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Germany bans children's doll over spying fears

Owners of the My Friend Cayla doll have been ordered to destroy them after it was found that (crackers) hackers could infiltrate the toy and glean information from the children interacting with it. The doll connects to the internet using wireless technology and has the processing power to run a text-to-speech program.

 

Quote

"Items that conceal cameras or microphones and that are capable of transmitting a signal, and therefore can transmit data without detection, compromise people's privacy. This applies in particular to children's toys. The Cayla doll has been banned in Germany,"

 

 

"This is also to protect the most vulnerable in our society." said the president of Bundesnetzagentur (Federal Network Agency for Electricity, Gas, Telecommunications, Post and Railway) Jochen Homann a German watchdog group. 

 

Genesis Toys is a Hong Kong-based Chinese company and is partnered with an Australian company that maintains speech recognition software assisting disabled people, to access computers.

 

Links:

Genesis Toys (privacy policy)

Engadget

MSN Australia

Bundesnetzagentur

Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves (Abraham Lincoln,1808-1865; 16th US president).

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Humanity has come a long way. 

The ability to google properly is a skill of its own. 

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Awesome.

Ketchup is better than mustard.

GUI is better than Command Line Interface.

Dubs are better than subs

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2 minutes ago, huilun02 said:

Does a doll for the target demographic even need internet access?

I question why it is a thing in the first place.

For the sole reason it was banned. If people think that someone wasnt already looking in to the cameras then they are naive. 

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To think someone took this idea to their boss, and the boss actually thought it was a great concept to go ahead with.

 

Humanity at times is best summed up as having a single brain cell that fights for dominance.

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Spying on children: Not cool. Banned immediately.

Spying on adults: No problem, go ahead. 

 

There's so much more stuff and so much many practises that deserve a ban too or at least stricter regulations.

 

 

I try to imagine how the moms apply the order...

"Schatz, kann ich mal deine Puppe haben?"

"Warum denn, Mama?"

"Ich will sie kaputt machen"

...wait, I can hack into a doll and listen xD

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8 hours ago, tlink said:

yass germany, good job.

Shit ass country. I try to leave the sinking ship as soon as i can

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@EpicCrumbCake Well this is only an issue cause "hackers" can do it... If an someone not affiliated with the US government was to gain access to the NSA the shitstorm would be even more glorious than this issue.

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On 2/18/2017 at 7:21 PM, Kierax said:

To think someone took this idea to their boss, and the boss actually thought it was a great concept to go ahead with.

 

Humanity at times is best summed up as having a single brain cell that fights for dominance.

Stupidity has no bounds

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23 hours ago, Teddy07 said:

Shit ass country. I try to leave the sinking ship as soon as i can

What's wrong with Germany?

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On 18/02/2017 at 9:12 PM, EpicCrumbCake said:

Spying on children: Not cool. Banned immediately.

Spying on adults: No problem, go ahead. 

 

There's so much more stuff and so much many practises that deserve a ban too or at least stricter regulations.

 

 

I try to imagine how the moms apply the order...

"Schatz, kann ich mal deine Puppe haben?"

"Warum denn, Mama?"

"Ich will sie kaputt machen"

...wait, I can hack into a doll and listen xD

Difference is pedophile. 

 

Also, translation? 

- snip-

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According to the quote, the line between banning the doll (and google glass or whatever in that line) and banning practically everything relies on what a "concealed" camera or microphone is. Bend the definition of concealed and everything becomes legal (concealed=unknown, so if you buy the doll knowing it has a microphone it's legal) or everything becomes illegal (concealed=patently visible at all times, and activity indicators impossible to switch off). Do you even know where the built-in microphone of your laptop is? I wouldn't call it "visible".

 

Meanwhile, we have millions of devices (like laptops, tablets, smartphones) with all sorts of "spying" tools and transmitting signals. And, while "not concealed" (but again, visible microphones?), there is no way for us to know they are not hacked, recording, and transmitting without our consent as much as the doll. It's really hard to find an argument to support banning the doll or not banning smartphones along the lines presented here.

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5 hours ago, MrDynamicMan said:

Also, translation? 

"honey may i have the doll?"
"why mom?"
"i wanna destroy it"

 

On 18.2.2017 at 8:24 PM, Teddy07 said:

Shit ass country. I try to leave the sinking ship as soon as i can

elaborate 

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RyzenITX : Ryzen 7 1700 | GA-AB350N-Gaming WIFI | 16gb DDR4 2666 | GTX 1060 | Cougar QBX 

 

PSU Tier list

 

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Well they've already had Der Stasi once, so no wonder.

Watching Intel have competition is like watching a headless chicken trying to get out of a mine field

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furby with internet lol

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I wish lawmakers had banned Furby way back in the day. I'm sure those things were sinister inventions to give children night terrors. 

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@Space Reptile, @Bleedingyamato

 

Germany takes ~66% of all refugees which want asylum in the whole EU. In addition:  According to numbers from January 2017, only ~30-40% of those asylum applications are granted. Despite that Germany only deported ~25000 people back to their country and at the same time, ~700.000 new asylum applications are filed. We citizens have to pay for all the illegitimate refugees housing, healthcare, electricity and a monthly sum which they can spend on their own.

 

I just started with my university degree, so I have to stay a couple more years before I finally can leave. I am not willing to pay for all those illegal immigrants with my taxes.

 

I can provide a source for every one of my claims if needed! So feel free to ask.

