I've always wanted a 'Big Brother'
is bringing us the creepiest news ever. There are many reasons to dislike what Barbie dolls convey about gender roles in our society. But now, the new 'Hello Barbie' has taken the sexist symbol to a new insidious level.
New eavesdropping Barbie records your child’s conversations and transmits them to a corporation that analyzes your kid’s likes and dislikes. And then things get weird.
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But since Barbie doesn’t actually have a brain, your child will not exactly be having a conversation with Barbie. Rather, they will be wrangled into some kind of creepy engagement with Barbie-voiced data that has been collected and customized through previously recorded chats. Hello Barbie gleans much about her mistress from their secret tête-à-têtes and starts talking back based on what she has learned.
So how does Hello Barbie do her magic? The Wi-Fi-connected doll uses an embedded microphone to record children's voices, conversations are then transmitted over the Internet to cloud servers. Mattel’s technology partner ToyTalk processes the audio with voice-recognition software. Mattel says it will use this information to "push data" back to children through Barbie's built-in speaker, reports the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood (CCFC).
The Campaign for a Commercial Free Childhood
CCFC is concerned about the loss of privacy and the information gathering aspect of the new doll.
Indeed, What could possibly go wrong?
