Last but not least: Barbie the data octopus
The new «Hello Barbie» doll isn't just causing outrage among privacy advocates. The Internet of Things has made its way into the children's room.
The Barbie sales figures look anything but rosy and are in in free fall. To end the sales slump, Mattel has introduced the new doll "Hello Barbie" at the North American International Toy Fair. Barbie 2.0 can not only speak, but above all listen and learn the behavior of the owner through voice recognition software. Meaning: The doll can have a conversation with a girl that "makes sense" - the follow-up question builds on the last answer, for example. A Mattel employee demonstrates a possible conversation:
The catch: the dummy transmits the call data via WLAN to the company's server. There, they are evaluated and analyzed. This is supposed to help improve the quality of the installed software. Angela Campbell, a law professor at Georgetown University in Washington, sums up the problem: "If I had a small child, I would be very concerned that his confidential conversations with his doll were being recorded and analyzed. She is one of the initiators of the Online petition, which wants to stop the doll. And Susan Linn, head of the responsible initiative "Campaign for a commercial-free childhood" to the Washington Post: "Children who use Hello Barbie are not just talking to a doll, but directly to a toy company whose only interest is financial."
Mattel Germany sees no reason for concern at the request of Mirror OnlineThe doll in question would not be available in Europe anyway. "Children in the U.S. have a completely different way of dealing with social media issues. What would cause outrage in Europe is not viewed so critically there," a spokeswoman said. All right, we're reassured. (hae)
