Do you know the Cayla doll? German regulators appear to have put a stop to every parent's nightmare after revealing that hackers could easily turn a doll called "My Friend Cayla" into a spying device.
German regulators banned the doll's ability to connect to the Internet, urging parents to disable the interactive toy.
"Cameras or microphones emit a signal, and so can transmit data without detection, which endangers people's privacy," said Jochen Homann, the head of the Federal Network Agency.
The agency stressed that this is especially true with the Cayla doll, where children can ask questions, expecting the doll to answer them, which searches for them online. There is also the possibility that companies could use such toys to serve ads directly to children, which makes the situation even more dangerous given how vulnerable children are to these influences.
The warning states that the doll records everything a child says and the people around them.
“The manufacturer has not adequately protected the wireless connection, and the game can be used by anyone in the area to eavesdrop on conversations.”
Genesis Toys, the doll's manufacturer, says it regularly reviews encryption security measures to protect against unauthorized access. On the other hand, even they admit that no method of data transmission over the Internet, or method of electronic storage, is 100% secure.
The manufacturer's privacy notes for using the product state that they collect all the information they want, not only to return information to children through Google, Wikipedia, and Weather Underground, but also to improve their own services, for internal company purposes, such as conducting research, for example.
