<story><title>Germany bans children&apos;s smartwatches</title><url>http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-42030109</url></story><parent_chain></parent_chain><comment><author>detaro</author><text>Just to clarify, since this article just talks about smartwatches in general: The issue are watches that allow someone to remotely listen in, not all variations of smart watches for kids. They are banned for that ability, not for general concerns about IoT security.&lt;p&gt;Hidden listening devices (devices with listening capability that are disguised as other harmless items) are illegal to possess or sell in Germany under existing law. The regulatory agency for this just made a press release pointing out this specific device category and that they have taken action against sellers.&lt;p&gt;German press release: &lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.bundesnetzagentur.de&amp;#x2F;SharedDocs&amp;#x2F;Pressemitteilungen&amp;#x2F;DE&amp;#x2F;2017&amp;#x2F;17112017_Verbraucherschutz.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.bundesnetzagentur.de&amp;#x2F;SharedDocs&amp;#x2F;Pressemitteilung...&lt;/a&gt;</text></comment>
<story><title>Germany bans children&apos;s smartwatches</title><url>http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-42030109</url></story><parent_chain></parent_chain><comment><author>creep</author><text>This may be an unpopular opinion, but I agree with the decision. Perhaps this will push the producers of such devices to up their privacy game, and in the future there should be security audits before allowing them back on the market. Regulation of production would be more difficult and more liable to error than if a producer were forced to prove itself reliable and trustworthy before being allowed to sell products to children.&lt;p&gt;For me as well this is an issue of high concern. Many parents blindly put faith in technology in their children&amp;#x27;s hands (especially in this case, where the smartwatches are marketed as a safety feature), but this may now encourage parents to be more mindful as to such decisions. In our society, we have a ravenous competition for who can grab children&amp;#x27;s attention and keep it. Perhaps if the competitors are willing to prove they have products that will actually improve a child&amp;#x27;s well-being, this game wouldn&amp;#x27;t be as odd as it seems to me now.&lt;p&gt;edit: I see now that this is only a ban on smartwatches with recording&amp;#x2F;audio capability. This makes my point somewhat irrelevant.</text></comment>