The Norwegian Consumer Council is alerting consumers about security flaws in children’s smartwatches. Kids smartwatches are becoming popular due to their seemingly innocent functionality. Most of them are very limited in what they can do but they do house both a microphone and camera. It’s these aspects of the watches that the Norwegian Consumer Council says cause the problem. The Norwegian Consumer Council says that these watches have “significant security flaws, unreliable safety features and a lack of consumer protection.”
“It’s very serious when products that claim to make children safer instead put them at risk because of poor security and features that do not work properly,” says Finn Myrstad, Director of Digital Policy at the Norwegian Consumer Council.
“Importers and retailers must know what they stock and sell. These watches have no place on a shop’s shelf, let alone on a child’s wrist.”
The manufacturers of the watches claim that some of the security flaws have now been fixed. But some does not equate to all and we’d suggest you discontinue use of the watches and contact the manufacturer to inquire if yours is affected. It’s disturbing to know that hackers could take control of your child’s mic, camera, and location services.
“Yet again, as with the #toyfail-report, we are seeing how many internet-connected products fail to comply with consumer and data protection laws, in addition to basic security standards. The industry and the authorities both have a responsibility for ensuring that consumers are not put at risk by unsafe products,” Finn Myrstad stated.
What do you think of kid’s smartwatches? Do you own one? Would you buy these gadgets for your kids? Are you going to contact the manufacturer? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below, or on Google+, Twitter, or Facebook.
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