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Your child’s toy might be secretly transmitting data to the US

Genesis Toys, creators of dolls such as My Friend Cayla and i-Que Intelligent Robot have landed themselves in hot water ahead of the festive season.

The Electronic Privacy Information Center, The Campaign for a Commercial Free Childhood, The Center for Digital Democracy and Consumers Union, have jointly filed a complaint with the US Federal Trade Commission in which it is alleged that the aforementioned toys record and transmit conversations to a remote server unbeknownst to anybody, including parents.

“By purpose and design, these toys record and collect the private conversations of young children without any limitations on collection, use, or disclosure of this personal information,” reads the complaint.

The toys can be connected to the internet and use speech-to-text technology developed by Nuance Communications to interact with children. It’s best explained in the advertisement we’ve embedded below.

One of the bodies that have filed the complaint, Consumers Union, penned a blog post regarding the discovery that the information of children was being collected. It alleges that, even if parents were to read the terms of use included with the toy, the documents shed little light on what information is collected.

“Genesis fails to get parents’ consent before collecting children’s voice recordings and other personal data. Children’s voice recordings from the dolls are also sent to Nuance, a company that may use them for its law enforcement and military intelligence products,” said the body.

You didn’t think it could, but it gets worse

While analysing the My Friend Cayla doll, Consumers Union says that it discovered the doll had been pre-programmed with responses that reference Disney films and DisneyWorld, a product placement the body says is not disclosed. For those familiar with legalities in the US this is a big no-no in the eyes of the FTC but closer to home these toys would violate the Protection of Personal Information Act, if it held legal sway.

Part C of the POPI Act deals with the processing of personal information of children and written in black and white it states: “A responsible party may, subject to section 35, not process personal information concerning a child.”

The exceptions listed in section 35 states that a party is exempted if the collection is carried out with the prior consent of a parent or guardian.

Of course POPI is a somewhat grey area in the eyes of the law but parents will no doubt be concerned that their child’s inner most thoughts are not just being shared with a doll but a rather large company as well.

[Via – CNET]

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