“There are hidden dangers in smartwatches!” This phrase has become a catchphrase for Beijing resident Liu Wei when chatting with his daughter.
Liu Wei’s daughter is 8 years old and has been obsessed with the “watch circle” (the social circle of friends on smartwatches) for nearly three years. In the past, he allowed his daughter to interact with friends, believing it was normal for children to have their own social circles. However, during the recent winter vacation, he accidentally discovered that his daughter’s smartwatch had added many strangers, including a middle-aged man who frequently sent suggestive messages, which raised his alarm.
In recent years, the functions of children’s smartwatches have continuously expanded. In addition to location tracking and making calls, they can also support micro-chat, video calls, taking photos, posting to social circles, leaving comments, and even include educational games and payment functions, resembling a miniature smartphone.
Many parents interviewed by the Legal Daily expressed concerns that children can add friends without restrictions through smartwatches, turning what was originally a beneficial “location watch” into a “social tool”. At the same time, the complex functions of smartwatches can lead to children becoming addicted, resulting in issues such as lack of concentration, vision impairment, and insufficient sleep. There are also risks of inducing consumption, exposing privacy, and being exploited by criminals.
Should children’s smartwatches return to their core functions of health and safety? How can we protect minors’ “safety on their wrists”? The reporter conducted an investigation.
Cartoon: Li Xiaojun
Smartwatches Are All the Rage, But Their Complex Functions Can Lead to Addiction
Due to their practical and entertaining features, children’s smartwatches have increasingly shifted from “satisfying parents” to “pleasing children”, becoming more popular among minors.
According to the China Industry Research Institute’s “2022-2027 China Children’s Smartwatch Industry In-Depth Research and Investment Prospect Forecast Report”, there are approximately 170 million children aged 5 to 12 in China, with a market penetration rate of about 30% for children’s smartwatches, meaning that roughly one in three children has a smartwatch. Among urban children, the market penetration rate is at least over half.
The reporter found that the prices of children’s smartwatches on an e-commerce platform range from dozens to thousands of yuan, with brands including Xiaotiancai, Huawei, Xiaomi, and 360. On the product detail pages, many children’s smartwatches come pre-installed with various applications such as chat, music, homework, stories, and wallets, supporting functions like taking photos, health monitoring, and payments. The chat software allows sending voice messages, images, emojis, or video calls, and also features a social circle where friends can like or comment on each other’s posts.
For example, the Xiaotiancai smartwatch initially focused on “two-way calling” but has gradually upgraded to include various functions, with prices ranging from 398 yuan to 1999 yuan. The luxury version has even more features, with sales exceeding 2000 on a certain e-commerce platform.
Liu Wei mentioned that his daughter has used two generations of smartwatches from kindergarten to third grade, initially to keep track of her location and communicate with her, but these two functions have now been downplayed, while social, entertainment, shopping, and photography features have become more prominent. “It’s like a small smartphone with multiple functions, and the child is obsessed with it, playing with the watch every day. There are several strangers in the watch, and I don’t know how they were added,” he said.
Upon discovering the issue, Liu Wei immediately deleted all the strangers from his daughter’s watch and quickly set the “friend request requires parental approval” mode.
A teacher from a primary school in Zhongshan, Guangdong, told the reporter that almost every student in her class has a smartwatch, and they particularly enjoy chatting, taking photos, and using social circle features, making it difficult for them to concentrate in class. “To avoid disrupting the class, we have to manage them collectively,” she said.
Li Jingsi, a national second-level psychological counselor, analyzed that while smartwatches meet the convenience needs of minors, they also fulfill their psychological needs, such as a sense of security, belonging, and achievement, making them increasingly favored by children.
“In the chat groups on smartwatches, they can always receive attention and a sense of belonging, combined with the addictive design of smart products, which makes children with insufficient cognitive abilities think that using smartwatches is a cool experience that allows them to ride the wave of trends, mistakenly believing that smartwatches can sometimes replace real needs in their growth process,” Li Jingsi said.
