The Bright-Eyed Talking Doll That Just Might Be a Spy<br />That’s the stark warning parents in Germany received on Friday from the country’s telecommunications watchdog, the Federal Network Agency,<br />which said hackers could use the doll to steal personal data by recording private conversations over an insecure Bluetooth connection.<br />In December, advocacy groups filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission alleging<br />that Genesis Toys had violated the rules on children’s privacy because the Cayla doll records and transmits the voice prints of children to Nuance Communications, a computer-software company.<br />For example, "Hello Barbie," an interactive doll, is sold in the United States but not in Germany, where the news media has dubbed it the "Stasi-Barbie," a reference to the widely hated East German secret police<br />that infiltrated the everyday lives of Germans to such an extent that even relatives were distrustful of one another.<br />Mr. Homann encouraged parents to deactivate the doll, which is manufactured<br />by United States-based Genesis Toys and distributed by the Vivid Toy group.
