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The Federal
Network Agency recommended that parents who bought the doll for
their children destroy it.
"The Cayla doll is banned in Germany," agency head Jochen Homann
said. "This is also about protecting the weakest members of
society."
The software in the doll -- created by the U.S. company Genesis
Toys -- allows a child to have a conversation with the doll.
But this carried a risk of espionage and could compromise
privacy, Homann said in a statement.
Researcher Stefan Hessel, who had examined the toy and alerted
the agency, said hackers could use an unsecure bluetooth device
embedded in it to listen and talk to the child playing with it.
"In a test, I was able to hack the toy even through several
walls. It lacks any security features," Hessel told the German
website Netzpolitik.org.
The German distributer, Vivid GmbH, could not be reached for
comment.
Surveillance is a sensitive issue in Germany where East
Germany's Stasi secret police and the Nazi era Gestapo kept a
close watch on the population.
(Reporting by Michael Nienaber; Editing by Angus MacSwan)
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