any information?
  5. What is Snabbit’s position on regulating the sale of such data to overseas AI developers?

We will update this story when they respond.

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