Germany bans smartwatches for kids, for a good reason

Germany has decided to completely ban smartwatches for kids, and its because they resemble more a spying device than a toy and could be a severe detriment to your child if they are kept in use.

Smartwatches for kids are basically, in a nutshell, a way for parents to keep track of their youngins as well as be a fancy toy for our ever-growing tech-savvy kids. However, the European Consumer Organization (BEUC) warned that several of the devices have flaws that could allow the malicious use of the devices, letting hackers seize control of your kid’s smartwatch.

The average kid’s smartwatch contains an internet-enabled mic and a GPS tracker and if they are accessed by unwanted parties, they could seriously endanger your child by exposing a wealth of location data (real-time or otherwise) as well as other personal information like contact lists.

So, while a smartwatch might be designed to keep your children safer, it might, in fact, be quite the opposite, especially since tech like Baby Monitors have already been proven to be very hackable. As it is the BEUC has discovered one kid’s smartwatch brand to be transmitting children’s’ locations to servers in China, unencrypted. Hoo boy.

Knowing this, will you still allow your kids to use smart toys that connect to the internet or contain microphones? let us know in the comments!