Why is "eavesdropping" on children such a big issue? Our "adult" devices may or may not be eavesdropping on us at all times.
Children cannot consent to or directly retaliate against eavesdropping.
Kids' smartwatches have security problems as simple as 1-2-3
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Re: Kids' smartwatches have security problems as simple as 1-2-3
#12Re: Kids' smartwatches have security problems as simple as 1-2-3
#13Someone should create a list of all the smart devices which respect privacy and security. The list would be short.
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Re: Kids' smartwatches have security problems as simple as 1-2-3
#14Why is "eavesdropping" on children such a big issue? Our "adult" devices may or may not be eavesdropping on us at all times.
Because unless you're deeply involved in politics or some nefarious activity, all that surveillance isn't likely to impact you immediately and directly in any noticeable way. Most of it isn't even seen by other humans. Whereas parents have direct power over their children, and they tend to pay close attention - which makes "eavesdropping" on children both a huge risk for parental abuse, and a general source of development issues, as tracked kids know their movements are watched and subject to consequences.
Re: Kids' smartwatches have security problems as simple as 1-2-3
#15I’m a big fan of what Jiobit is doing: https://www.jiobit.com/
The core team is all ex-Moto engineers and was built from the ground up in the US. Based out of Chicago I believe.
Re: Kids' smartwatches have security problems as simple as 1-2-3
#16I’m a big fan of what Jiobit is doing: https://www.jiobit.com/ The core team is all ex-Moto engineers and was built from the ground up in the US. Based out of Chicago I believe.
Is there any reason you used the past-tense for what they're attempting? They seem like a fully functional company from the URL given.
Re: Kids' smartwatches have security problems as simple as 1-2-3
#17Why is "eavesdropping" on children such a big issue? Our "adult" devices may or may not be eavesdropping on us at all times.
Because unless you're deeply involved in politics or some nefarious activity, all that surveillance isn't likely to impact you immediately and directly in any noticeable way. Most of it isn't even seen by other humans. Whereas parents have direct power over their children, and they tend to pay close attention - which makes "eavesdropping" on children both a huge risk for parental abuse, and a general source of develo…
This was my first thought when reading the article. Why are these devices out there in the first place? Even if I had come to the conclusion that I needed one for my child, in no sane world would I hand that responsibility over to a tech startup that only just cobbled itself together. I'm sure they -could- be done securely, but I'll never get to see all the links in the security chain to make sure, and it's ultimately run by humans. Even the best technologically secure system can be ruined by a human with the right access.
Re: Kids' smartwatches have security problems as simple as 1-2-3
#18Security flaws are almost expected in devices like this. While parents equipping their children with these watches are probably a security risk themselves, I believe the realities of software development can explain the flaws we are seeing. I doubt the software has seen any tests at all. The developers are probably happy that it works at all.
I am generalizing of course, but as an I don't think we have the engineering rigour of other engineering practices to ensure their security. We also tend to rely too much on third parties being trustworthy, be that software dependencies or SaaS providers.
Re: Kids' smartwatches have security problems as simple as 1-2-3
#19Someone should create a list of all the smart devices which respect privacy and security. The list would be short.
Mozilla does this with popular devices every year around the holidays.
Re: Kids' smartwatches have security problems as simple as 1-2-3
#20The software is being pushed so fast into the market and everyone doesn't want to be left behind. Security features are one of the first ones to be ignored, and that's very bad.
It might be bad for the customers/users, but because everyone does it, it doesn't seem bad for the companies.