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  Geebo 11:02 am on November 17, 2016 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Christmas ( 15 ), dangerous toys, toys, watchdog groups   

  Watchdog group releases list of dangerous toys 

  

  In what has become an annual holiday season tradition, a watchdog group has released a list of the most dangerous toys being sold. While it’s been decades since the infamous lawn dart controversy, the toys on this year’s list don’t really seem that dangerous.

  All the toys listed have the potential to cause injury, but it seems that they would need to fit into some Rube Goldberg type situation for them to actually cause harm. Just about any object has the potential to do harm to children it’s up to the parent to make sure that their children know how to use them properly. Parents should be more concerned about the manufacturing process of some toys considering the lead paint threat from recent history.

  That’s not to say these lists are without merit. Without these watchdog groups looking out for us and our children we may unaware of legitimate threats from toys when they do happen.

   

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  Geebo 10:06 am on September 16, 2016 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: privacy ( 46 ), security ( 46 ), toys   

  Your kids’ toys are tracking them 

  

  As adults, we realize we’re being tracked online by companies like Facebook, Apple and Google. A adults, not only do we know the benefits and drawbacks of being tracked like that, but we can also take steps to also protect our privacy online. Our children, not so much, and some toy companies have been caught using their products to track children’s online habits.

  Mattel, Viacom, parent company of Nickelodeon, Hasbro and Jumpstar have been fined by the State of New York, hundreds of thousands dollars apiece, for using internet connected toys and services to track children. Granted, the information gathered is more than likely used for marketing purposes, it doesn’t make it any less disturbing.

  In today’s climate kids are marketed to almost from birth and while US law states that children under 13 can’t have their personal information collected without parental consent, it obviously hasn’t stopped some companies from trying. As parents it’s up to us to protect our children from being targeted by unscrupulous businesses.