[LINK] "Hello, Barbie" eavesdrops on kids, sends what it hears to Mattel

[Kim Holburn]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-switch/wp/2015/03/11/privacy-advocates-try-to-keep-creepy-eavesdropping-hello-barbie-from-hitting-shelves/?tid=sm_tw

Privacy advocates try to keep ‘creepy,’ ‘eavesdropping’ Hello Barbie from hitting shelves

> Mattel's new "Hello Barbie" will "learn about its users over time." How? By recording what the child says and sending it to Mattel's servers, reports the Washington Post.
> 
> Children will doubtless be thrilled to learn that the doll can also forward audio of whatever it hears to the parents.
> 
> Mattel's comment to the Post:
> 
> "Mattel is committed to safety and security, and Hello Barbie conforms to applicable government standards," Mattel said in a statement.
> Heh heh. In the post-Snowden period, citing "applicable government standards" as the moral floor below which one cannot sink -- when you're crafting a surveillance toy -- is not super reassuring.



-- 
Kim Holburn
IT Network & Security Consultant
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