A WIRED reporter tested a children's smartwatch and found that security researchers Vangelis Stykas and Felipe Solferini could hijack it to track his location, silently snap photos and eavesdrop on conversations without any indication the device was compromised. Ahead of a presentation at the Black Hat security conference, the researchers demonstrated how the watch's underlying platform, and those used by dozens of similar products, leave children highly vulnerable to covert surveillance, raising serious child safety concerns given how widely such devices are marketed to parents.

The researchers analysed more than 70 GPS-enabled watches and car trackers, tracing them back to just three Chinese supply chains: YiQingTeng Electronics (also known as Wonlex or SETracker), NewGPS2012, and SinoTrack, which together supply tens of millions of devices worldwide. All three platforms had significant security flaws, in some cases lacking basic authentication, allowing hackers to track locations, spoof or disable GPS, intercept messages, alter emergency contacts, and secretly capture audio, photos and video.