Recommendations to Enhance Privacy and Usability of Smart Toys

Abstract

The collection of personal information by smart toys causes various privacy concerns. The use of personal information has also been subject to regulatory acts by different governments. For these reasons, smart toy manufacturers need to develop effective privacy controls. However, designing usable privacy controls remains a challenge. In this paper, we sought to identify the main security vulnerabilities involved with smart toys that are related to usability and may impact users' privacy. To this end, we performed a security analysis and usability heuristic evaluations. After identifying current vulnerabilities, we create a list of design recommendations aiming at enhancing both the usability and privacy of smart toy privacy controls. We also suggest a revised severity scale to help to prioritize the design solutions.