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# Your Kid's Smartwatch Has a Surveillance Problem
- URL: https://firegap.org/your-kids-smartwatch-has-a-surveillance-problem/
- Published: 2026-08-24T12:46:46.000Z
- Updated: 2026-08-24T12:46:46.000Z
- Description: The affordable smartwatch you got your kid to help keep them safe might be letting strangers track their location, listen through the microphone, and take photos remotely. Here's what's happening and what to do about it.
- Author: Ryan Gardner
- Tags: Privacy, Security, Wearables, Big Tech

[WIRED ran an experiment](https://www.wired.com/story/hackers-stalked-me-by-hijacking-a-smartwatch-for-kids/) recently that should stop every parent cold. A reporter strapped on a cheap kids' smartwatch — the kind you can get on Amazon for under $30 — and handed a security researcher nothing but the email address registered to it. Within minutes, the researcher could see exactly where the reporter was. He **listened to ambient audio** through the watch's microphone without anyone knowing, **intercepted text messages,** and **replaced the emergency contact list with his own number**. He even **took photos remotely through the watch's camera** while the reporter rode an elevator and sat at his desk.

All he needed was an email address and a platform that doesn't bother checking if the person sending commands is actually the parent.

This isn't just one bad product. The watch WIRED tested was made by an obscure Shenzhen manufacturer called YiQingTeng Electronics and sold under the CJC brand. But it runs on a platform called SETracker, which powers dozens of smartwatch brands. The researchers found that tens of millions of GPS tracking devices, including kids' watches and car trackers, come from just three supply chains in Shenzhen. All three have significant security flaws. In some cases, the problem is as basic as no authentication at all, so anyone could access any device.

To put it plainly, the device on your child's wrist to protect them could let a stranger listen to their conversations, track their location in real time, send them messages that appear to come from you, and replace your phone number with theirs as the emergency contact.

The researchers warned these companies months ago. SETracker initially claimed everything was fixed. When WIRED proved it wasn't, SETracker asked for the evidence which WIRED provided. This is the pattern we see over and over in consumer tech: deny, deflect, and only act when the press comes knocking.

I wrote about this a few months ago in [The House Key vs The Smartphone](https://firegap.org/why-your-childs-safety-tool-is-actually-a-surveillance-device/). The core problem: a device that collects location data, audio, and images from your child and transmits it to a cloud server is only as trustworthy as the company running that server. When that company is an obscure manufacturer in Shenzhen with no brand reputation to protect and no incentive to invest in security, it means your kid is wearing a surveillance device that broadcasts to anyone who knows how to listen.

## What This Means for Parents

First, you have to understand the supply chain problem. When you buy a smartwatch for your kid on Amazon, you're probably buying a white-label product — the same hardware from the same factory, rebranded under a dozen different names. The watch might say "Brand X" on the box, but the software platform running it is SETracker, and the security flaws travel with the platform, not the brand. A five-star review on Amazon tells you nothing about whether the backend server authenticates requests.

Second, recognize what these devices actually are. A kids' smartwatch with GPS, microphone, and camera is a tracking device, a listening device, and a camera — all connected to the internet, all routing through a server you don't control. The fact that it's marketed as a safety tool doesn't change what it physically is. A smoke detector that also streams your living room to strangers isn't a safety device — it's a bug.

Third, know that regulation isn't going to save you here. There's no certification body testing cheap smartwatches for authentication vulnerabilities. COPPA regulates data collection from kids under 13, but it doesn't mandate security standards for the devices doing the collecting. The market moves faster than the law, and Shenzhen manufacturers selling $30 watches on Amazon aren't losing sleep over compliance.

## What You Can Actually Do

The hard truth is that there isn't a "safe" cheap smartwatch. If it costs $30 on Amazon and has GPS, calling, and a camera, assume it's insecure. Security, authentication infrastructure, and auditing are expensive. None of those costs fit into a $30 retail price point.

If your kid genuinely needs a way to reach you, consider a basic phone (not a smartphone) with no apps, no GPS sharing, and calling restricted to a whitelist. It's perhaps a bit less convenient than a smartwatch, but it's a tool that does one thing without broadcasting your child's location to a server farm in Shenzhen.

If you do use a smartwatch, look for brands that publish their security practices, have a named company with a real website and support infrastructure, and ideally have been independently audited. That will shrink the list considerably. Garmin and Apple make kids-adjacent wearables with better security postures, but they cost quite a bit more. That's the tradeoff.

## The Bigger Pattern

This smartwatch story isn't really about smartwatches. It's about the fact that every connected device in your home is a potential entry point, and the cheaper and more obscure the manufacturer, the more likely it's running software nobody has bothered to secure. Your kid's watch, your doorbell camera, your baby monitor — if it connects to the internet and is incredibly affordable, the security budget was the first thing cut.

We keep building surveillance infrastructure into children's lives and calling it safety. A watch that lets a stranger listen to your kid's classroom is the opposite of protection. It's paying to put a wiretap on your child.