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I have a burning need to know stuff and I love asking awkward questions.

Saturday, November 18, 2017

Germany bans children's smartwatches

By Jane Wakefield, BBC Technology reporter

17 November 2017

A German regulator has banned the sale of smartwatches aimed at children, describing them as spying devices. It had previously banned an internet-connected doll called, My Friend Cayla, for similar reasons. Telecoms regulator the Federal Network Agency urged parents who had such watches to destroy them. One expert said the decision could be a "game-changer" for internet-connected devices. "Poorly secured smart devices often allow for privacy invasion. That is really concerning when it comes to kids' GPS tracking watches - the very watches that are supposed to help keep them safe," said Ken Munro, a security expert at Pen Test Partners. "There is a shocking lack of regulation of the 'internet of things', which allows lax manufacturers to sell us dangerously insecure smart products. Using privacy regulation to ban such devices is a game-changer, stopping these manufacturers playing fast and loose with our kids' security," he added. In a statement, the agency said it had already taken action against several firms offering such watches on the internet. "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 unauthorised transmitting system," said Jochen Homann, president of the Federal Network Agency. "According to our research, parents' watches are also used to listen to teachers in the classroom." The agency also asked schools to "pay more attention" to such watches among students.

Such watches - which are sold by a large number of providers in Germany - are generally aimed at children between the ages of five and 12. Most are equipped with a Sim card and a limited telephony function and are set up and controlled via an app. In October, the Norwegian Consumer Council (NCC) reported that 'some children's watches - including Gator and GPS for kids - had flaws such as transmitting and storing data without encryption. It meant that strangers, using basic hacking techniques, could track children as they moved or make a child appear to be in a completely different location. It is not clear whether the German decision to ban such devices was based on the privacy issues associated with them or wider security flaws that have been uncovered by NCC and others. Both firms said that they had resolved the security issues. Finn Myrstad, head of digital policy at the NCC said: "This ban sends a strong signal to makers of products aimed at children that they need to be safer." He called for Europe-wide measures to increase the security of such devices.

[WOW! What an amazing shot across the bow for all technology companies making this trash. As if we’re not spied on enough these days a tech company (or actually a host of companies) build devices to track kids – for their own safety of course – and actually makes them less secure through their own security incompetence. Did they have no thought at all that if a legitimate person can track someone then it can be spoofed by someone you really don’t want tracking your kids? And don’t get me started on the whole idea of tracking people! The very idea, the very concept, the very thought makes my skin crawl. I hope (and expect) that there are people out there busily beavering away at technology that defeats this kind of bullshit. Sign me up for those puppies right now!]

7 comments:

Mudpuddle said...

leave us sing the benefits of technology... for an old person, this is a very confusing world...

Fred said...

It's frightening. Corporations, of course, will do anything to make a profit, even put children at risk, but those parents?--what were they thinking of?

CyberKitten said...

@ Mudpuddle: I find that a lifelong reading of SF has helped me understand (or at least cope with) much of what's happening in the world.

@ Fred: I guess that the parent's were afraid as they have been taught to be. When I was a child I was essentially out of the house not long after breakfast at weekends and came back home when it got dark or I was hungry. For most of the day my parents had no idea where I was. Oh, and talking to my Mum recently I had a habit of wandering off from an early age. I must've been a nightmare to look after! [grin]

Brian Joseph said...

This is troubling.

It is a good sign that folks are ringing the alarm bells however. It gets to the bigger issue of privacy and the digital world that we live in. I think that as long as folks are vigilant and keep pushing against these excesses, that there is a good chance that some kind of balance will be reached. I am being optimistic, but I do realize that I might be wrong and that we are headed towards all kinds of trouble.

CyberKitten said...

It's strange how many people say, apparently with indifference or glee, that the age of privacy is over and we should just learn to live with it. Well, the technology that is endangering our privacy is developed, manufactured and bought by people who have a choice in buying it or using it. Likewise there are people out there using the same technological ability to fight back. Nothing in this is inevitable. It's all about the choices we all make. To get a better world we need to make better choices. Don't be fooled by people who say that there's no alternative. There's *always* alternatives!

Stephen said...

It's the "better world" that's part of the problem, because those who would woe us into the glass cage will always be able to argue that these devices improve our lives. To a large extent they do...that's the snare. A smartphone is a potent weapon with the right apps, but it automatically transmits your GPS location and the various apps gather and funnel all kind of information. I would not be surprise if some parents equipped their kids with smart watches so they could track their location themselves!

Personally, I've begun using an older flip phone. It lasts a week without a charge and it doesn't butt dial.

CyberKitten said...

@ Stephen: There's a lot in what you say. Offering people 'a better world' through technology is quite seductive. But the promise is always just out of reach so you need to upgrade and upgrade to approach perfection a download or an add-on at a time. Just like Zeno's arrow you never get to your target but you do spend a great deal of money trying........ [grin]

I have a Nokia that is barely a smartphone. I like it for it's simplicity and that I only need to charge it once a week rather than constantly - not that I use it very often!