[Xylakant]

The ban is based on a german regulation that outlaws devices with a hidden listening/recording functionality. The fact that the devices are often insecure and allow arbitrary persons to listen in is a secondary issue, the primary issue is that the children (and people around the children) cannot determine that the device has a recording/transmitting function and even if they know cannot determine if the device is currently transmitting. The rights of the persons around the children exist and need to be enforced, so the devices in their current form are illegal to sell or to own. Seems not so odd to me.

[hcurtiss]

It seems to me they could simply outlaw the objectionable functionality. The article gives me the impression they outlawed the entire category.

[detaro]

That functionality is outlawed, and the official statement explicitly only talks about watches having it. The article pulls all kinds of "connected devices" concerns into it that don't apply to the specific decision.

[Xylakant]

The article is wrong on that account. Children smartwatches are in general allowed, just not models that have monitoring capabilities. GPS tracking for example would be legal.

[cortesoft]

Thats actually what they did, the article is a bit misleading.