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Bundesnetzagentur boss Klaus Müller: "Especially in children's rooms, such devices have no place."
Photo: Rolf Vennenbernd / dpa
With a view to Christmas, the Federal Network Agency warns against certain smart devices under the tree: some networked stuffed animals and vacuum robots could be banned in Germany.
Toys and everyday objects that create audio or video recordings unnoticed and can transmit them to other receiving devices via WLAN or Bluetooth are not permitted in Germany, the Bonn authority emphasized on Wednesday.
The decisive criterion is whether the recording function is sufficiently perceptible, they say.
For example, glasses with a microphone or camera are prohibited "if no perceptible optical or acoustic signals draw sufficient attention to a recording situation," the authority explained.
Because in this way “they invade the privacy of people in the area”.
Robot vacuums and animal feed dispensers can also be banned if they can secretly transmit images or audio recordings to the owner's smartphone.
A recording function is only permissible if the device gives acoustic or visual indications that it is being recorded.
"Toys that allow you to secretly access image or sound recordings via an app are also classified as espionage devices," the Federal Network Agency explained.
You can't see the functions of every device
"Networked devices that are suitable for spying and endanger our privacy are prohibited," said Klaus Müller, President of the Federal Network Agency.
"Especially in the children's room, such devices have no place."
According to his authority, smart products that are disguised as normal objects are “particularly insidious”.
Most recently, the Federal Network Agency noticed flower pots equipped with microphones, wall clocks with cameras, piggy banks with night vision and drinking bottles with video capability.
The authority advises consumers to find out about how connected devices work and the data protection provisions of the associated apps before they buy them.
The Federal Network Agency has put its own information page online on the subject of spy products.
If citizens are unsure whether a certain article is banned in Germany, they can contact the Federal Network Agency by e-mail at funkstoerung@bnetza.de or by telephone.
The corresponding phone number can be found here.
mboe/AFP
