Voice assistants and smart TVs get more of their surroundings than they should - word of that has got around among privacy-concerned consumers.
But everyday objects that look harmless can also be misused as spy devices.
The Federal Network Agency recently noticed fragrance dispensers, tissue boxes and vacuum robots with cameras and microphones as "particularly insidious".
Helmut Bünder
Business correspondent in Düsseldorf.
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The vacuum cleaners can, for example, secretly transmit images and sounds to a smartphone. Shortly before Christmas, the Federal Network Agency is currently checking several devices for such prohibited additional functions. It has also asked consumers to look very carefully at “intelligent” toys and digitally networked devices. “Smart products and toys are in great demand, especially in the run-up to Christmas. We warn consumers against espionage devices and advise you to read the product description carefully before buying, ”said Jochen Homann, President of the Authority.
Smart products with which conversations can be overheard or people secretly observed are forbidden in Germany if the devices can be accessed remotely via WLAN, Bluetooth or cellular phone card. This applies to smartwatches, for example, if they contain an eavesdropping function or a concealed camera. Microphone or camera can usually be activated via app or SMS without the wearer of the watch or the person speaking to them noticing.
Many smartwatches at least offer the option of deactivating the eavesdropping function, which means that they are "legally compliant" again. The network agency warns that caution is particularly important when it comes to toys that can be connected to the Internet. The examples listed are not isolated cases. The Bonn authority monitors whether prohibited components are installed in electronic devices that can transmit audio or image files unnoticed. The authorities have also found what they are looking for in smoke detectors, lamps, pop-art flowers and power banks.
The network agency scours through relevant Internet platforms, where apparently more and more illegal devices are offered.
This year the network agency has already had 4600 products deleted from the platforms.
This means that the number has more than doubled compared to 2020.
The ban also applies to consumers who have bought such products: They are not allowed to send the devices back to the sellers, but they have to destroy them and prove this.
Otherwise there is a threat of a fine of up to one million euros.