Ubtech Jimu Robot Kits

Warning: *privacy not included with this product

Toys & Games STEM/Coding Learning Kits

Ubtech Jimu Robot Kits

Ubtech
Bluetooth

Review date: Nov. 8, 2021

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Mozilla researched 6 hours
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Mozilla says

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People voted: Super creepy

Coding robots for kids are cool. These coding kits from Ubtech come in all shapes and sizes--from a dragon-shaped Firebot to a truck-shaped Overdrive bot, to our favorite, the Unicornbot complete with light-up horn. Whichever bot you choose, code it up to detect distance with sonar, navigate obstacles with IR sensors, program the lights to flash and the motor to rev up. These bots sounds like fun and learning for all ages.

What could happen if something goes wrong?

As cool as these robot kits look, we have a bone to pick with Ubtech, the maker of these robots. The only privacy policy we could initially find for these toys was the one for the website linked on both the website and on the app page in the Google store. We spent hours looking for a privacy policy that covered their app — an app that accesses the camera, microphone, and location tracking on your phone — and couldn’t find one. Eventually we stumbled across a link at the very bottom of a JIMU Support & FAQ page that provided a link to their app privacy policy. Why oh why, Ubtech, do you hide your app privacy policy in a place nearly impossible to find? Not cool and it doesn’t inspire confidence that you care about privacy.

Once we were finally able to track down their app privacy policy, we were still left with some concerns about these robot coding kids. Ubtech says they don’t sell personal information, which is great. They also say they may disclose your personal information to third-parties only with your consent. Also great. So far so good.

Then Ubtech goes on to add this vague statement to their privacy policy and we don’t find it so great. They say, "Generally, we will only use your personal information we collect for the purposes described in this Privacy Notice, or for the purposes we explain to you when collecting your personal information. However, if permitted by applicable local data protection laws, we may also use your personal information for purposes other than those we have explained to you (such as for public benefit, for scientific or historical research, or statistics purposes)." Yeah, that feels a bit overbroad and scary.

Couple that with the fact we couldn't confirm these coding robots meet our Minimum Security Standards and all this raises enough concern for us that we are wary this product might come with *privacy not included.

Tips to protect yourself

mobile Privacy warning Security warning A.I.

Can it snoop on me? information

Camera

Device: No

App: Yes

Microphone

Device: No

App: Yes

Tracks location

Device: Can’t Determine

App: Yes

What can be used to sign up?

What data does the company collect?

How does the company use this data?

Ubtech says they do not sell personal data to third parties. They do say they may disclose your personal data to their third-party service providers with your consent.

Ubtech also says this in their privacy policy, "Generally, we will only use your personal information we collect for the purposes described in this Privacy Notice, or for the purposes we explain to you when collecting your personal information. However, if permitted by applicable local data protection laws, we may also use your personal information for purposes other than those we have explained to you (such as for public benefit, for scientific or historical research, or statistics purposes)." This sort of vague, open-ended admission of use of your personal data is concerning.

How can you control your data?

Regarding data deletion and other rights, the company says, "During the use of our products or services, you have the right to access, modify, transfer or delete the data about you. You have the right to request access or the correction of any personal information that we hold about you. When you update your personal information, you will be asked to verify your identity before we proceed with your request. Once we obtain sufficient information to accommodate your request for access to or correction of your personal information, we will proceed to respond to your request within the time frame set out under your applicable data protection laws."

Ubtech says, "We retain personal information we collect from you where we have an ongoing legitimate business need to do so. Under the circumstances without legislation, we will not apply your data beyond the requirement listed in this privacy policy. If your personal data saved is no longer necessary for realizing product functions or provide services to you, we will either delete or anonymize it or, if this is not possible (e.g., because your personal information has been stored in backup archives), then we will securely store your personal information and isolate it from any further processing until deletion is possible."

What is the company’s known track record of protecting users’ data?

Average

No known incidents in the last 3 years.

Can this product be used offline?

Yes

User-friendly privacy information?

No

No privacy policy found for the device or app.

Links to privacy information

Does this product meet our Minimum Security Standards? information

Unknown

Encryption

Yes

Ubtech take measures such as Secure Socket Layer (SSL) encryption

Strong password

Yes

Security updates

Yes

Manages vulnerabilities

Can’t Determine

Privacy policy

Yes

Does the product use AI? information

Can’t Determine

Is this AI untrustworthy?

Can’t Determine

What kind of decisions does the AI make about you or for you?

Is the company transparent about how the AI works?

Can’t Determine

Does the user have control over the AI features?

Can’t Determine

*privacy not included

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