New age parents in Germany may no longer be able to buy Smartwatches for their kids. A German telecom regulator has apparently banned the sale of children’s smartwatches in the country. The ban, however, specifically covers those watch that comes equipped with built-in tracking features. Unfortunately, most Watches come with one, which basically means the end of the road for kid’s smartwatch players operating in the country or perhaps a time for a major pivot.

Kid smartwatches are built keeping in mind the needs of modern-day working parents. Most of them are concerned about their kids well being and naturally wants to monitor the activities of their kids in their absence. These watches give parental control with the live location of their kids, as well as allow them to communicate with them via the built-in mic of the watch. Then again, just like every smart gadget, these watches are vulnerable to attacks as well.

The information which was originally meant for the parents can be accessed by hackers who could make use of these data by various unfair means. In most of the cases, unencrypted data is being transferred from the watch present on the kid’s wrist to the parent’s smartphone. This further, makes these watches prone to attacks.

To prevent any such mishap, the ban was imposed by the Federal Network Agency in Germany. The telecom regulator believes that these vulnerabilities in the smartwatches clearly reveal that these watches could easily be used as illegal spying devices.

Jochen Homaan, President of Federal Network Agency had this to say, “Via an app, parents can use such children’s watches to listen to children’s environment”. He further added, “ This is regarded unauthorised transmitting system”.

The Federal Network Agency has urged teachers of various German school to keep a vigil on the use of these smartwatches. Additionally, they have urged parents who have already purchased such watches for their kids to destroy them. While an outright ban may not be the best thing to do the regulators should instead try to impose a stricter framework for smartwatches meant for children.