Is This Pretty Doll Spying on Children?

Parents have been ordered to destroy a toy doll that may be spying on their children.

The My Friend Cayla Doll is a blonde-haired, blue-eyed interactive cutie that answers questions about herself, solves math problems, and plays games. Her favorite movie is The Little Mermaid and her favorite song is Frozen’s “Let It Go.” She says, “Hello, you’re looking great as usual!” and can spell “Cat.” The doll is programed by software that allows kids to log online with voice-recognition software and control the toy with an app.

The problem? Hackers could potentially control the doll from a bluetooth connection in the child’s home to speak directly to him or her or steal their personal information — the doll asks kids for their names, along with that of their parents, hometown, and school, in order to personalize interaction. To test the hacker theory, the British newspaper the Mirror even manipulated Cayla to quote Hannibal Lector and lines from 50 Shades of Grey.

According to a complaint filed Friday with the United States Federal Trade Commission (FTC), “The toys subject young children to ongoing surveillance and are deployed in homes across the United States without any meaningful data.” It alleges that the doll violates child protection laws that require parental permission to collect personal information on kids. The complaint also included the i-Que Intelligent Robot, also by Genesis Toys.

In Germany, where the doll is also sold, the Federal Network Agency has declared Cayla an “illegal espionage apparatus.” Anyone who sells — or owns — Cayla faces possible jail time if they don’t destroy the doll immediately. Similar complaints about Cayla have also been filed in Belgium, the Netherland, France, Ireland, and Norway, according to CNET.

A spokesperson from Genesis Toys did not respond to Yahoo Beauty’s request for comment, although company rep Gabe Uribe told the Huffington Post last week, “We immediately developed a patch, and upgraded the software. In fact, we have shipped over 400,000 Caylas around the globe since its debut last summer, and have not had a single consumer complaint, regarding security issues or problems.”

Talking toys have come a long way since Mattel’s “Chatty Kathy,” a doll that debuted in 1959 and could talk to kids with the help of a drawstring. In December, the U.S. Senate expressed concern about ‘smart toys,’ which connect to the Internet and are able to record conversations. “It’s a computer that happens to be shaped like a kids’ toy,” Tod Beardsley of Rapid7, a cybersecurity firm, told ABC News. “These toys end up in a lot of places … They can go to the kid’s school. They can go to your office when it’s Take Your Kid to Work Day. These devices can connect to an enterprise network and that can create more risk exposure.”

Also included in the Senate report is Fisher-Price’s Smart Toy Bear, a “Wi-Fi-connected stuffed animal” that raises “troubling questions regarding whether connected toymakers are adequately prioritizing the security of the information they collect from children.” And back in 2015, Mattel’s “Hello Barbie,” a $75 doll that talks with the press of a button, stirred controversy for being “creepy.”

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