Comparison
Optimus or Figure 03: which home robot is more private?
What Tesla Optimus and Figure 03 have each actually disclosed about home data, side by side, and why more disclosure does not automatically mean more privacy.
Neither publishes a home-robot privacy policy. Figure 03 has more on the public record, but more disclosure is not the same as more privacy. Both are pre-consumer humanoids built for the home, and neither Tesla nor Figure has published a privacy policy, consent flow, or data-retention statement specific to a robot in your house. Figure has more on the record: a generic corporate privacy policy (effective January 2026) that never mentions robots or the home, published Figure 03 sensor specs, and an unusually candid, stated plan to collect home data at scale to train its Helix model. Its one privacy safeguard is a verbal intent to blur personal information like Google Street View, made to a reporter, not an auditable policy. Optimus discloses even less: no policy at all, only claimed-tier app-code signals that hint at in-home data collection. So Figure tells you more, including that it wants your home data, while Optimus tells you almost nothing. Being more forthcoming is not the same as being more private, and we do not crown a winner the record cannot support.
People ask which of these two robots is safer to let into a home, and they want a winner. The honest read is that the record does not hand you one. Neither Tesla nor Figure has published a privacy policy for a robot operating in your house. Where they differ is in how much they say around that gap. Figure is the more forthcoming of the two: it published Figure 03's sensor suite, it operates a generic corporate privacy policy, and it has openly described a program to collect home data at scale to train its Helix model, softened by a verbal promise to blur personal information the way Google Street View does. Tesla says far less about Optimus: no policy, just app-code strings that hint at in-home data collection. The trap is reading Figure's candor as privacy. Disclosing that you intend to collect home data is transparency about collecting more, not a commitment to collect less. We lay out what each has actually put on the record and let you weigh it.
Figure 03 walking through a kitchen/dining area, frame from Figure's official Figure 03 reveal video (timestamp 180s).
What actually exists today
| What people ask about | Status | The reality |
|---|---|---|
| A home-robot privacy policy or consent flow | Neither | Neither publishes one. Figure has a generic corporate privacy policy (effective Jan 2026) that never mentions robots, humanoids, or the home; Tesla has published no Optimus privacy policy at all. |
| Disclosed sensor suite | Both disclose hardware | Figure published Figure 03's cameras, palm cameras, repositioned microphone, and fingertip tactile sensing (Oct 2025). Optimus's cameras and shared FSD perception stack are on the registry record. What each does with the data is undisclosed. |
| Acknowledged plan to collect home data | Figure, openly | Figure openly describes collecting home data at scale to train Helix (Project Go-Big, Sep 2025; Adcock in TIME). For Optimus it is only claimed-tier app-code strings hinting at in-home collection. Figure is more forthcoming that it wants home data. |
| A stated privacy safeguard | Figure, verbal only | Figure told a reporter it intends to detect, blur, and replace personal information like Google Street View. That is a press statement, not an auditable policy. Tesla has stated no Optimus safeguard. |
| A remote human in the loop (teleoperation) | Neither discloses home teleop | Figure markets full onboard autonomy via Helix and discloses no teleoperation; its VR pilots collect demonstration data, they are not remote drivers, and full home autonomy is admittedly unfinished. Optimus discloses no home teleoperation either (its 2024 We, Robot demo was human-assisted, an event, not a home model). |
| A way to delete your data or opt out | Neither | Neither Tesla nor Figure publishes a home-robot deletion or opt-out mechanism. General consumer-privacy law may apply, but no product-specific control is on either record. |
How to read the comparison
The instinct is to reward whoever says more. That instinct can mislead you here, so hold each piece at its true weight.
It says more, on the record
Figure published Figure 03's sensors, runs a corporate privacy policy, and openly describes a home-data-collection program. On sheer disclosure, Figure is ahead of Tesla.
Candor about collecting is not privacy
Figure's most candid statement is that it intends to gather home data at scale to train Helix. Telling you it wants more of your data is transparency about collection, not a promise to collect less.
Discloses less either way
Tesla has published no Optimus privacy policy, only claimed-tier app-code strings that hint at in-home collection. Less is said, so less can be verified, in either direction.
No verifiable winner
Neither has a home-robot privacy policy, so no honest ranking crowns one as more private. When either publishes a real policy, this page gets a dated update and, if warranted, a verdict.
What would change this
We track both robots so you do not have to. Any one of these moves the comparison, and each becomes a dated line on this page the week it happens:
- Tesla or Figure publishes a home-robot privacy policy, consent flow, or data-retention statement.
- Figure turns its verbal blur-and-replace intent into an auditable, documented commitment.
- Either maker ships a home unit with described capture, deletion, or opt-out controls.
- Privacy scrutiny of both makers tends to sharpen after real incidents. Right now the verified record holds zero safety incidents across the Tesla Optimus and Figure 03, and every new one is logged the week it lands.
How we know this
Every Figure fact here is a dated, checkable source, and every absence is stated plainly. Company announcements are labeled claimed; a published policy document and the registry records are verified. We do not present Figure's autonomy marketing as a teleoperation disclosure, and we invent no policy for either maker.
If either maker publishes a home-robot privacy policy, or if you can show us we got something wrong, our corrections process logs the response on the record.
Common questions
Is a Tesla Optimus or a Figure 03 more private?
Does Figure 03 collect data from your home?
Is the Figure 03 teleoperated the way the 1X NEO is?
Does Tesla say more about Optimus privacy than Figure does about Figure 03?
Keep reading
Track this
Find out the instant either maker publishes a policy.
Watch this question and we will tell you the moment Tesla or Figure publishes a home-robot privacy policy, a consent flow, or a real data safeguard. We update the comparison the week it changes. No robot required.
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