# Barbie's hidden "Spycam" a good idea?



## Nick (Apr 23, 2002)

From the _"What the hell were they thinking?"_ department:

Mattell's 'Barbie' web site: "Our new Video Barbie doll has a hidden camera"

According to the Moree (Australia) Champion: _"...the Barbie camera might pick up some personal and private events that you would rather not be publicly disclosed."_

Wow! This cannot be a good idea. I can see all kinds of potential problems stemming from a child's doll having a built-in cam. Am I wrong? What do you think?


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## sigma1914 (Sep 5, 2006)

No different than buying your kid a cell phone that has a cam. It's up to the parents to buy it and teach them and monitor it's use.


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## Earl Bonovich (Nov 15, 2005)

Me... personally.

I don't see any issue with it.

1) This is a BARBIE toy doll.

2) It's intended primary audience, is little children.

3) Calling it a "SPY" camera, is flat out not correct. It is not hidden, it is MARKETED as having a video camer in the barbie doll.... no different then if you give the kids an cactuall video camera to use.

4) It is 2010/2011... My 2yrd old LOVES to see herself on the computer with the video's we take from: Actually Video Camera, Small Digital Camera that takes video, cheap cell phone, expensive smart phone, the Web Cam that I use in the living room, the web cam on the computer.

5) If you are going to actually "spy" on anything... yep, let's put it in something that can easily be moved, not in the position you want to look at, and so on.

6) What "private" event is it going to pickup on your little kids playing with it. Heck, I hope it DOES catch something really cool and personal, there is this show on TV for about 25 years now... that you can win $100k for those one-of-moments that the camera captures.

Honestly, IMHO... parinoia these days is just getting way out of wack.


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## P Smith (Jul 25, 2002)

It would good when checking cheating wife.


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## Earl Bonovich (Nov 15, 2005)

P Smith said:


> It would good when checking cheating wife.


If my wife was cheating... pretty darn sure it wouldn't be in my daughter's room, or the room that a Barbie doll would typically be kept in.


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## Alan Gordon (Jun 7, 2004)

Nick said:


> Wow! This cannot be a good idea. I can see all kinds of potential problems stemming from a child's doll having a built-in cam. Am I wrong? What do you think?


When I saw this thread, it made me think of another contraption out there on the market... namely that of the new remote controlled helicopter with the camera in it.

The commercial shows the camera buzzing over the sister (or babysitter) making out with her boyfriend... :eek2:

Granted, with a toy like that, I'm more worried about the amount of "grown kids" buying one... :nono2:

~Alan


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## P Smith (Jul 25, 2002)

those teens could be very interesting in your umm... personal life too


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## Stewart Vernon (Jan 7, 2005)

Parents have already been putting "spy" cams in their homes and kids' rooms so they can watch over the internet while at work. I've seen several commercials touting this "feature" of some home security setups.

This isn't even a new idea, so I don't see any need to worry more about it than what's already on the market.


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## phrelin (Jan 18, 2007)

Gee, from a privacy standpoint how is this different than any "NannyCam" such as this?


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## Nick (Apr 23, 2002)

phrelin said:


> Gee, from a privacy standpoint how is this different than any "NannyCam" such as this?


Not that much, but a child can connect 'Barbie' to the Internet and stream live or recorded video of herself and her little friends, or the cam could be 'live' and unintentionally streaming without anyone being aware that it is on.

Deny it if you wish, but you know it can happen. Even in professional situations where people should know better, open mics and live cameras catch stuff all the time, How much more could get out from a child, or even from her technically unsophisticated parents?


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## spartanstew (Nov 16, 2005)

Earl Bonovich said:


> If my wife was cheating... pretty darn sure it wouldn't be in my daughter's room, or the room that a Barbie doll would typically be kept in.


I can vouch for that.


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## phrelin (Jan 18, 2007)

Nick said:


> Not that much, but a child can connect 'Barbie' to the Internet and stream live or recorded video of herself and her little friends, or the cam could be 'live' and unintentionally streaming without anyone being aware that it is on.
> 
> Deny it if you wish, but you know it can happen. Even in professional situations where people should know better, open mics and live cameras catch stuff all the time, How much more could get out from a child, or even from her technically unsophisticated parents?


Oh, I'm not denying anything. There have been problems with even more formal cameras like those built into laptops. Only an idiot would let their kid use this Barbie unsupervised. Which is why we'll be seeing hundreds of "accidents" on the internet.


