There aren’t just parents showed their worry regarding the security of connected toys. The U.S Senator Mark Warner has forwarded a letter to the Federal Trade Commission questioning about efforts to protect privacy of kids during using smart toys such as the Cloud-Pets. Warner was specifically worried that FTC Acting Chairwoman Maureen Ohlhausen is waving off concerns regarding how companies are handling data of kids. She induced in her recent statement that the FTC must focus on Objective, concrete harms, such as health risks or financial damages and toy data leaks will not fit under that bill because the questions of Warner highlighted just a few subjects. The U.S Senator is interested in whether the FTC has responded to both My Friend Cayla and Cloud-Pets privacy incidents.
He also needed to know if the COPPA (Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act) needs an upgrade in order to keep it effective in the modern security environment. There is not any guarantee that Warner will be able to receive answers of his questions, but FTC individually promised that they are taking toy data privacy very seriously. Warner is on the Senate committee handling consumer protection including Urban Affairs, Housing & Banking. Like other agencies in the current U.S administration, the FTC is limiting its regulatory scope. FTC indicated that there are some hints that he might discover a receptive audience. The statement of Ohlhausen was acknowledged that data leaks might hurt beyond financial info. But, the head of the agency might decide that connected toys will be or will not be problematic due to potential magnitude of hack.
