The possibility that a "smart" Barbie doll talking with a child violates privacy

ByTinker * Tailor loves Lalka

It is a controversial Barbie doll that something unusable for human beings leads to discrimination against women, but sells that Barbie dollMattelWhat we newly developed is "to talk with children"Hello Barbie". Hello Barbie with speech recognition function and Wi-FiToy Fair 2015When it was announced at the moment, voices of concern are raised that "infringes the child's privacy."

Privacy fears over 'smart' Barbie That can not be done Listen to your kids | Technology | The Guardian
http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/mar/13/smart-barbie-that-can-listen-to-your-kids-privacy-fears-mattel

Privacy advocates try to keep 'creepy,' 'eavesdropping' Hello Barbie from hitting shelves - The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-switch/wp/2015/03/11/privacy-advocates-try-to-keep-creepy-eavesdropping-hello-barbie-from-hitting-shelves/

Hello Barbie is equipped with speech recognition software and responds to the voice spoken to by children. For example, "I love New York! Do you teach me what I like about New York? Food? Fashion? Or is it landscape?" If you return "like food" to Barbie, say "What kind of food do you like?" As you can, conversation is possible.


Since learning function is also attached, I remember my dog's name while talking over and over, and I will correspond to new topics as well. However, this Barbie has Wi-Fi installed, and privacy advocacy groups have pointed out that "It could be a tool to eavesdrop on what children are talking about".

Barbie's conversation skills are in San Francisco's startupToyTalkThings developed by. The voice of the child who talked to Barbie is recorded through the microphone built in Barbie, and the voice of Barbie which is programmed beforehand is responsive, but the problem is that the recorded voice data is on the spot It is not limited, it is stored in ToyTalk.

Professor Angela Campbell of George Town University law school said: "If I had a child, I was worried that an intimate conversation between children and Barbie would be recorded and analyzed to a third party. Because the interests of familiar children and answers about family members are extremely valuable to the advertiser, it is because there is a fear that they may be illegally used. "

The way the Barbie talks actually can be checked from the following movie.

Hello Barbie is World's First Interactive Barbie Doll - YouTube


If you hold down the button on Barbie's belt, Barbie will ask you a question.


Because the microphone is built in, if you answer the question by bringing the doll close to the face, the conversation will proceed.


About ToyTalk spokesman for ToyTalk says "The voice data recorded in Hello Barbie is used only by ToyTalk and Mattel for product improvement," but there are problems other than eavesdropping.

For example, in a demonstration of the above movie, there is a scene where a woman asks "What should I become when I grow up?" And Barbie answers "politician, dancer, or politician who dances". Laugh is happening in the movie because adult woman is talking with Barbie, but Barbie who gradually accumulates information on children and understands complicated language patterns is "what will I become It is worried about how the answer when asked by the child, "Why should I?" Affect children.

ByGrietje

"Children can not only talk with" dolls "by using Hello Barbie, but they will talk directly to" companies that are only interested in children about things related to money ", because children who are targeting children Groups that opposeCampaign for a Commercial Free ChildhoodSusan Lin, the executive director.

Hello Barbie requires parents to agree to the privacy policy and set up accounts before use, and children can talk to Barbie only when pushing the buttons on the belt. The recorded voice is encrypted and sent to the Internet, According to ToyTalk, the third party, who is helping the development of the speech recognition function, can freely access the voice data.

There are many software that responds to the user's voice, such as Apple's Siri and Google's Google Now, and Hello Barbie seems nothing to change, but in the case of Hello Barbie, it understands that "my actions are being monitored" The Guardian says that it is the most worrisome point to target children who can not and is not worried about.