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## fluffybear (Jun 19, 2004)

Earl Bonovich said:


> If my wife was cheating... pretty darn sure it wouldn't be in my daughter's room, or the room that a Barbie doll would typically be kept in.


Mrs. Fluffybear was telling me a story a couple weeks back about a co-worker who stated that was the best place to cheat on your spouse (kids room) as it is the last place anyone would think to look.

BTW, who needs barbie - there are so many places you can hide a camera now a days. I just went out and checked out a site which even puts them in AC power adaptors


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## sum_random_dork (Aug 21, 2008)

Having just watched Toy Story 3, I would venture to guess most of the recording this camera would end up doing would be.........in a kids mouth as they try and chew on it, down the toilet when they look to see if Barbie can swim, or driven over by an older brother who takes his Tonka trucks to Barbie to see what happens.


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## matt (Jan 12, 2010)

Earl Bonovich said:


> If my wife was cheating... pretty darn sure it wouldn't be in my daughter's room, or the room that a Barbie doll would typically be kept in.





spartanstew said:


> I can vouch for that.


:eek2:


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## fluffybear (Jun 19, 2004)

sum_random_dork said:


> Having just watched Toy Story 3, I would venture to guess most of the recording this camera would end up doing would be.........in a kids mouth as they try and chew on it, down the toilet when they look to see if Barbie can swim, or driven over by an older brother who takes his Tonka trucks to Barbie to see what happens.


 :crying:


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## Stewart Vernon (Jan 7, 2005)

Nick said:


> Not that much, but a child can connect 'Barbie' to the Internet and stream live or recorded video of herself and her little friends, or the cam could be 'live' and unintentionally streaming without anyone being aware that it is on.
> 
> Deny it if you wish, but you know it can happen. Even in professional situations where people should know better, open mics and live cameras catch stuff all the time, How much more could get out from a child, or even from her technically unsophisticated parents?


A child can sneak out of the house and play in the street or get kidnapped too... but we don't chain (hopefully) kids in closets to keep them out of danger.

Ultimately it is a combination of watching when and where you can + knowing what your child owns and plays with + teaching them right vs wrong + a lot of luck.

IF this Barbie was the first such item on the market, I'd be more concerned... but there are so many other things (including the Nannycams) on the market already, that this seems late in the game to suddenly worry about now. Any parent worried just over this toy is likely already missing all the other things.

Many (most??) laptops come with built-in Webcams nowadays. My iMac came with one too... so your kid might already be in this situation if you haven't been paying attention to what you buy for your kids.


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## hdtvfan0001 (Jul 28, 2004)

This all brings into question what messages are being sent with all this... (privacy is dead, no matter what, for example).


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## Stewart Vernon (Jan 7, 2005)

hdtvfan0001 said:


> This all brings into question what messages are being sent with all this... (privacy is dead, no matter what, for example).


Pretty much... although, sometimes we learn things from unintended consequences.

Like... when I was a kid it was still recommended to sew your child's name into clothing like coats so they didn't lose them at school... but the predators adapted to feigning familiarity with kids based on observing those nametags...

I've also heard about those chips some have imbedding in their kids like the ones for dogs... that contains information if the child gets lost that say a policeman could scan to know where to take the child home... but if a predator gets his hands on that tech, he can scan kids and learn about them before abduction.

I don't think (I hope) those ID chips caught on for kids.


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## The Merg (Jun 24, 2007)

Nick said:


> Not that much, but a child can connect 'Barbie' to the Internet and stream live or recorded video of herself and her little friends, or the cam could be 'live' and unintentionally streaming without anyone being aware that it is on.
> 
> Deny it if you wish, but you know it can happen. Even in professional situations where people should know better, open mics and live cameras catch stuff all the time, How much more could get out from a child, or even from her technically unsophisticated parents?


I'm sorry, but even a 10 year old that might be using this should be monitored when connecting it up to the computer/Internet. The parent should know where the videos are going. There is no way that a video taken by a 5 year old on one of these should end up unknowingly on the Internet.

- Merg


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## armophob (Nov 13, 2006)

Just to be clear, I am not commenting on all the low hanging fruit jokes that can be inserted in this thread.
But I claim credit for all of them before some jackwad posts them.
Thank you for your attention, now please continue with the thread.


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