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Ask HN: Parent Hackers, can children Smart Watches be trusted at all?

by perelin on 12/9/22, 12:14 PM with 3 comments

A friend approached me with the question which smart watch to buy for her child, a 7 year old that will start to walk to school by herself. My friend wants the ease of mind that her daughter can call/notify her whenever something is up. And of course GPS tracking.

I already read a lot of really bad things going on security wise with a lot of those vendors [1]. For my own kids I will probably put of wearable "smart" tech until its not longer acceptable in their friends groups (probably around 12-14 here in my part of germany).

I guess I will not be able to persuade my friend from not buying something for the kid. So as an IT professional I wonder what advice I can give her.

Any vendors, certificates, setups that arguably stand out for you? Alternatives?

[1] eg https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24763110

  • by brudgers on 12/9/22, 3:01 PM

    My general advice is that children benefit more from high capability tools than from crappy tools marketed as for children. [1]

    A regular smartphone is a better choice.

    Android devices are cheap, but reliable.

    iPhones of course are also reliable but not cheap.

    Integrating either with the parents smartphone won't depend on some crappy app.

    Of course I might convince you with all this, but probably not your friend because people mostly want their choices confirmed, not torpedoed...and your friend isn't on HN.

    Good luck.

    [1] There are many stories of people's programming journey starting with an Apple II or C64 or a 486. None with a Speak and Spell.

  • by darthrupert on 12/9/22, 6:41 PM

    My only advice as a parent of several children, oldest of whom is 19: do not give your children personal computing devices that you cannot control.

  • by 01206619324 on 12/9/22, 12:16 PM

    Hi