Should Parents Shun Toys That Track Their Kids? (cbsnews.com)

An anonymous reader quotes CBS News: Parents are realizing that it's not just Santa who's keeping tabs on their kids. Many popular high-tech gadgets that may end up being given as holiday presents can actually track, monitor and record children. Because of that, there are some gifts Felicity and Alden Eute won't have under their Christmas tree. Their mother, Emily, has banned all tech gifts this season. "My husband and I both agree kids don't really need to be on technology or on social media," Emily said. "None of these extra gadgets that just expose you to things kids shouldn't be exposed to at their age."

While federal law requires a parent's permission to track and collect data on children under 13, a Federal Trade Commission complaint filed this week alleges widespread violations through apps that "send persistent identifiers to third parties without giving direct notice to parents." That means things like location data, phone numbers and contact information could be exposed, according to Serge Engleman of the International Computer Science Institute. The institute's surveillance system, under the direction of Engleman, collected evidence that is now before the Federal Trade Commission.... It's not only apps where there are potential violations. "Any kind of interconnected robot-type toys...interactive games that you may play online are collecting data," said Scott Pink, a privacy and cybersecurity specialist.

Comments

Depends on your values.

[Gravis Zero]

If you think it's okay for a soulless corporation to have as much information as possible about your child (which they will sell and exploit to the fullest extent) then go ahead and buy them the spy toys. If you think this is abhorrent behavior that should not be supported in any way shape or form then you should not only shun them but condemn them and ensure your friends and relatives understand the problems with these toys.

I even read TFA

[Harlequin80]

and there is not one actual example. Not one.

I mean, fear mongering is fine. But seriously could you not find even ONE example of the abuse of privacy for a kids tech toy?!?!?!?!?! FFS.

Pick up your game click bait shite.

Re:I even read TFA

[wierd_w]

I do not know of any direct physical toys either, but there are plenty of phone apps geared quite clearly at children, that do extensive tracking and advertising.

As a blanket that also includes this latter category, I would whole heartedly assert that "Yes, parents should snub such things." with an additional "People in GENERAL should snub such things."

So, that fitness tracker? Yeah... You shouldn't use that. There is no justifiable reason for it to report your use data to some mothership. The exact same functionality (to the end user) could be accomplished by the device logging GPS pings, then that data being given to and parsed by an offline application, which then reconstructs the jogging path. The potential perk of "I dont have to worry about data backup!" of this "clearly critical" /s data is not suitably wondrous as to make it trump the major bad of advertisers knowing where you jog, how often, and what stores you pass every day.

Similar story with nearly all such "Oh yes, our tracking is 'essential' to the function of the device!" bullshit devices. As such, people should shun the ones that report to a mothership.

Of course, that will never happen, because in the real world convenience is king. (doubly so to idiots that refuse to learn better.)

Re:I even read TFA

[Harlequin80]

Well socialised healthcare is something that I 100% agree with and fortunately live somewhere that has it.

I also think you give competition too much credit. Insurance underwriting is highly concentrated into a small number of organisations. The vast majority of insurance offerings are underwritten by less than 20 companies world wide.