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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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TOO BAD YOU CAN'T BUY a voodoo globe so that you could make the earth spin
real fast and freak everybody out.
-- Jack Handey, The New Mexican, 1988.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by AndyTheAbsurd on Friday December 09 2016, @06:42PM
Smartphones at least have the advantage of being able to inform and entertain the user while out and about, although they do add quite a bit of information-leakage that you wouldn't have with an older, non-smart, phone. Personally, I especially like having a GPS unit with color screen and automatic updates over-the-air that happens to also function as my phone.
That said: Most other "smart" devices seem like really stupid ideas to me. "Smart TV"? Going to act dumb once it's software is out of date. "Smart light bulb"? How much smarts beyond maybe a motion sensor and timer so that it turns off when there's no one in the room? "Smart refrigerator"? I can't read the recipe on the screen when I'm at the counter doing prep or when I've got the door open to take ingredients out; and the technology to actually detect what's inside it (which might actually be useful while I'm at the grocery store) is prohibitively expensive. "Smart coffee pot"? Like the light bulb, a sensor or two and a timer are more than sufficient.
Please note my username before responding. You may have been trolled.