The surveillance horizon extends to children’s toys that harvest underage behavioral surplus

Evidence

A concurring statement from FTC Acting Chairwoman Maureen K. Ohlhausen emphasized that the settlement broke new ground in its allegation that “individualized television viewing activity falls within the definition of sensitive information” that merits protection by the FTC. This finger in the dike would not hold back the tidal wave of similar incursions as the prediction imperative cracks the whip to drive the hunt for unexplored pieces of talk from daily life. Rendition takes command of even the most benign supply sources, such as toys, which have now become “toys that spy.” A new breed of interactive dolls and toy robots, including a girl doll called “My Friend Cayla,” turn out to be supply hubs for underage behavioral surplus, subjecting young children and their parents’ smartphones “to ongoing surveillance… without any meaningful data protection standards.” — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 827

Categorization

• SEED: Article angle: how surveillance capitalism industrialized childhood — a toy economy whose nominal product is play but whose real product is unregulated data extraction from minors.
• FICTION: A children’s doll that bids on and answers questions, whose real owner is a behavioral prediction operation, is a strong uncanny seed for speculative fiction.
• ADDENDUM: Could extend ‘On Sacrifice’ or ‘Grafting & Growth’ thinking — here ‘toys that spy’ is a parallel story of an innocuous object repurposed for extraction.
• XREF: connects to: Children’s play toys train kids for financialized neoliberal life — Max Haiven, Cultures of Financialization, 393; Children serve as unwitting scouts of surveillance-capitalist environments — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 1416; Regulators treated a child surveillance toy as an illegal spy device — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 834 (+6 more)

Broader Connections

• Regulators treated a child surveillance toy as an illegal spy device #exemplifies (0.85) — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 834
• Computer-vision modules are being embedded in appliances and toys to sense human behavior #expands (0.85) — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 752
• Children serve as unwitting scouts of surveillance-capitalist environments #expands (0.80) — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 1416
• Surveillance capitalism extracts behavioral surplus to predict and modify behavior. #expands (0.80) — , The Braided Reading EPUB, 73
• Connected toys systematically extract children’s personal data and conversations via bundled apps #exemplifies (0.80) — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 828
• Adolescent development now occurs inside a commercially engineered behavior-modification regime #expands (0.75) — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 1482
• Adolescence in the hive marks the first generation engineered behaviorally for surveillance capital. #expands (0.75) — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 1430