Tech & Sci
22:39, 18-Nov-2017
Germany bans children’s smartwatches over safety concerns
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A German regulator is telling parents to destroy their children’s smartwatches, normally designed for 5-to-12-year-olds, for safety reasons.
Telecoms regulator Federal Network Agency on Friday said it worries that such watches are possibly utilized as spying devices.
There is a shocking lack of regulation of the "Internet of things," which allows lax manufacturers to sell us dangerously insecure smart products.
- Security expert Ken Munro in an interview with BBC
Smartwatches designed for children are equipped with SIM card which enables them to make phone calls like the Apple Watch. The devices also have a snooping function that can be activated by a mobile app similar to the feature on a baby monitor.
"According to our investigations, parents were using the watches, for example, to listen in on teachers during class," said Federal Network Agency President Jochen Homann in a statement. "Via an app, parents can use such children's watches to listen unnoticed to the child's environment and they are to be regarded as an unauthorized transmitting system."
In Germany, however, it is illegal to record a conversation without consent. Also the fact that hackers can track children's location or make them appear to be where they are not concerns not only the regulator.
"There is a shocking lack of regulation of the 'Internet of things,' which allows lax manufacturers to sell us dangerously insecure smart products," security expert Ken Munro told the BBC. "Using privacy regulation to ban such devices is a game-changer, stopping these manufacturers playing fast and loose with our kids' security."
The ban came one month after Norwegian Consumer Council (NCC) reported that some children’s smartwatches transmitted and stored data without encryption, making them easier targets for breaches, although there wasn’t evidence to show German regulator made up its mind based on the report.
The Federal Network Agency has previously banned the popular Internet-connected doll named My Friend Cayla, for similar reasons, asking parents to destroy the already owned dolls as well.
The Internet-connected doll, My Friend Cayla, can interact with children through a mobile app. Germany has previously asked parents to destroy the already owned dolls for safety reasons.
The Internet-connected doll, My Friend Cayla, can interact with children through a mobile app. Germany has previously asked parents to destroy the already owned dolls for safety reasons.
Smart devices made for children are easy targets and have sparkled safety concerns over the years as the development of Internet of things continues. Many toys or children's smart devices companies have mismanaged customers' data and make them easily accessible.
In 2015, for example, children’s toys maker VTech was hacked, exposing about 6.4 million customers' data including children's photos and chat logs.
(Top photo: hereO kids GPS smartwatch. /tomemrich via Flickr)