
Attention : *confidentialité non incluse avec ce produit
Verizon sells this rather bare bones smartwatch/wrist phone alongside a cell service plan. The watch, targeted at the younger kid age-group who aren't quite old enough to have a phone of their own, lets parents and caregivers track kids with GPS location, set up a list of 10 trusted contacts that the child can call, set up reminders, track steps, and push to-do lists. Parents have to download the GizmoHub app to manage and monitor the smart watch. Parents might love the ability to track their kids everyone (although there are probably better options out there to do this). However, Verizon doesn't exactly have the best track record at protecting their users' privacy, so that's something parents should consider before strapping this device on their 6 year old's wrist.
Que pourrait-il se passer en cas de problème ?
Verizon isn’t exactly known as a company with a good reputation for protecting and respecting their user’s privacy. In fact, they’ve actually been kinda awful. There’s the proposed fine from the Federal Communications Commission for failing to protect consumer’s location data (they were accused of selling access to it when they shouldn’t have). There are the reports of them forcing people (even those who opt- out) into letting them look at your browsing history, including the websites you go to, what apps you use, and potentially even who you called or texted. And then there is their terrible stance on net neutrality (the idea that all traffic on the internet should be treated equally, not given special treatment depending on where it comes from). Remember when they got caught throttling the data of California firefighters trying to battle a huge blaze in 2018. Yeah, Verizon isn’t exactly the most trustworthy company when it comes to privacy.
So, when they offer up a Gizmowatch and GizmoHub app for kids that can track them using GPS, uses cellular data to send calls, voice and text messages, as well as track steps and more, we admit, we were skeptical. Why would anyone want to let a company with such a history of privacy violations and bad acting track their young child?
So, are the GizmoWatch and GizmoHub app as bad as we feared? Yes, it seems so. Verizon’s privacy policies (there’s a bunch of them, they do get a little confusing, but hey, they have a page where they happily allow you to “get to know our privacy policies,” so, yay, probably just what you’ve always wanted to do.) say that Verizon can collect a whole lot of personal information and data on you and your child. They say in their Gizmo specific privacy policy they can collect things like your name, mobile telephone number, email address, and your child’s name, age and gender, as well as email address, mobile telephone number, audio and video call and messages sent between your trusted contact and your child. That’s the information they say they collect on you and your kid. Then they add what additional information they collect on your child, which includes device identifiers (such as mobile telephone number), geolocation and audio call usage. messaging usage, the number of steps taken, and text messages exchanged between your child and you and between your child and your trusted contacts. So, the tl;dr of all that is, Verizon collects a lot of information.
And what does Verizon say they can do with this information? Well, they say this, “We use the information we collect to deliver, maintain, support and improve Gizmo services, including to provide you with precise geolocation information for your Gizmo devices, and for analytics. Approximate geolocation identifying an area of approximately 2/3 of a mile radius of your child may also be used by our partner Accuweather to provide weather updates if requested by GizmoWatch Disney Edition and GizmoWatch 2 users.” Which sounds like it might be fine, but also is rather vague. They do also say they can share this personal information with service providers but promise to not allow any of that personal information to be used “for behavioral advertising, to compile profiles, or any other purpose.” That sounds pretty OK. Except, Verizon has been caught in the past collecting or using personal information in ways they said they wouldn’t, so you have to trust Verizon and their service providers and business affiliates to protect and respect you and your child’s personal information. Which might be OK. It also might not be, so please be aware of that.
What’s the worst that could happen with Verizon’s GizmoWatch? Well, if Verizon were to share or sell location information that they said they wouldn’t as they were accused of in the past, that’s probably not personal information you want shared on your or your kid, right? Because no one needs to know where your kid is all the time, except for maybe you and your trusted contacts. And the thought of that data being up for sale on your child 12 and under (or even 13 and up) is pretty dang freaky if you ask us. So, please think carefully before getting one of these smartwatches (or any smartwatch) for your kid.
One final consideration. We think there is a good question to be raised about teaching young children that the level of digital surveillance this smartwatch provides is OK. Maybe we should track kids a little bit less, and teach them constant surveillance isn’t exactly a good thing?
