ARE YOUR CHILD’S CHRISTMAS TOYS REALLY SPYWARE?

ARE YOUR CHILD’S CHRISTMAS TOYS REALLY SPYWARE?

In days of yore, one of the small joys of the Christmas Season was purchasing toys for your young children or grandchildren. Today, toy shopping is fraught with danger. Or at least a number of consumer advocacy groups are warning us of the many dangers associated with buying certain toys. I’m not talking about lead based paint, or a small object that a child might choke on, but the dangers that might occur by violating a child’s privacy by sharing data! My senile mind just responded with the clearly articulated reaction of, “Huh?”

My experience selecting Christmas toys was based upon a small smattering of common sense. If a toy had sharp edges or tiny nuts and bolts that might be swallowed or a long cord that might become a noose, it was not purchased. We were cautious consumers. If a toy might cause a burn or cut or puncture, we would select something like a G.I. Joe action figure or a set of Hot Wheels cars. And as Ralphie’s mom in the movie “A Christmas Story” cautioned, Ralphie was not getting a BB gun, ‘cuz he might shoot his eye out. Common sense was the measuring stick of the day. 

Today’s high tech world has added a new demon that is far more evil and dangerous than an old fashion wood burning set. A child’s personal data might be stolen! In fact, advocacy groups have filed a complaint with the FCC that some of this season’s hottest toys, including My Friend Cayla and the i-Que Intelligent Robot, are violating children’s privacy. That’s because these toys are constantly in listening mode — much like Siri and Alexa on our phones — and sending it to Nuance Communications, a speech recognition company that also contracts with the U.S. military and intelligence firms.

The toys are automatically and continuously connected to the internet transmitting data about children, which could violate a number of laws, according to the complaint — especially laws protecting children from online data collection. 

In addition to the privacy problems, the group also suggests that the toys may be a stealth marketing campaign for Disney products, which sell a wide variety of toys activated by voice recognition.  Among Cayla’s many pre-programmed responses are dozens of references to Disney movies and theme parks. Who knew? Not me, that’s for sure!

So this year I will be playing it safe! My grandson will get a trilogy of Hardy Boy books and my granddaughter will get a Cabbage Patch doll! They will probably just roll their eyes when the open Grandpa’s gifts, but I can rest easy knowing that I have  protected them from today’s technology demon! At least, I hope so!