“A German regulator has banned the sale of smartwatches aimed at children, describing them as spying devices,” Jane Wakefield reports for BBC News. “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,” Wakefield reports. “‘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.”
“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,” Wakefield reports. “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.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: We don’t see any problem with this ban as these cheap, unsecured gadgets are an obvious safety issue.
This is a great idea, especially since the German leader, Angela Merkel knows first hand what it’s like to have her privacy violated by terrorist scum that don’t have a shred of decency.
Hello!
That and the fact that there ARE going to be loonies about who will take advantage of the irresponsibly leaking data as a method of stalking children, and adults, for nefarious purposes. Much as it would be nice to call this German concern paranoic, it’s not. *sad face*
Hey Derek, great post and I agree, paranoia aside I think that there is ample proof of the use of such devices for spying by the bottom of the barrel types so that gets a thumbs up for me.
The comment I really liked is your Internet of Trash post of Saturday, November 18, 2017- 7:19 pm , but in terms of regulating it, well when the net first came out I remember a few discussions on anarchy, that these lovely Bulletin Boards and forums on the net were a new form of expression and it was wonderful but many realized that soon the advertisers and politicians would figure it out and make it what it is today, yes a lot of Internet of Trash but there still are some great spots to hang out on the net, this being one of them.
Have a great weekend.
It’s not OK to spy on children, but it’s OK to spy on adults?
Adults can supposedly decide for themselves. And even though that assumption is questionable (just consider how security- and privacy-conscious they are on FaceBook, Instagram, Google, etc etc) extending this to adults would result in an outcry about “nanny state” etc
“Supposedly”.
Well, the law in pretty much all of the world says that when you reach the age of maturity (mostly 18), you make your own decisions; before that, somebody else is responsible for you.
I don’t think that being at the “age of maturity” is an implicit authorization to be spied upon. Being subject to electronic surveillance is often unethical, if not, illegal.
You are indeed right, 18 is the age for most of the countries. Interestingly enough on wiki it’s 21 at the upper extreme and the wildest one on the lower level is Saudi Arabia where the upper level is, get ready for it, 15.
“age of majority is based on physical signs of puberty (bulugh), with age 15 as the upper limit. However, women in Saudi Arabia require permission of male guardians to travel, work, or marry, rendering the age of majority for females effectively infinite.”
Interesting transition from the ethics of electronic surveillance to what defines pedophilia and religious misogyny.
I think of it more as cultural diversity regarding the age of minority rather than the ideas you brought forth.
Wow, that’s an incomprehensible response. Would you care to elaborate?
Sure.
No, I am not making a transition from the ethics of electronic surveillance to what defines the two topics you brought up, no more for that then for other age sensitive area such as the age of sexual consent, drinking age, driving age, age to vote, and so on. In the case of this particular topic, the sale of smart watches aimed at children in Germany due to spying concerns, I was simply complementing what predrag said about the age of majority.
This ban should most certainly include the Apple Watch then. As much as I love Apple, as an iOS dev I know how simple it is to get around Apple location information prevention. All you need is to access the freely available local WiFi networks data on the device, run that against a free WiFi router tracking service, and I know your real life approx position.
No because the Apple watch isn’t product aimed at children.
Have you read some of the comments here?
Good move. In addition to being creepy how unregulated electronic ad agencies now track everything with far more power than any state agency, some of us remember when people were expected to develop their own skills. Now that kids are in front of screens 12 hours or more per day, the shocking lack of life skills, common sense, and decency is occasionally too much to accept. I am convinced that if a natural disaster knocked out electricity over a large metropolitan area, we would see absolute anarchy. Nobody would know what to do without their electronic nannies.
Former Stasi agents look upon state and corporate espionage today and weep that they had had these technologies.
Am I reading this right? They are banning cheep unsecured smartwatches and not secure ones like the Apple Watch?
The reason my kids got their iPhones at a young age was because I (with my password) could track them, especially if they were kidnaped. (they were told to hide their iPhones and put them on vibrate in the event they were taken against their will)
I avoided a lot of gray hairs when raising my kids knowing I could find them anytime I needed to.
If you want to know why the Germans do stuff like this watch the movie “The Lives of Others”, about life in East Germany with the Stassi watching everything you do, and your neighbors being coerced to report on your activities. Terrifying.
Today users give up their privacy that East Germans had violated.
IoT, Internet of Trash, has become a worldwide source of laughter, derision, demonstrable incompetence and outright DANGER. I hate to say this, but getting a grip on the pure shite that is the majority of IoT would take a worldwide regulatory response. Dare I say United Nations? (O_O)
Yeah, I know…
Meanwhile, there are creative, responsible companies that comprehend computer security. I.E. Apple. No doubt, rampant tech ignorance will turn this needlessly into an Watch issue. 😛