Conseils pour vous protéger
- Parents, keep a sharp eye on parent controls and permissions.
- Do not sign up with third-party accounts. Better just log in with email and strong password.
- Chose a strong password! You may use a password control tool like 1Password, KeePass etc
- Use your device privacy controls to limit access to your personal information via app (do not give access to your camera, microphone, images, location unless neccessary)
- Keep your app regularly updated
- Limit ad tracking via your device (eg on iPhone go to Privacy -> Advertising -> Limit ad tracking) and biggest ad networks (for Google, go to Google account and turn off ad personalization)
- Request your data be deleted once you stop using the app. Simply deleting an app from your device usually does not erase your personal data.
- When starting a sign-up, do not agree to tracking of your data if possible.
Ce produit peut-il m’espionner ?
Caméra
Appareil : Non
Application : Oui
Microphone
Appareil : Non
Application : Oui
Piste la géolocalisation
Appareil : Oui
Application : Oui
Que peut-on utiliser pour s’inscrire ?
Adresse e-mail
Oui
Téléphone
Non
Compte tiers
Oui
Apple and Google log-ins available
Quelles données l’entreprise collecte-t-elle ?
Personnelles
Your name, mobile telephone number, email address; and your child’s name, age and gender; precise geolocation
Corporelles
Sociales
Trusted contacts
Comment l’entreprise utilise-t-elle les données ?
Comment pouvez-vous contrôler vos données ?
Quel est l’historique de l’entreprise en matière de protection des données des utilisateurs et utilisatrices ?
In 2021, Verizon overrided users’ opt-out preferences in push to collect browsing history.
In 2020, a fine of $48.3M was proposed by FCC against Verizon in Location Information Case.
Verizon was fined in 2018 for selling users' locations.
In 2017, Verizon suffered a breach with 6million records involved.
Informations liées à la vie privée des enfants
Ce produit peut-il être utilisé hors connexion ?
Informations relatives à la vie privée accessibles et compréhensibles ?
A confusing list of privacy policies that aren't always clear on how personal information is used on consumers.
Liens vers les informations concernant la vie privée
Ce produit respecte-t-il nos critères élémentaires de sécurité ?
Chiffrement
Mot de passe robuste
Mises à jour de sécurité
Gestion des vulnérabilités
You can report vulnerabilities to https://www.verizon.com/solutions-and-services/report-security-vulnerability/
Politique de confidentialité
Cette IA est-elle non digne de confiance ?
Quel genre de décisions l’IA prend-elle à votre sujet ou pour vous ?
L’entreprise est-elle transparente sur le fonctionnement de l’IA ?
Les fonctionnalités de l’IA peuvent-elles être contrôlées par l’utilisateur ou l’utilisatrice ?
Pour aller plus loin
-
Privacy and Security Evaluation of the Verizon GizmoWatchCommon Sense
-
Privacy Evaluation for GizmoHubCommon Sense
-
Verizon faces scrutiny for automatically tracking subscriber informationConsumer Affairs
-
The Best Smartwatches For Kids (And Parents) To Stay ConnectedForbes
-
The Best Smartwatches and Phones for KidsThe New York Times
-
Smartwatch Privacy for Kids During the Coronavirus PandemicCommon Sense
-
Verizon might collect your browsing data even if you previously opted outEngadget
-
Verizon customers might want to check their privacy settings ASAPInput
-
FCC Proposes $48.3M Fine against Verizon in Location Information CaseFederal Communications Commission
-
How To Opt Out of Verizon’s New Data Collection PolicyClark
-
Verizon Breach: 6 Million Customer Accounts ExposedBank Info Security
-
Verizon might be collecting your browsing history and here’s how to stop itThe Verge
-
Verizon overrides users’ opt-out preferences in push to collect browsing historyArs Technica
-
Use the Verizon app? Check your settings to protect your privacyUSA Today
-
The FCC Fines Wireless Companies for Selling Users' Location DataWired
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