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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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"Smart" Dolls are Potential Privacy Nightmares
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You will have domestic happiness and faithful friends.
(Score: 0, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 09 2016, @06:25PM
> WTF kind of moron would even buy their child such a thing?
Same kind of moron that you are.
That's not hyperbole.
They don't know all the details of how these dolls work and the privacy implications.
Just like you aren't fully aware of the operation details and implications of everything you use in life. Do you know where the frozen vegetables in your freezer were grown? Do you know if they are GMO? What kind of pesticides and fertilizer were used on them?
Few of us are experts in anything. None of us are experts in everything.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Friday December 09 2016, @06:35PM
"Same kind of moron that you are."
Nope. Can't be. It's simply not possible. You see - the AVERAGE American parent spends tens of thousands of hours in front of the boob tube, the silver screen, or some other media, consuming whatever Hollyweird throws at them. They don't have time to educate themselves, regarding their children's toys, their home appliances, or much of anything else.
You don't need to be any kind of expert, to go online, and to learn the pros and cons of any given item, or any given technology.
How many cards do you carry in your pocket? Grocery store tracking card, drug store tracking card, gas station tracking card? A couple credit cards? Join the club, get 2 cents off per gallon of gas - don't pay any attention to the fact that we'll track your ass around the world!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 09 2016, @08:20PM
> Nope. Can't be. It's simply not possible.
When I started reading that I thought you were being ironically self-deprecating.
Turned out is was just more superiority-signaling.
What a fool I was to expect more.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Friday December 09 2016, @08:28PM
Well, you don't have to remain a fool. Morons come in many types, shapes, sizes and styles. You need to learn some discrimination. Look carefully at me - I am an asshole. Morons are quite different. When you learn some discrimination, you'll be able to tell as asshole from a moron just as readily as you can tell a black man from a white man.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 09 2016, @10:52PM
Look carefully at me - I am an asshole. Morons are quite different.
I think you are wrong, these are definitely not two non-intersecting sets of people.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday December 10 2016, @05:17AM
the runs is proof of that
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday December 10 2016, @06:58AM
Few of us are experts in anything. None of us are experts in everything.
I expect people to have at least a basic understandings of these things, not an expert-level understanding. Doing some basic research, it's clear from history that companies will abuse people, won't think much about security, and so on. Furthermore, we already know the IoT is and will be disastrous, and there are many examples of this that you can find with a search engine. Then, of course, there's the fact that these specific dolls have now been shown to be privacy nightmares, so anyone who buys these in the future is definitely an idiot. But again, there was plenty of indication even before we knew that these specific products were bad. You don't need to be an expert; you just need to do research on products before you buy them, and also on the technologies that the products rely on.
Willfully ignorant morons are making the world a worse place for everyone. Apathy towards privacy violations, proprietary software, and security means that more and more devices will start doing/using these things until there are virtually none without them.
I understand that some people want to be optimistic, but don't defend ignorance and stupidity.