Germany’s Telecoms regulator, Federal Network Agency (Bundesnetzagentur), has issued a ban on smartwatches for children. The regulator described the devices as spying devices.
Earlier this year, the regulator also issued a ban on the talking doll “My friend Cayla” because of its susceptibility to hacking.
The regulator urged parents who bought smartwatches for their children to destroy them. In a statement provided by BBC, the regulatory agency said it had already taken action against several firms offering such watches on the internet.
“Via an app, parents can use such children’s watches to listen unnoticed to the child’s environment and they are to be regarded as an unauthorised transmitting system,” said Jochen Homann, president of the Federal Network Agency.
“According to our research, parents’ watches are also used to listen to teachers in the classroom.”
The agency also asked schools to “pay more attention” to such watches among students.
Most of these smartwatches are sold by a large number of companies in Germany to children between the ages of five and twelve. These smartwatches come equipped with a SIM card and limited telephony function and controlled via an app.
