FBI warns about risks associated with IoT toys

The US Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) has issued a consumer notice about Internet-connected toys, warning about privacy and safety implications for children. Because smart toys and entertainment devices for children contain technologies that allow them to act based on user interactions, they ‘could put the privacy and safety of children at risk, due to the large amount of personal information that may be unwittingly disclosed’. To address such risks, the FBI outlines several recommendations, including only using toys in environments with trusted and secured Wi-Fi Internet access, researching where user data is stored and carefully reading the disclosures and privacy policies, and checking if the toy can receive firmware and/or software updates and security patches.