Smartwatches that can monitor children’s safety are familiar to everyone. They integrate positioning, listening, and calling functions, allowing parents who cannot be with their children at all times to keep track of their status. Such products are quite popular in many countries; however, they have been banned in Germany. Why is that?
△Video: Germany Bans Sales of Children’s “Smartwatches”
German Government: “Smartwatches” May Lead to Illegal Eavesdropping
According to recent reports from British media, the German government’s network regulatory agency, the Federal Network Agency, has ordered a ban on the sale of children’s “smartwatches” and has requested parents to dispose of any already purchased devices. The head of the Federal Network Agency, Jochen Homann, stated that they have asked several manufacturers of children’s “smartwatches” to immediately remove their products from the market.
Homann indicated that through a simple mobile application, parents can listen to the environment around their child via the “smartwatch” they are wearing. This is considered illegal information transmission and may lead to unauthorized eavesdropping.
Norwegian Consumer Association: “Smartwatches” Are Vulnerable to Hacking
In October of this year, the Norwegian Consumer Association reported that some children’s “smartwatches” transmit information, including location and voice, without encryption, making it easy for strangers to hack into these devices, thus posing a safety threat to children. The Norwegian Consumer Council has called for a ban on the sale and use of children’s “smartwatches” across Europe.
Do Children’s Smartwatches Provide Safety?
A domestic cybersecurity feedback organization in China has released a report indicating that among the top 32 smartwatches sold on a certain e-commerce platform, 13 models have security vulnerabilities that could allow hackers to monitor children in real-time and obtain their daily walking trajectories and surrounding sounds.
A representative from a smart device security technology company demonstrated how a hacker could invade a children’s smartwatch.
1. Invading the Watch: First, a mobile phone is paired with a children’s smartwatch, and then an attempt is made to hack into the paired watch from a computer.
2. Locating the Child’s Position: In a demonstration hacking program, the hacker inputs the parent’s phone number, and the program begins to crack the watch’s information. The hacking program quickly breaches the watch’s security defenses, successfully invading it, allowing the hacker to see the watch’s latitude and longitude coordinates on the computer. Based on these coordinates, the child’s location can be pinpointed on a map.
3. Obtaining the Child’s Daily Walking Route: Utilizing this vulnerability, the hacker can not only accurately grasp the watch’s location but also track the walking route of the smartwatch in real-time, mapping out the complete walking trajectory of the test subject, thus fully obtaining the child’s daily walking route.
4. Eavesdropping on Children’s Conversations and Surrounding Sounds: In the testing hacking program, a phone number is input, and a listening command is sent through the already breached security vulnerability. Soon, the hacked children’s smartwatch begins dialing the previously input phone number, and once the call is connected, the surrounding sounds of the child can be clearly heard. Based on the location and environmental sounds, it can be determined that the child is in Guangzhou and likely attending class.
5. Extracting Sensitive Information Such as Phone Numbers from the Watch: Furthermore, after hacking into the children’s smartwatch, the hacker can extract sensitive information from the watch, such as the parents’ phone numbers.
These information leaks pose potential risks to the safety of children and even their families.
Technical Standards for Children’s Smartwatches Await Development
It has been reported that there are currently no unified mandatory standards for children’s safety smartwatches in the country. The quality of these products in terms of information security varies widely, and watches marketed under the banner of “safety” may actually make children less safe.
It is understood that over 90% of children’s smartwatches in China are produced in Shenzhen. In November of this year, the Shenzhen Consumer Council took the lead in collaborating with several research institutions, including the Shenzhen Quality Consumption Research Institute and the Shenzhen Measurement Quality Testing Research Institute, along with several children’s smartwatch manufacturers, to jointly formulate the “Shenzhen Children’s Smartwatch Technical Standards Document,” which has been initiated and is expected to be released within the year. This local standard for children’s smartwatches will fill the gap in standards in this field both domestically and internationally, further regulating and supervising the children’s smartwatch market, eliminating substandard products, and protecting consumers’ legitimate rights and interests.
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Produced by Yang Jihong, Chief Editor Wang Xingdong
Editor Li Jiahua
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