Barbie has been an All-American favorite since its introduction in 1959. She has played a starring role in our popular culture for years; so much so that some girls have gone to great lengths to try to look like her. The bottom line is that Barbie has become a mainstay in many homes.
For this holiday season, Mattel, the maker of Barbie created a version called "Hello Barbie" that is going to be able to be connected to the Internet. Some privacy advocates such as the Campaign for a Commercial Free Childhood are very troubled by this new Barbie and have created a social media campaign called #HellNoBarbie because they have some major concerns about how the data being collected will be utilized.
A major problem with Hello Barbie is that parents may not always know when a particular conversation is being recorded by the doll and sent to Mattel's third party technology vendor. Pam Dixon of the World Privacy Forum pointed out to NBC News that the recordings could be utilized in divorce cases and custody battles.
Another issue is cybersecurity. Earlier today, it was reported that Hello Barbie has major privacy and security flaws that could expose the personal privacy and safety of our children. This is a very troubling report. Why didn't Mattel bake privacy and cybersecurity into the design of this toy? Mattel isn't the only toy maker to have overlooked privacy and cybersecurity issues. VTech, a provider of electronic toys for children was recently hacked and exposed the personal information of millions of children.
The bottom line is that we are entering the era of the "Internet of Toys" where manufacturers may soon start trying to one up each other with how their products are connected online. The problem is that is appears that many of the privacy and cybersecurity issues that are paramount to protecting the safety our of kids have not been made a priority in this rush for greater profits.
As a parent, I don't want or need my kids toys connected to the Internet. iPhones and Xboxes are meant to be connected online but Barbie, Ken, and GI Joe are not. Parents must be able to easily control what is recorded about their family in the privacy of their home. What happened to just being able to play with your kids and having a personal moment that is not shared with the whole world for eternity?
Copyright 2015 by The Law Office of Bradley S. Shear, LLC All rights reserved.
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