Germany told parents to destroy this talking doll

In twenty fourteen, My Friend Cayla was voted Innovative Toy of the Year. The talking doll used a hidden microphone to listen to children, transmitting audio over Bluetooth to a smartphone app that searched the internet and spoke responses back with roughly a one-second delay. By twenty seventeen, per Boing Boing, the German government was instructing parents to destroy the toy—a striking reversal for a once-celebrated product.

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