Research has found child-tracking smartwatches to contain severe security flaws allowing unauthorized persons, whether with or without bad intentions, to monitor children’s locations. According to research conducted by Pen Test Partners, a company that conducts penetration tests to see if a device offers adequate security, anyone with access to the internet (and a particular set of skills) can access information about the real-time GPS location of children wearing a smartwatch, or carrying a GPS tracker, from a Chinese company called ThinkRace.
In addition to accessing their GPS location, unauthorized persons can also spy on these children and/or listen to the audio recordings they make via the said smartwatches. In the report, Pen Test’s Vangelis Stykas even included an image showing GPS locations revealing his son’s whereabouts. This info, he said, can be accessed “without needing to authenticate to the correct API account.”
Full story here: https://www.ibtimes.com/
It’s very hard for consumers to make an informed choice about a product based on how it protects sensitive data when there’s essentially zero transparency. Consumers simply can’t tell if a device manufacturer has taken privacy seriously or not.
These situations are where government regulation becomes important. Consumers have every right to expect the privacy of their data, and their children’s data, to be minimally protected.