Smart Toys Spying on Children

Smart toys are becoming more common, and an increase in concerns about them spying on children has coincided with that, according to a new report from the U.S. PIRG Education Fund.

In its Trouble in Toyland" report released Thursday, the organization explained that smart toys "can incorporate various technologies, like cameras, microphones and sensors, as well as artificial intelligence capabilities and connectivity through the internet or Bluetooth." It specifically flagged some risks that it said parents and their children could see arise. more
How We Got This Way - The effect of kids being influenced by their spy toys.

Controversial Tool That Lets Kids Spy on Their Parents

A new tool that may give one or two parents -- and many, many kids -- pause for thought.

It's called Parent Track and it's the mindchild of environmentally caring soap brand Gelo.

The idea is that kids can install the Parent Track ad tracker onto their parents' devices. This will, well, guilt them into not buying environmentally questionable products and drive them to eco-positive awareness tools...

Not everyone will be positively moved by the message Gelo sends when a parent's device is signed up. 

It reads: "You just signed up this device, allowing us to follow your parents around the internet, reminding them to quit single-use plastics for good. By doing so, you set them on a more sustainable path and may very well have saved the planet. Our thanks just don't feel like enough."

Perhaps more parents buying Gelo products -- so that Gelo would make more money -- would feel like enough. more

Espionage Alert: Children's Smartwatch is a Trojan Horse

A popular smartwatch designed exclusively for children contains an undocumented backdoor that makes it possible for someone to remotely capture camera snapshots, wiretap voice calls, and track locations in real time, a researcher said.

The X4 smartwatch is marketed by Xplora, a Norway-based seller of children’s watches...

The backdoor is activated by sending an encrypted text message. Harrison Sand, a researcher at Norwegian security company Mnemonic, said that commands exist for surreptitiously reporting the watch’s real-time location, taking a snapshot and sending it to an Xplora server, and making a phone call that transmits all sounds within earshot. 

Sand also found that 19 of the apps that come pre-installed on the watch are developed by Qihoo 360, a security company and app maker located in China. more  (q.v. our 2017 post  & etc.)