Is a stranger hacking your child’s smart watch?
SMART watches which let parents track their children and contact them in an emergency could in fact put them at risk.
Consumer experts have revealed that strangers can access the gadgets to spy on children.
They are calling for a ban on the watches, which cost between £18 and £100, until the flaws are fixed.
Loopholes mean the watches, which include GPS tracking and a mobile phone SIM card, can be accessed remotely.
Strangers can track a child and see their past movements, the experts found. Hackers can intercept and change the geographical location of the watch – meaning that a child can appear to be in one spot when they are actually somewhere else.
Some devices have an SOS button that a child pushes to call their parent in an emergency. But this can be remotely disabled and even programmed to call someone else.
The problems were uncovered by consumer experts in Norway and highlighted by experts at Which? in this country. Managing director of home products and services at Which?, Alex Neill, said: ‘While there is no denying the huge benefits smart gadgets can bring to our daily lives, safety and security should be the absolute priority. If that can’t be guaranteed, then the products should not be sold.’ And Finn Myrstad, director of digital policy at the Norwegian Consumer Council, said: ‘These watches have no place on a shop’s shelf, let alone on a child’s wrist.’ The NCC commissioned security experts Mnemonic to look at the Gator, Xplora and SeTracker watches. The Gator is sold by John Lewis and other stores for £99.95. The Xplora is free if buyers sign up to a mobile phone contract charging £12.99 a month for 24 months – totalling £311.76. Mnemonic found particular problems with the Gator 2.
Colleen Wong, whose firm Techsixtyfour distributes the Gator, said action is being taken. The NCC has passed its findings to European data regulators. Xplora says it has fixed the problem, but this has not been verified. John Lewis stopped selling the Gator on its website yesterday.
‘No place on a shelf or a child’s wrist’