Parents, that children's smartwatch might not be a great idea
Technology is bad, part 719,533.
Smartwatches designed for kids can be compromised in all kinds of ways, according to a recent report compiled by the Norwegian Consumer Council and published by the European Consumer Organization.
The watches -- popular in Norway -- are designed with parents in mind. They keep tabs on kids and allow parents to get in touch with them without relying on a kid to remember a smartphone wherever he or she goes.
But the Norwegian Consumer Council called this a "false sense of security" because anyone with the right technical acumen can evidently hack the hell out of these things.
Someone could take control of the watch to listen in on what the kid is doing, the report says. They could access the watch's GPS so they can track the child, or change the GPS's location to make the parents freak out. They could take over the camera and snap photos. Plus, some of the safety features on the phones -- such as an "SOS" button -- are faulty at best.
The council hired a security firm to test watches made by Gator 2, Tinitell, Viksfjord and Xplora, and found that watches made by all but Tinitell had issues with their security. They recommend taking the phones out of stores until the problems are corrected.
Colin is Mashable's US & World Reporter. He previously interned at Foreign Policy magazine and The American Prospect. Colin is a graduate from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. When he's not at Mashable, you can most likely find him eating or playing some kind of sport.
