Germany tells parents to destroy 'illegal' microphone in doll

[Allybeboba]

http://money.cnn.com/2017/02/17/tech...page_tech_pool

They are worried about it being used to snoop on families.

[Garnier Fructis]

Why is 'illegal' in quotation marks?

[Allybeboba]

Why is 'illegal' in quotation marks?

Did you read the article?

[Deleted]

Did you read the article?

Yes. Devices of this kind are illegal in Germany. Therefore, it shouldn't be put in quotation marks.

[Garnier Fructis]

Did you read the article?

Yeah. And as Mentar said, the article states that wireless devices with hidden microphones are illegal.

Which is why I'm asking.

[WintersLegion]

Yeah. And as Mentar said, the article states that wireless devices with hidden microphones are illegal.

Which is why I'm asking.

What I don't get is it's designed like furby's and such where you talk to them and they respond back to you so while the microphone may not be visible it's not exactly hidden either since to hear you it has to have a microphone. And same article say's if you can see the microphone or wires it would be okay.

[Deleted]

What I don't get is it's designed like furby's and such where you talk to them and they respond back to you so while the microphone may not be visible it's not exactly hidden either since to hear you it has to have a microphone. And same article say's if you can see the microphone or wires it would be okay.

The doll -- called My Friend Cayla -- connects to the internet via Bluetooth. The setup allows it to listen and respond to questions like: "What's the tallest animal in the world?" (Answer: Giraffe)

But the German regulator says the doll's design violates privacy rules. They worry that it could be used to snoop on families.

So not quite like furby.

[Tsimp]

Why is 'illegal' in quotation marks?

because its a quote?

[Garnier Fructis]

because its a quote?

Quotation marks are typically written around a single word to highlight that it's a word or to express doubt about the word's applicability to something.

[WintersLegion]

So not quite like furby.

My point was that both of them respond to you and in order to do that they have to have a microphone it's one of the features of the toys so while you don't see the microphone it's not exactly hidden from you. The exact same toy would be fine if the microphone was visible or had visible wires.

[Allybeboba]

Lol
More people are actually concerned about the use of quotation marks than the actual article.

[Noradin]

My point was that both of them respond to you and in order to do that they have to have a microphone it's one of the features of the toys so while you don't see the microphone it's not exactly hidden from you. The exact same toy would be fine if the microphone was visible or had visible wires.

But not both of them can connect to the internet while having a hidden microphone.

- - - Updated - - -

Lol
More people are actually concerned about the use of quotation marks than the actual article.

Well there is nothing about the article that is unclear in any form and nothing unresonable about having a law that forbids wireless hidden microphones and cameras.

[Cosmic Janitor]

The doll is so incredibly ugly, the only reason people bought it is to spy on someone.. they also didn't even manage to hardwire the active microphone to the LED properly, as I understood and on some android devices this thing literally operates like a bug.

[Ravenblade]

Lol
More people are actually concerned about the use of quotation marks than the actual article.

Because one might ask what the quotation marks should be for. It's actually illegal to distribute such devices here. Having a hidden microphone or camera installed on a child's toy which connects to the internet would have given the Stasi some wet dreams. Other than that here's a 1.5 years old video demonstrating how to hack this doll. According to German telecommunications law § 90 the use and distribution of masked spying devices is illegal.