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Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:
Woobo is a cuddly interactive toy that talks to kids. Also, it records their conversations.
It's a source of anxiety for any parent: getting rid of your child's beloved toy.
That's exactly what regulators in Germany told citizens to do with My Friend Cayla. And it wasn't enough to just throw Cayla away; parents actually had to destroy the blonde, peppy-looking doll.
The smart toy, which records conversations with kids, fell into the category of "hidden espionage devices," according to the regulators. My Friend Cayla was accused of asking children personal questions, like their favorite shows and toys, and saving the data to send to a third-party company that also makes voice identification products for police.
Just a day after the German ban was announced, Toy Fair kicked off in New York -- and smart toys were all over the place. Teddy Ruxpin, the storytelling bear beloved by '80s babies, returned with a high-tech makeover, as did Hologram Barbie, a voice-assistant animated sequel to the controversial Hello Barbie. Toy Fair also featured smart toy newcomers like Woobo, essentially a cuddly version of the Amazon Echo and Google Home speakers.
The contrasts illustrate the fine line between protecting one's privacy and the desire to create compelling and engaging products. It's the same broader debate that's raging throughout the technology and consumer electronics world, with companies like Google hoovering up personal data to better serve you ads. Only this time, the issue affects impressionable children.
Smart toys are a multibillion-dollar industry that's only getting larger as more kids are growing up connected and clamoring for the next high-tech distraction. Parents are flocking to connected toys for tots, with one research firm predicting that revenue for smart toys will reach $8.8 billion by 2020.
The booming market could be blowing up even faster if only children's online privacy concerns weren't in the way, members of the toy industry lamented at Toy Fair. While parents are looking out for their kids' safety and privacy, toymakers say data collection is necessary to make the next generation's iconic toy.
The Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, passed in 1998, requires companies targeting kids under 13 to get consent from parents before collecting personal information from children, as well as allowing parents to review any data a company collects on their kids. The data also must be deleted within 30 days of its use. COPPA's author, Sen. Edward Markey, a Massachusetts Democrat, questioned the makers of My Friend Cayla about potential violations of the act "given the sensitive nature of children's recorded speech."
The toy industry, unsurprisingly, takes a different view.
"To take smart toys to the next level of engagement and give kids what they want, you have to take data and create an engaging experience that's connected to their friends and based on their persona," said Krissa Watry, CEO of Dynepic, the company behind iOKids, a social media platform for children and their parents.
-- submitted from IRC
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday February 26 2017, @06:31PM (4 children)
Instead of destroying the toy. Here is a crazy idea. Yank the battery and cut the power line so it can not be repaired easily. Toy still intact. Child still has toy.
Toys for children are one of several categories. These talking interactive toys tend to be of the status symbol type toys (for both the children and parents). They are expensive and children like to lord them over each other. "I got the blahblahblah toy what do you have?" "I dont have that" "sucks to be YOU I have one!" The parental version of that conversation is about the same.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by butthurt on Sunday February 26 2017, @09:48PM (2 children)
> Yank the battery and cut the power line so it can not be repaired easily. Toy still intact.
You'd be taking away its ability, not only to listen, but to move and to speak. It would become a lifeless, inert, inanimate object. Only when the child moved it would it move. Only in the child's imagination would it speak or listen. The child would have to expend more effort in playing with the toy, therefore it would be a less "engaging experience."
You might want to put epoxy in the battery holder or in the charging port, for good measure.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by darnkitten on Monday February 27 2017, @04:12AM (1 child)
Today, I saw a five-year-old girl conversing with her stuffed kitten, a wooden riding-horse, and her sister (who, from all indications, was the least responsive of the three, due to playing on her Kindle).
During that time, she also, apparently, was imprisoned, escaped from the prison, lost a shoe (she may have been a horse at the time), managed to eat a sticky, chocolate-glazed doughnut over the course of a half-hour without getting chocolate on furniture or clothing (a white frock, no less), and stole her sister's Kindle during a moment of distraction, (but couldn't play on it, due to the password protection).
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I tell ya, seeing a kid using basic security on an electronic device restored my faith in humanity.
I know, the concepts "Kindle" and "Security" don't go together...just roll with it.
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 27 2017, @07:11AM
So in a year you're going to marry her, just like Muhammed did?
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Monday February 27 2017, @02:20AM
Works for me, but the mere existence of a surveillance device such as this toy violates the law in Germany. After the hubbub dies down, and everyone else in the country has destroyed their toys, you will not want to be seen in possession of that toy, or anything similar. Someone will ask questions, that someone will talk, and the cops will eventually come knocking. I haven't looked to see how expensive this toy is, but the penalty for violating such an edict will be a lot more expensive. That penalty may even include some jail or prison time.