“Smart” Baby Tech = Hackers Spying on Wee Ones, Harmful Radiation Exposure, etc.

By B.N. Frank

All wireless and “Smart” devices have the potential of being hacked. Horrifying news stories about adults and children being spied on and taunted through baby monitors and other wireless home devices continue to be reported (see 1, 2, 3, 4 ).

Thanks to Vox for reminding parents why analog is a safer option:

Some smart baby monitors have crucial security flaws that allow hackers to take over, sometimes watching and even interacting with your child. The popular iBaby family of internet-connected cameras recently joined this club when a cybersecurity company found vulnerabilities in its M6S model. Almost a year after being contacted about the bug and three days after this article was originally published, iBaby Labs fixed the issue.

This might make you wonder: Is the sense of security these monitors provide parents worth dealing with the actual security vulnerabilities many of them have? There are also questions about AI-outfitted baby monitors designed to offer “life-saving” features that might actually create more anxiety for parents than they relieve. Maybe, in the face of all this new tech, it’s time to cut the 21st-century umbilical cord.

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Look, we’ve all got different priorities and concerns. If your primary issue is protecting your baby monitor from hacks, the solution is easy: Go analog.

In the days of old, parents used radio-powered walkie-talkies to monitor their children from afar, which provided audio cues of potential trouble. These gadgets were not connected to the internet, and they didn’t have video. Before that, parents just used their own ears and hoped for the best. Were these better methods? That depends on what makes you more nervous: not being able to see your baby at all times or owning an internet-connected video camera that could malfunction or, in rare instances, give a random hacker access to your home.

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American Academy of Pediatrics and other health experts have also been warning for many years that children are especially vulnerable to harm from exposure to all sources of wireless radiation (Bluetooth, cell phone and WiFi). In fact there is still no safe level of wireless radiation that has been scientifically determined for children or pregnant women. Exposure can cause more than an increased risk for cancer in all of us (see 1, 2).

Activist Post reports regularly about health issues associated digital, electronic, and wireless tech. For more information visit the following websites: