German parents told to destroy talking doll

German parents have been told to destroy a talking doll because of fears it can be hacked, authorities have warned.

A government consumer watchdog found that hackers could tap into a bluetooth devise embedded into My Fried Cayla allowing strangers to speak to children via the doll.

According to student Stefan Hessel, who raised the legal concerns, adults could spy on children playing with the doll through walls and within a radius of 10 metres.

The Vivid Toy group, the toy’s distributors, has said in the past that examples of hacking were rare but promised to take the information on board.

But experts from the Federal Network Agency, which overseas telecoms, warned families that the problem had not been fixed since concerns were first raised in 2015 and children were still vulnerable.

The agency is also concerned about data protection.

In Germany it is illegal to buy or sell banned surveillance, but it is not the only country to officially complain about the My Friend Cayla doll.

Complaints have also been filed in by US and European consumer groups.

The Evening Standard has contacted the doll's manufacturers for comment.