Official Watchdog in Germany Tells Parents to Destroy Cayla Dolls

The February 17, 2017, BBC News site carried an article with the headline “German parents told to destroy Cayla dolls over hacking fears.”

The article begins:

An official watchdog in Germany has told parents to destroy a talking doll called Cayla because its smart technology can reveal personal data.

The warning was issued by the Federal Network Agency (Bundesnetzagentur), which oversees telecommunications.

Researchers say hackers can use an unsecure bluetooth device embedded in the toy to listen and talk to the child playing with it.

The article continues:

But the UK Toy Retailers Association [TRA] said Cayla “offers no special risk.”

In a statement sent to the BBC, the TRA also said “there is no reason for alarm.”

Whether in fact this particular doll offers a special risk, in actuality all such internet-connected toys offer a risk of subversion. I have blogged about this topic before, and it is indeed something about which we need to be concerned.

I find it particularly appropriate that an official watchdog in Germany has warned parents about the risks. The Nazis taught children to turn in their own parents for expressing anti-Nazi sentiments. Imagine today using supposedly innocuous dolls to instruct children to turn in their parents for expressing anti-government sentiments.

In my near-future sci fi story THE MOTHER SIEGE — that takes place in 2049 — the government gains control of all children from the age of six months. While that may seem impossible today, reality is moving closer to wholesale mind control.

Elsewhere on this site is my fiction short story about the risk of talking dolls. Click here now to read NATIONAL SECURITY NIGHTMARE.

And read for free on Wattpad THE MOTHER SIEGE at http://budurl.com/MSintro

Phyllis Zimbler Miller (@ZimblerMiller) has an M.B.A. from The Wharton School and is the author of fiction and nonfiction books/ebooks. Phyllis is available by skype for book group discussions and may be reached at pzmiller@gmail.com

Her Kindle fiction ebooks may be read for free with a Kindle Unlimited monthly subscription — see www.amazon.com/author/phylliszimblermiller — and her Kindle nonfiction ebooks may also be read for free with a Kindle Unlimited monthly subscription — see www.amazon.com/author/phylliszmiller