Are These Toys Spying on You? Burlington Company Faces Accusations

BURLINGTON, MA — When parents buy their children toys during the holiday season, few worry about the toy's ability to listen in on your conversations. However, consumer groups say two toys on the market are spying on kids, and threatening their security.

Several consumer groups filed a joint complaint to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Tuesday alleging that the My Friend Cayla doll and the I-Que Intelligent Robot record private conversations of children as well as personal information in violation of the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act. The complaint accuses both toy manufacturer Genesis Toys and Burlington-based Nuance Communication of violating both child-specific and general consumer protections.

Nuance Communications developed the third-party voice recognition software for the toys.

"With the growing Internet of Things, American consumers face unprecedented levels of surveillance in their most private spaces, and young children are uniquely vulnerable to these invasive practices," said Claire T. Gartland, the Director of the EPIC Consumer Privacy Project in a statement. "The FTC has an obligation here to step in and safeguard the privacy of young children against toys that spy and companies that exploit their very voices for corporate gain."

In response to articles published regarding the complaint, Nuance's vice president of corporate marketing and communications Richard Mack stated in a blog post that Nuance had not received any communication from the FTC and "will respond appropriately" to any inquiry, and denied any violations.

Mack also added that the company's policy does not allow the use or sale of voice data for marketing or advertising purposes

"Nuance does not share voice data collected from or on behalf of any of our customers with any of our other customers," Mack wrote."We have made and will continue to make data privacy a priority."

The complaint further alleges that both Genesis and Nuance "unfairly and deceptively collect, use, and disclose audio files of children's voices without providing adequate notice or obtaining verified parental consent."

In a video made by the Norwegian Consumer Council, the group alleges that the toys can also be used to eavesdrop on conversations from a distance, and that conversations are recorded and can be used by Nuance in any way they see fit, including for marketing and advertising purposes.

"Genesis and Nuance are completely disregarding their legal and ethical obligations when it comes to kids' privacy," Gartland said. "Instead, they have chosen to exploit children's sensitive voice recordings and private conversations for corporate profit. It is extremely alarming that what a child says to her 'trusted' friend could end up in a voice biometrics database sold to law enforcement and intelligence agencies."

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