Barbie is sending your child’s voice data to cloud servers

Mattel’s new “Hello Barbie” has more tricks up her sleeve than just saying hello. With the press of a button, Barbie’s embedded microphone turns on and records the voice of the child playing with her. The recordings are then uploaded to a cloud server, where voice detection technology helps the doll make sense of the data. The result? An inquisitive Barbie who remembers your dog’s name and brings up your favorite hobbies in your next chitchat. The doll, which made her debut at the 2015 American International Toy Fair, has privacy activists demanding its removal. “Kids using Hello Barbie aren’t only talking to a doll,” said Susan Linn, director of Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood. “They are talking directly to a toy conglomerate whose only interest in them is financial.”