US toy giant Mattel said it was cancelling its plan to deliver an
artificial intelligence-infused digital speaker for children, following
complaints from privacy groups and lawmakers.
The device called Aristotle was announced in January during the
Consumer Electronics Show as a kid-friendly alternative to digital assistants
such as Amazon's Alexa-powered speakers and Google Home, and which could also
be used as a baby monitor.
But several activist groups and at least two US lawmakers said
Aristotle threatened to undermine privacy and could open up children to
marketers, hackers and other threats.
Mattel said in an email to AFP that its new chief technical officer
Sven Gerjets, who joined the company in July, "conducted an extensive
review of the Aristotle product and decided that it did not fully align with
Mattel's new technology strategy."
Last month, US Senator Ed Markey and Representative Joe Barton sent a
letter to Mattel chief executive Margaret Georgiadis warning of privacy issues
with the device.
The lawmakers said Aristotle was capable of "transmitting personal
and sensitive information" about children to Mattel, and raised privacy
fears because it could "build an in-depth profile of children and their
family."
Meanwhile the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood sent a letter
and 15,000 petition signatures asking Mattel to scrap Aristotle.
"Aristotle would inject corporate surveillance and marketing into
the most intimate and important moments of young children's lives," said
the group's executive director Josh Golin.
The dust-up was the latest over toys and devices for children which are
connected to the internet cloud.
Last year, the US Federal Trade Commission said
it would require toymakers to respect a law protecting children's online
privacy, and the FBI warned that devices such as Mattel's "Hello
Barbie" could "put the privacy and safety of children at risk due to
the large amount of personal information that may be unwittingly disclosed."
— AFP
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