An attendee tries out the Meta Quest 3 in a demo room at a tech conference in September 2023. The headset is among the products listed on the ParentsTogether 2023 tech toys “Naughty List.”
Godofredo A. Vásquez/AP
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An attendee tries out the Meta Quest 3 in a demo room at a tech conference in September 2023. The headset is among the products listed on the ParentsTogether 2023 tech toys “Naughty List.”
Godofredo A. Vásquez/AP
Virtual reality headsets, subscriptions to online gaming platforms, and mini-robots appear on many lists of must-have gifts for kids this holiday season.
However, some parent and consumer advocacy groups say these tech toys are not safe to play with.
“We don't believe that children should grow up without access to technology,” said Shelby Knox, director of the Internet Safety Campaign. Parents Togetherthe non-profit organization behind 2023 Naughty list of tech games that spy, steal and shock, an annual roundup of potentially harmful games. “But there's a long history of seeing kids really hurt by technology products.”
The 2023 edition of the Naughty List includes both physical products, such as Amazon Echo Dot Kids and VTech's Kidibuzz, as well as virtual ones, such as subscriptions to Amazon's online gaming platform Twitch and gift cards to pay for Roblox currency within game.
The smart toys sector is worth nearly $17 billion and is estimated to grow by 20% over the next four years, according to a recent Business Research Company. report. However, the list claims that many of these products can leave children vulnerable to bullying, scammers or sexual predators.
Selling information to children
However, the majority of offers were listed due to data security and privacy concerns.
“Children's personal information is literally a gold mine for these companies,” Knox said. “They make money by selling data about children to online advertising companies.”
In 2018, for example, the Federal Trade Commission fined VTech, the maker of the smartphone-like Kidibuzz, because the company are allegedly collected the personal information of hundreds of thousands of children without their parents' consent. VTech paid the $650,000 fine but issued a statement at the time saying it did not admit any wrongdoing or responsibility.
Intense content that children may not be ready for
ParentsTogether isn't the only group fighting back against the smart toy industry.
![Meta Quest 3 review: powerful augmented reality just doesn't have the games to support it](https://media.npr.org/assets/img/2023/10/09/07_mr_sq-8dfef509430ca2411854b00533671ba84c5b71e4-s100.jpg)
![Meta Quest 3 review: powerful augmented reality just doesn't have the games to support it](https://media.npr.org/assets/img/2023/10/09/07_mr_sq-8dfef509430ca2411854b00533671ba84c5b71e4-s100.jpg)
Meta is popular Quest virtual reality headset have come under fire from both ParentsTogether and the consumer protection nonprofit US PIRG Education Fund. The US PIRG published a report specifically warning consumers about technology's potential to expose children to harmful content. (US PIRG is also the publisher of the annual Trouble in Toyland report highlighting the dangers inherent in certain games.)
“This is really immersive technology that feels so, so real when you're in it,” said PIRG US policy analyst RJ Cross.
Meta lowered the recommended minimum age to use its headphones from 13 to 10 earlier this year. Those younger kids have “junior accounts” that, Meta says, disable voice and text chat. However, Cross said kids can still use the headset to play the edgy multiplayer games available through Meta's Recording room application.
“It's one of the most popular apps that Meta has in their app store,” Cross said of Rec Room, noting that it's free — another enticement.
The Rec Room is full of user-generated games, some of them very annoying. But for Meta, it's like whack-a-mole: As soon as the company removes a version of a problematic game, another user puts in a different version.
Meta's website has one guide for parents and pre-teens on the safety of virtual reality offerings. Includes written content and video warnings.
In a statement to NPR, Meta said parents can control whether their pre-teen can download or use an app and block app access at any time. “The technology is still in its early days, so the industry is still learning and evolving, identifying best practices and establishing standards for how we approach issues such as privacy, security and integrity,” the statement said.
Meanwhile, the Games club, a trade association for the US toy industry, said in a statement that it is committed to educating its members about the effects of smart technology on families. “Toy safety is the toy industry's top priority, and protecting children and maintaining parents' trust are part of that mission,” the statement read in part.
Story for air and digitally edited by Jennifer Vanasco; audio mixed by Isabella Gomez Sarmiento.