Senate report warns: Be smart about smart toys

Internet-connected toys can be gateways for hackers, ID thieves.

You may have heard about smart toys that c an alle gedly “spy” on families.

The Internet-connected toys My Friend Cayla and i-Que Robot could be listening and recording conversations, say 18 consumer groups that recently filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission.

N o w a n e w S e n a t e r e p o r t unveiled this month by U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., is cautioning parents about the privacy risk associated with so-called smart toys.

Smart toys, which can interact with a child by connecting to the internet, can become a target for hackers and identity thieves looking to steal a parent or child’s personal information often stored by the toymaker.

The report cites three incidents in which smart toy manufactur- ers failed to adequately secure a child’s personal information.

One such incident involved a data breach at VTech Electronics, a leading manufacturer of electronic learning toys and baby monitors. The breach, which occurred last year, reportedly exposed the personal information of more than 6 million children around the globe, including their names, genders and birthdates, as well as photographs and account passwords.

The report went on to cite security flaws found in two other popular children’s toys — Fisher-Price’s Smart Toy Bear and hereO’s GPS watch — which could have exposed not only a child’s personal information, but in the case of the GPS watch, a child’s real-time physical location as well.

These toys, and the companies that make them, often collect and store a wide range of personal information about the consumers who use them, including names, addresses, birthdates,