A robot vacuum unexpectedly became the key piece of evidence in a Taiwanese man’s divorce battle, helping him prove that his wife was having an affair. The man secretly recorded footage from the device’s camera and used it in court to support his claim against his wife and her alleged partner. The court ultimately awarded him 500,000 Taiwanese dollars (around Rs 17 lakh or $19,000) for emotional distress. But the victory came with a major setback. His wife filed a case against him, arguing that he illegally recorded her in a private setting without her consent. The court agreed with her, sentencing the man to five months in prison and ordering him to pay a 150,000 Taiwanese dollar (around Rs 5 lakh) fine.
How a robot vacuum exposed the alleged affair
The Taiwanese couple married in 2021 and occasionally stayed at a holiday home. According to reports, the man’s suspicions began during a 2023 vacation, when he noticed a used toothbrush in the bathroom. He later checked parking garage CCTV footage and saw another man who had previously driven his wife home.About three months later, the husband tried to contact his wife remotely through a robot vacuum’s app. Instead, he saw live footage from the vacuum’s camera. According to the case details, the footage showed his wife changing clothes, getting into bed with the same man and moving around the house while undressed.The husband recorded the footage and later presented it as evidence in his legal case.Extramarital affairs are not treated as a criminal offence in Taiwan. However, a spouse can seek compensation if an affair is found to have violated their marital rights. The husband initially sought 2 million Taiwanese dollars, or about $63,000, from his wife and the other man.The court eventually awarded him 500,000 Taiwanese dollars, roughly $19,000, after accepting the footage as evidence that the relationship went beyond a casual friendship. But the legal fight did not end there.
Wife sues husband over secret robot vacuum recording
The wife then sued her husband over the way he obtained the evidence. She argued that she had not consented to being recorded and that the robot vacuum’s sensors and indicator lights were not enough to tell her that its camera was filming her.The husband argued that because the court had accepted the footage in the earlier case, it should not be treated as illegal material. The court rejected that argument.According to the case details, the court found that using the footage as evidence did not make the original recording lawful. The man’s actions were found to have violated his wife’s privacy.Husband gets 5 months of jailThe man was sentenced to five months in prison and fined 150,000 Taiwanese dollars, around $4,700. The unusual case means that while the husband won compensation over the alleged affair, he later faced a criminal punishment for secretly recording his wife.