Do children have a right to privacy? Maybe to an extent—but a new device called the Kiddo promises to take what little privacy they have away by offering moms and dads the ability to monitor everything their kids do. It’s like a micro surveillance state, with parents playing the role of 1984’s Big Brother.
People are keen on trading liberty and privacy for security. From the security theater in airports to mass surveillance networks in every major city, the modern world has become a surveillance state where everything you do is monitored. So why should parenting be any different?
Dubbed the “world’s first health and wellness wearable made for kids,” the Kiddo is now taking reservations from overbearing adults who want to take helicopter parenting to the next level. The device purports to “empower children” to make decisions with what they eat, where they go, and what they do—under the watchful gaze of their parents, of course.
The marketing spiel says the device will help kids “develop healthy habits” like brushing their teeth or getting a good night’s sleep—with no mention of the possible punishments an abusive parent might give their child for staying awake after bedtime.
Kids who wear the surveillance device can be tracked via a mobile app, which sends constant alerts to the parents.
Like any other Internet of Things-enabled device, there is a strong possibility that the software will be vulnerable to hackers. After all, hackers have managed to peer into baby monitors and hijack webcams, and being able to track any individual child using the Kiddo is just a tragedy waiting to happen—all considerations towards the Kiddo’s surveillance-enabling issues aside.
Beyond that, the mobile application requires that parent-users tell them every detail about their child—from age, gender, height, and weight, all of which is kept in-sync if the child keeps wearing the device. Parents who use the service may also be signing their children’s privacy away to the company that makes the Kiddo, Good Parents Inc.
It’s a terrifying prospect for what the future entails, both for parenting, and for a society willing to sign away its freedoms for the sake of the illusion of safety.
Ian Miles Cheong is a journalist and outspoken media critic. You can reach him through social media at @stillgray on Twitter and on Facebook.
