Smart devices are absolutely everywhere these days, and like it or not, they are the future. Throughout 2017, nearly 10 million new households are projected to deploy smart home devices, which will equal just about 41.5 million households total. And that’s just smart home products – IoT, or the Internet of Things, is a more expansive market as a whole.
One area getting the “smart” treatment somewhat unnecessarily is children’s toys. Yes, thanks to Internet access, toys can do some remarkable things. Sphero’s connected toys, for example, can be controlled remotely from a smartphone or tablet.
But there is one particularly devious element lurking in the shadows. It’s the matter of privacy and security, especially when it comes to connected toys.
Are Connected Toys Safe for Your Kids?
It’s no secret we live in a digital age. In the last two years alone, more data has been created than that of the previous 5,000 years of humanity’s existence. Let that sink in for a moment.
More importantly, we are also in an era where that data is in danger like never before. Hackers and identity thieves are increasingly interested in stealing sensitive data as a means to take advantage of those affected.
In 2016, there were 454 data breaches with a total of 12.7 million personal records exposed. It happens fast, too – as soon as hackers get access, they have almost all the data they need to wreak havoc on the proprietors.
In 93 percent of all breaches, attackers take only minutes – or less – to compromise systems and gain access to sensitive data. Worse yet, four out of five victims don’t even realize they’ve been affected for at least a week, sometimes longer. On the business side of things, 7 percent of breaches go undiscovered for longer than a year.
OK, these stats are alarming, but what does any of it have to do with children’s toys?
As we established, toys are becoming “smarter” and more connected, designed to tap into local Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and maybe even mobile networks. This offers a plethora of unique capabilities and features that have never before been possible with children’s playthings.
Consider the new Hello Barbie, which can hold actual conversations with your child. It taps into a database of more than 8,000 responses to communicate, and that number will surely grow. It makes the classic doll more natural and lifelike, but also creepier.
It’s an interesting feature indeed, but imagine if hackers were able to gain access to that database and make Barbie say nasty things. Or, even worse, if they were able to sync up with the doll directly and use internal hardware to spy on or harass your children.
The Hello Barbie records conversations and stores them in the cloud, for use with the analytics software and platform. This is part of what allows the doll to have natural-seeming conversations. But it’s also dangerous, and an accident waiting to happen.
Hello Barbie is hardly the first toy of its kind. There are connected toys everywhere now, just like there are smart products, wearables and more.
Is the Virtualization of Toys Necessary?
Undoubtedly, syncing up toys and kids’ gadgets with the rest of the world can open up an endless trove of possibilities. It’s hard to argue with all the cool features and functionality available with even just a Wi-Fi-connected toy.
But it also leads to the question: Is any of it really necessary? Do toys truly need to evolve with the rest of our world? Is it even a good idea to put these features into the hands of children who barely understand the implications?
It’s a scary prospect indeed, and one that we would all do well to consider before diving into modern times, at least as far as our children are concerned.
It’s unsettling enough that smart baby monitors and video monitors are vulnerable to hacks, and these are devices used to monitor infants who usually don’t do much of anything. Of course, attackers are often hoping to get a glimpse at more, but that’s beside the point.
The kind of connected toys we’re talking about – for older children – do so much more. Yet the kids involved are just as defenseless as infants. With the state of the digital world and cybersecurity, is it really a good idea to expose our children to those dangers?
Something even more chilling to consider is that most parents and children are completely unaware of what “smart” toys can do, and how the technology can be used against them. A recent study revealed this, in addition to the fact that children didn’t know their high-tech toys were recording their conversations.
There’s no way to say if the parents and children chose the toys specifically for the “smart” or connected features, but the study revealed that many don’t know the consequences of owning these items. Maybe it’s time we took a step back and decided whether or not this is a good idea, at least when it comes to the safety of our children.
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About the Author
Kayla Matthews is a tech-loving blogger who writes and edits ProductivityBytes.com. Follow her on Twitter to read all of her latest posts!