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3 minutes ago, Teddy07 said:

I am not willing to pay for all those illegal immigrants with my taxes.

if that is whats bothering you , you will not be missed 

RyzenAir : AMD R5 3600 | AsRock AB350M Pro4 | 32gb Aegis DDR4 3000 | GTX 1070 FE | Fractal Design Node 804
RyzenITX : Ryzen 7 1700 | GA-AB350N-Gaming WIFI | 16gb DDR4 2666 | GTX 1060 | Cougar QBX 

 

PSU Tier list

 

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1 hour ago, Teddy07 said:

@Space Reptile, @Bleedingyamato

 

Germany takes ~66% of all refugees which want asylum in the whole EU. In addition:  According to numbers from January 2017, only ~30-40% of those asylum applications are granted. Despite that Germany only deported ~25000 people back to their country and at the same time, ~700.000 new asylum applications are filed. We citizens have to pay for all the illegitimate refugees housing, healthcare, electricity and a monthly sum which they can spend on their own.

 

I just started with my university degree, so I have to stay a couple more years before I finally can leave. I am not willing to pay for all those illegal immigrants with my taxes.

 

I can provide a source for every one of my claims if needed! So feel free to ask.

You know that, per definition, an illegal immigrant is undocumented right? Which means they can't apply for housing or healthcare aid. Because they would need to be registered. So your taxes don't help them at all, your taxes only go to legal residents of Germany. In addition, those illegal residents are still paying taxes (especially sales tax). So really, there's an argument to be made for them to be net positives. 

 

Lastly, good luck finding a country where the quality of life is as good as in Germany, you can really only downgrade. Especially if the people there are as distrustful of immigrants as you are, since you'll be one of those. 

Case: Meatbag, humanoid - APU: Human Brain version 1.53 (stock clock) - Storage: 100TB SND (Squishy Neuron Drive) - PSU: a combined 500W of Mitochondrial cells - Optical Drives: 2 Oculi, with corrective lenses.

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One day, we will have to worry about not allowing the doll to kill our children instead... and ourselves/pets included o-o

Groomlake Authority

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23 minutes ago, SirRoderick said:

You know that, per definition, an illegal immigrant is undocumented right? Which means they can't apply for housing or healthcare aid. Because they would need to be registered. So your taxes don't help them at all, your taxes only go to legal residents of Germany. In addition, those illegal residents are still paying taxes (especially sales tax). So really, there's an argument to be made for them to be net positives.

1

Of course, you can apply for asylum without any document here in Germany. Some even suddenly lose their documents when crossing the German border what a coincidence.

Asylum seekers receive their benefits from the government which is funded through taxes. They of course receive benefits during that time and can only hardly be send back because they do not have any document. That´s why Germany always never deport people back to africa.

 

28 minutes ago, SirRoderick said:

Lastly, good luck finding a country where the quality of life is as good as in Germany, you can really only downgrade. Especially if the people there are as distrustful of immigrants as you are, since you'll be one of those. 

1

I like Switzerland, Norway... Canada would be my dream but immigration rules are very strict.

I have nothing against immigrants who pay their taxes, integrate themselves and work like everyone else. That are realistic expectations.

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4 minutes ago, Teddy07 said:

Of course, you can apply for asylum without any document here in Germany. Some even suddenly lose their documents when crossing the German border what a coincidence.

Asylum seekers receive their benefits from the government which is funded through taxes. They of course receive benefits during that time and can only hardly be send back because they do not have any document. That´s why Germany always never deport people back to africa.

 

I like Switzerland, Norway... Canada would be my dream but immigration rules are very strict.

I have nothing against immigrants who pay their taxes, integrate themselves and work like everyone else. That are realistic expectations.

Asylum seekers are not illegal immigrants. At least use the correct labels for the people your argument is based on.

 

As for Canada: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/refugees/welcome/

 

Turns out most 1st world countries are inhabited by decent human beings that don't turn away refugees. Even Switzerland recently voted to relax citizenship rules.

Case: Meatbag, humanoid - APU: Human Brain version 1.53 (stock clock) - Storage: 100TB SND (Squishy Neuron Drive) - PSU: a combined 500W of Mitochondrial cells - Optical Drives: 2 Oculi, with corrective lenses.

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Ok, now ban every smartphone, tablet and personal computer with a microphone and a webcam on it. Isn't that what this is about? If your device is connected to the internet you're at risk of being spied on. That's a fact.

16 hours ago, MrDynamicMan said:

Difference is pedophile. 

Is it? Kids usually have access to their parent's devices in some way or another. Heck, I'm sure there's a lot of photographic and video content of them in their parent's smartphone, tablet or pc for someone willing and savvy enough to take. Where is the line drawn?

 

Sure, the doll was a bad idea to begin with - as are most of current IoT enabled devices - but if you ban that then the list of things that qualifies for banning skyrockets. What needs to be done are better and stricter controls on how the manufacturer implements security, making sure updates can and will be pushed to the device at any time if its software is compromised in any way. This must be done with proper and precise legislation, not targeted and selective banning of whatever has been brought to the court's attention at that particular time.

Don't ask to ask, just ask... please 🤨

sudo chmod -R 000 /*

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5 minutes ago, SirRoderick said:

Turns out most 1st world countries are inhabited by decent human beings that don't turn away refugees. Even Switzerland recently voted to relax citizenship rules.

To be fair we all have that one extreme right bullshit-spewing party that would want a Trump wall. Where I live there's a party that wants to split our own nation in half, let alone allowing anyone else in.

Don't ask to ask, just ask... please 🤨

sudo chmod -R 000 /*

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