Beware of the Dangers of Virtual Social Networks
“Tap the watch, let’s add each other as friends.” This phrase has become a common greeting among many children. The reporter randomly interviewed over ten minors in Beijing and Hunan and found that the social features in smartwatches are the most popular among children.
For instance, 7-year-old Linlin from Beijing particularly enjoys adding friends, motivated by the fun and the ability to chat anytime. Recently, she added a girl she just met as a friend and frequently sends her short videos or video calls to share her daily life. 12-year-old Kang Kang from Hunan is keen on adding friends because he feels a sense of achievement when he sees his friends commenting on his posts.
Many parents express concerns about this phenomenon: if many adults struggle to resist the temptation of smartphones, how can children? Some parents often see their children hiding under the covers at night chatting on their watches.
“Especially the ability to add strangers as friends with just a tap is frightening. We don’t know who the other person is, and we have no idea what kind of contact they might have with our children. What if they encounter a bad person?” Zhao Lei, a resident of Changsha, Hunan, complained.
Zhao Lei’s child is 9 years old and has been using a smartwatch for nearly a year. Initially, the child only used the watch to call her, but within a month, he learned to use various applications on the watch and now approaches peers to add them as friends.
In her view, children’s smartwatches are becoming increasingly socialized, which is more harmful than beneficial for children. “Through smartwatches, children are exposed to excessive and overly adult-like online information, which can lead to early psychological maturity and a tendency to become addicted to virtual social networks, reducing their willingness to interact with others in the real world.”
Li Jingsi also pointed out that minors are in a critical period of physical and mental development, with weak self-control and discipline. Online socializing can give them a sense of achievement and satisfaction, and becoming obsessed with posting and checking in on smartwatches may exacerbate their dependence on the internet and even lead to internet addiction. Additionally, some smart features of smartwatches may inadvertently diminish children’s active thinking abilities, as they can simply ask a question to get answers for unfamiliar words and phrases.
Inducing Consumption and Privacy Violations Raise Red Flags
In addition to concerns about children becoming addicted to online socializing, Zhao Lei raised another issue: the smartwatch she bought for her child has software that induces consumption, and this software can deduct payments without using a payment password.
The reporter noted that on a third-party complaint platform, there are numerous complaints related to inducing consumption regarding children’s smartwatches. The Jiangsu Provincial Consumer Rights Protection Committee has previously stated that several parents have complained that the parent-side app linked to children’s smartwatches did not enable password-free payment and payment confirmation, yet children could directly purchase game services from the watch, resulting in deductions from the parent’s account.
Moreover, some game software in children’s smartwatches has issues with repeated deductions and multiple deductions, making it easy for children to be attracted by advertisements or game content and even make large purchases.
“The user group for children’s smartwatches is minors aged 3 to 14, who are considered to have no civil capacity or limited civil capacity. Unauthorized payment actions are invalid and can be denied by parents. If this causes economic losses to children or parents, they can demand compensation from the responsible merchants,” said Du Xiujun, a lawyer at Beijing Zhongwen Law Firm.
He pointed out that inducing consumption through children’s smartwatches not only violates China’s advertising law, which prohibits advertisements for goods or services aimed at minors under 14 from containing content that encourages them to ask their parents to purchase such goods or services, but also violates the Minor Protection Law, which requires online service providers to set up corresponding time management, permission management, and consumption management functions for minors using their services. Relevant departments can investigate and deal with these violations.
“If manufacturers or service providers of children’s smartwatches deduct fees without any consumption agreement with children and parents, without any prompts or notifications, it constitutes theft, and serious cases may lead to criminal liability,” Du Xiujun said.
Some children’s smartwatches also pose risks of privacy exposure. The reporter noted that some older versions and configurations of children’s smartwatches lack appropriate privacy settings, allowing apps to access various permissions without user authorization, potentially obtaining minors’ facial images, locations, and conversation privacy.
“If malicious individuals invade the watch, this product, which was supposed to be worry-free, could turn into a ‘tracker’. How can we ensure the safety of children?” Zhao Lei expressed her concerns.
