Did you buy a cheap GPS tracker for your kid? There’s a good chance that you’re not the only one who’s watching your kid.
Last week, a story in Wired revealed that security researchers were able to hack into a platform used by dozens, if not hundreds, of GPS kids watches, which allowed them to not only track a child’s location, but also remotely control a camera on the watch, and leaving them vulnerable to changing things like the emergency contact, or being able to silently eavesdrop on the child.
The researchers’ findings, which they presented at the Black Hat cybersecurity conference, looked at more than 70 GPS watches and car accessories, and found a sizable number used the same backend software and servers.
Not only am I an editor at Tom's Guide, but I'm also a homeowner and a parent. I've been testing smart home devices in and around my house for years. I'm the guy with the 20-foot inflatable skeleton at Halloween, the guy with the robot lawnmower prowling his yard, and the guy who made a lightsaber out of hardware store parts.
This column is going to take a look at tech, tools and tips for your kids, your pets, and anything else that could make your house more fun and functional.
“The two researchers found that tens of millions of GPS tracker gadgets came from just three supply chains,” the Wired article reads. “All three, the researchers found in their analysis, had significant security flaws.”
If you go on Amazon and search for “GPS tracker for kids,” you’ll be presented with page after page of watches, dongles and chips, all for less than $50, purporting to make it easy to keep tabs on your kid.
Some even have screens and video calling — that seems like a real bargain compared to the best smartwatches, like the $249 Apple Watch SE 3, which cost a lot more. And, there’s a good chance that they have a lot of positive reviews, too.
Click through to the product listing for that cheap watch, and you’ll most likely see that the company’s name — one you’ve probably never heard of — is a seemingly random group of letters.
Don’t buy it.
It’s not just limited to GPS trackers. There are thousands of cheap security cameras, video doorbells, and baby monitors produced by no-name companies that are equally vulnerable to being hacked. A Consumer Reports study two years ago revealed that they could easily hack into several video doorbells, all of which were sold by different companies, but had the same underlying technology.
Earlier this year, The Verge wrote about a company that made the tech behind millions of baby monitors whose security was so lax that a hacker was able to see into people’s homes and even view images saved on the company’s servers.
Even some of the best security cameras aren’t immune to this — Wyze, for example, has suffered several security breaches over the years — but at least they, and other larger companies, have better systems in place for you (or security experts) to report any issues and to fix the problem in a timely manner.
With all that in mind, I’ve put together a list of a few dos and don’ts when shopping for any kind of device that can track your kid or take photos or videos of them or your house.
DO:
- Make sure your home Wi-Fi network is secured with a strong password and is always updated with the latest firmware
- Look for reviews of products on reputable sites
Don't:
- Rely solely on reviews posted on Amazon, Walmart, or other retail sites
- Buy a product that’s not from a brand you’ve never heard of
While these rules can’t completely insulate you from any sort of hacking, they can go a long way into making it harder for someone to break into your devices and see what they shouldn’t.
If you need to keep tabs on your kid, devices like the $29 Apple AirTag, the $149 Fitbit Ace, and the $149 Garmin Bounce are a little more expensive, but they’re made by companies with established reputations. What’s worth more: saving a few bucks, or the security of knowing some weirdo can’t spy on your kid?
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