Ride the Lightning

"Creepy Barbie" Records Your Child's Voice

March 17, 2015

As The Washington Post reported, "Hello Barbie" has now been dubbed "Creepy Barbie" by many – parents and privacy advocates are trying to keep her from hitting the shelves this fall. Mattel's doll records a child's voice with an embedded microphone triggered by pressing a button on the doll. Audio recordings are sent to a server where the conversation will be processed to compose Barbie's responses.

Over time, she will remember pet names and other information about the child. Privacy advocates are worried about conversations being recorded and analyzed – and who might have access to the data.

Mattel, which has faced falling Barbie sales, and ToyTalk, a start-up that created the technology, say privacy and security have been their top priority. While privacy experts worry (and this is a mild worry) that children may be encouraged to ask for more Barbie-related products, ToyTalk's CEO says that "the data is never used for anything to do with marketing . . . "

Where have we heard THAT before?

There was a bit of humor at the New York toy fair where Hello Barbie was shown off. A Mattel representative chatting with her mentioned that she liked being onstage. Later, when she asked Hello Barbie what she should be when she grew up, the doll replied, "Well you told me you like being onstage. So maybe a dancer? Or a politician? Or a dancing politician?

See? Already the doll is smart enough to know that being a politician requires dancing. I am impressed by the programming . . .

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