Germany has banned an interactive doll ‘My Friend Cayla’ manufactured by an American company that German regulators charge can spy on children and collect personal data from them and their parents.
The innocent looking blonde haired doll was banned by Germany’s Federal Network Agency has the recording capabilities and the ability to access the internet. Researchers claimed that Cayla’s unsecured Bluetooth device and internal software could be hacked, giving hackers access to personal data and/or the ability to talk to young children playing with the doll.
Whilst the German distributor of talking doll My Friend Cayla insists it is safe to use but takes hacking claims “very seriously”. The distributor of a talking doll which has been banned in Germany due to security concerns insists it is not an “espionage device”.