According to a consumer survey report released by the Jiangsu Provincial Consumer Rights Protection Committee, 17.11% of consumers reported experiencing personal information leaks from children’s smartwatches, and 32.89% expressed a desire for measures to be taken to enhance the information security of children’s smartwatches.
Previously, the “3.15 Information Security Laboratory” tested a children’s smartwatch that sold over “100,000+” units on an e-commerce platform. The results showed that due to the outdated operating system used by the watch, there were no permission management requirements, allowing malicious programs to be easily implanted without the knowledge of children and parents, obtaining children’s locations, facial images, recordings, and other private information.
“The non-compliance of children’s smartwatches in collecting information needs urgent attention,” said Zhang Xiaobing, head of the Youth Research Institute of the China Youth Research Center. The biometric data, tracking trajectories, and other personal information collected by children’s smartwatches are considered sensitive personal information, and the principle of minimal collection should be adhered to, requiring consent from the parents or guardians of minors. This red line must not be crossed.
Zhang Xiaobing also reminded that minors have weak abilities to recognize online risks, and while using smartwatches, they may easily leak personal information such as photos, videos, real-time locations, personal situations, and parental information, leading to privacy breaches. On this basis, they may be exploited by malicious individuals who disguise themselves as peers to induce consumption or download harmful software, and even potentially lure children into illegal activities.
Push for Mandatory National Standards for Design and Function Review
As children’s smartwatches gradually become standard electronic products for children, the issues they present need urgent attention.
Many interviewed experts suggested that educational departments, schools, families, and society should work together to create a safety net. Strengthening industry review and supervision, and standardizing health guidelines is essential. Consideration should be given to including children’s exposure to social media within the regulatory scope, and issuing guidelines for the design and promotion of children’s smart products, providing legal frameworks for companies developing related products.
Notably, in November 2022, the national standard GB/T41411-2022 “Children’s Watches” was officially implemented. Experts believe that implementing national standards will help further protect children’s personal information. This standard is currently a recommended national standard, and based on its implementation, it may be elevated to a mandatory national standard, requiring manufacturers to strictly adhere to relevant standards in the design, production, and sales of children’s smartwatches, addressing issues from the source.
Li Jingsi suggested that the design of children’s electronic products should align with the growth stages of minors, aiming to promote healthy development. Given the weak self-control of minors, manufacturers should refine settings on the parent side, establishing different usage rules based on the characteristics of minors.
Zhang Xiaobing proposed from an industry regulation perspective that the industry should promote self-discipline, strengthen industry review and supervision, establish safety standards for children’s smartwatches, and encourage the industry to regularly publish relevant survey reports disclosing industry development trends and the status of minor protection.
“The government should also strengthen supervision, holding companies or platforms accountable for violating relevant laws and regulations, creating a social atmosphere and concept that truly cares for and respects children. Efforts should be made to promote the introduction of the “Minor Network Protection Regulations”, including children’s exposure to social media within the scope of protection, and enhancing the design review and function audit of children’s smartwatches,” Zhang Xiaobing said.
Du Xiujun suggested that, on one hand, regular education on the harms of children’s smart products and mental health should be conducted, along with lectures on internet literacy for students and parents to enhance their ability to resist harmful information. On the other hand, parents and schools should correctly guide children to establish healthy interactive relationships through enriching hobbies, improving social skills, and increasing engaging activities, encouraging children to engage in offline “real socializing”.
Beijing parent Chen Chen deeply resonates with this. He believes that parents should build the first line of “firewall”, paying more attention to their children’s physical and mental changes, and enhancing their social communication skills. Companies should also “subtract” in product development, ensuring that functional designs align with children’s physical and mental development characteristics, returning to core functions of health and safety, meeting children’s actual needs, while strengthening information security protection to avoid threats to children’s physical and mental safety due to program vulnerabilities.
(The names Liu Wei, Zhao Lei, and Chen Chen in the text are pseudonyms)
Author｜Legal DailyReporter Wen Lijuan
Source｜Legal Daily
Editor｜Wang Fang, Zhang Bo, Yue Lan
