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Comment by alexcroox | Hacker News Reader

What's interesting about this, is Cayla is just a bluetooth speaker. The accompanying Android app is what people have been modifying, not remotely but locally. I think the entire thing has been blown out of proportion. Give anyone physical access to your device and they can do a lot worse than make a bluetooth speaker say some offensive words...

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If it can answer questions, then there must be a mic somewhere. And if it's always on and its data can be sniffed, the doll effectively becomes a bug, open to everyone who wants to listen.

AFAIK there is no mic in the doll, you cannot get responses from the internet without the smart device app, you technically talk into your phone/tablet, not the doll

In the text on Netzpolitik linked in the BBC article it says, the doll has a microphone.

>Jedes bluetoothfähige Gerät in Reichweite von etwa zehn Metern kann eine Verbindung zu ihr [der Puppe] aufbauen und Lautsprecher und Mikrofon nutzen. In einem Versuch hatte ich auch über mehrere Wände hindurch auf die Puppe Zugriff.

Google Translate: Each bluetooth capable device within a range of about ten meters can connect to it [the doll] and use speakers and microphone. In an attempt I had access to the doll over several walls.

Off topic: Google translate is getting really good.

Sounds more like the doll is akin to a Bluetooth headset. It's got a mic, a speaker, and a BT transmitter which provides i/o to a mobile application running on a smartphone or tablet (much the way a Bluetooth headset would operate with a phone).

The mobile application does any local processing and handles queries to remote servers and such.

The doll is not illegal because it can be hacked, it is illegal because it is considered a clandestine monitoring device. And the possession of those is illegal.

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