They should call it ‘Surveillance Barbie’.
Kids talking to Hello Barbie aren’t just talking to a doll, they’re talking to Mattel!
Using technology to make kids’ toys super cool – seems like a happy enough situation, no? Sadly things are not that simple for Mattel’s new WiFi Barbie doll, which critics fear could be used to spy on children, invade their privacy and use them as marketing tools.
The “Hello Barbie”, due to be released later this year, will use WiFi to chat to children, play interactive games, make jokes and tell stories using a concealed microphone activated by a button on her belt. However, the technology that processes what the child says is not contained within the doll itself. Instead recordings are transmitted over the Internet to cloud servers, where Mattel’s technology partner ToyTalk processes the audio with voice-recognition software.
Read more: http://www.redorbit.com/news/technology/1113355735/interactive-hello-barbie-could-invade-child-privacy-critics-say-031915/
Posted by Dont Mine on Me
0
