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posted by CoolHand on Friday December 09 2016, @11:29AM   Printer-friendly
from the creepy-big-brother dept.

The "My Friend Cayla" doll uses voice recognition to hear what a child says and connects to the internet to find suitable responses. The potential for surveillance worries EPIC enough for them to file a formal complaint to the US Federal Trade commission.

The makers of the i-Que and Cayla smart toys have been accused of subjecting children to "ongoing surveillance" and posing an "imminent and immediate threat" to their safety and security.

The accusations come via a formal complaint in the US by consumer groups.

They, along with several EU bodies, are calling for investigations into the manufacturers.

And if that's not good enough, it can also be hacked to say anything, including the naughty words which are supposed to be blocked.


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  • (Score: 2, Informative) by Tara Li on Friday December 09 2016, @04:27PM

    by Tara Li (6248) on Friday December 09 2016, @04:27PM (#439222)

    Well, let's consider the case of V-Tech around this time last year. Apparently, some of the V-Tech toys actually allows kids to upload their own photos!

    Young kids - and one of the common cliches of really young kids? Running around naked - ooops! Does V-Tech possess the third largest child porn collection now (behind the FBI and the Vatican?)

    ( http://gizmodo.com/the-horrifying-vtech-hack-let-someone-download-thousand-1745321580 [gizmodo.com] - "The wifi-connected Vtech tablets are recommended for children between the ages of three and nine. Vtech also makes a digital camera and a camera-mounted smartwatch for the same age range. It’s certainly not the kids’ fault that a random hacker can see what they’re doing with their toys." - http://gizmodo.com/a-smartwatch-for-kindergarteners-is-the-only-smartwat-1643924240 [gizmodo.com] - 640x480 photos and video. )

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