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Fisher Price's Bluetooth reboot of pre-school play phone has adult privacy flaw
The Register (UK) ^ | 23 Dec 2021 | Simon Sharwood

Posted on 12/24/2021 6:04:34 AM PST by Salman

A Bluetooth phone designed to evoke the carefree days of early childhood has been found to instead threaten the very adult prospect of being surveilled in your home.

The phone is the Fisher Price Chatter Special Edition, a device that adds Bluetooth and a speaker to the smiling, brightly coloured, wheeled, rotary dial phone on which it's previously been possible to make calls only by using one's imagination.

The phone also bears the name “60G LTE” – which stands for “60 great years, Let’s Talk Everywhere” and an infomercial for the handset opens with “The past has finally arrived” before lampooning mobile phone ads quite nicely.

The 2021 version of the device connects to a smartphone and can be used as a speaker phone, or to make calls. Even the rotary dialler works for outbound calls.

Before you try to find a vendor capable of delivering this before Christmas, consider this post from security firm PenTest Partners, because it says the Chatter has security problems that can turn it into a spy phone.

The post states that the Chatter uses Bluetooth classic without secure pairing, which means it agrees to any pairing request.

Anyone within range could therefore hook up a Bluetooth device, and tune in to whatever is said within range of the Chatter’s microphone.

...

(Excerpt) Read more at theregister.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Extended News; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: bluetooth; fisherprice; privacy; spyphone; toy

1 posted on 12/24/2021 6:04:34 AM PST by Salman
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To: Salman

“… uses Bluetooth classic without secure pairing”

Good thing they saved that penny on the older cheap Bluetooth chip.


2 posted on 12/24/2021 6:08:58 AM PST by ProtectOurFreedom (81 million votes...and NOT ONE "Build Back Better" hat)
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To: Salman

This is good slave training for the children to familiarize them with the State looking out for their interests by listening in to their conversations.


3 posted on 12/24/2021 6:12:46 AM PST by Flick Lives
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To: Salman

Damn, how innocent it looks….


4 posted on 12/24/2021 6:15:50 AM PST by telescope115 (Proud member of the ANTIFAuci movement. )
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To: Salman

Perfect example of a deliberately biased article. It does not mention that the range of Bluetooth is about 30 feet. That omission is deliberate.

So someone standing outside the house might be able to connect, or might not.


5 posted on 12/24/2021 6:17:59 AM PST by I want the USA back (Government is to be feared much more than the chicom virus.)
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To: I want the USA back

True but people in apartments are vulnerable.


6 posted on 12/24/2021 6:57:47 AM PST by BiglyCommentary
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To: I want the USA back

I believe that the adult’s phone has to be set open to pairing, and they generally aren’t.


7 posted on 12/24/2021 6:58:30 AM PST by Dr. Sivana ("There are only men and women."-- George Gilder, Sexual Suicide, 1973)
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To: ProtectOurFreedom

their excuse. newer chips are not available. chip shortage and all.


8 posted on 12/24/2021 7:25:07 AM PST by cableguymn
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To: Dr. Sivana

doesn’t need the adult phone.

the toy is what they pair with. assuming the toy is on, and does not have a current bluetooth connection going it will be open to pairing.

as others have mentioned the range is very short, so if someone was able to pair that should not be. They would be very close to the toy.


9 posted on 12/24/2021 7:30:12 AM PST by cableguymn
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To: I want the USA back

The range of Bluetooth is 30 feet with a cheap chipset. Wanna guess how far someone can connect to Bluetooth with a custom surveillance setup?

Or even a relatively cheap range extender?

https://www.amazon.com/Bluetooth-Wireless-Headphones-Speakers-Transmitter/dp/B08LVH5BCP/ref=mp_s_a_1_8?keywords=bluetooth+extender&qid=1640360071&sr=8-8


10 posted on 12/24/2021 7:39:16 AM PST by SauronOfMordor (A Leftist can't enjoy life unless they are controlling, hurting, or destroying others)
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To: ProtectOurFreedom

instead threaten the very adult prospect of being surveilled in your home.

If you want to listen to a baby babbling on a phone, go ahead an listen in from the street.


11 posted on 12/24/2021 8:21:20 AM PST by Steven Scharf
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To: I want the USA back

“It does not mention that the range of Bluetooth is about 30 feet.”

We use locator equipment with Bluetooth at work that has a range of 1,400ft.


12 posted on 12/24/2021 10:54:48 AM PST by 2CAVTrooper (One Nation, Under Fraud Completely Visible, With Spying and Lying Too All.)
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