Germany Banned Smartwatches for Kids

The Bundesnetzagentur—a telecommunication agency of Germany, has announced to ban the usage of smartwatches by kids and have requested the parents to destroy them. As per the Bleeping Computer (via Gizmodo) the officials have categorized the smartwatches as the “prohibited listening devices” and are stressing upon parents to destroy them and also directing the schools to keep a close watch on the kids with such watches.

Germany is stressing on the listening capabilities of the smartwatches but did not say a word about the announcement made by the European Consumers Organization (BEUC) which was that these high-priced gadgets pose a serious threat to the child’s privacy.

The BEUC mentioned that the GPS-tracking smartwatches could be easily hacked by the hackers and the child’s location could be tracked or manipulated. The hackers control on the watch could also provide him/her with the historical location data along with the personal information about the wealth.

If the Europe’s hit on the smartwatches remains like this then sooner the manufacturers need to come forward to present something in favor or their security protocol so that the declining smartwatch market could be improved which is not that great presently.

This is not the first time for Germany to ban any product sale. Earlier this year it banned “my friend Cayla”—smart dolls because of the hacking fear and of the illegal collection of the kids’ sensitive information.

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