Barbie is now a surveillance tool. “Video Girl” has a video camera embedded.

I am a real working video camera

The FBI Memo About Newest Barbie Doll, which you might have seen coming, appears to be directed only at the risk of abuse of children by adults.

An internal cyber crime alert from the Sacramento office obtained by CBS13 warns:

“Law enforcement is encouraged to be aware of unconventional avenues for the possible production and possession of child pornography, such as Barbie Video Girl.”

The memo goes to warn that the toy’s technology can capture 30 minutes of video that can be played back on the tiny LCD screen, or downloaded and shared.

The Barbie also could be used by a child to expose adult behavior or secrets. The FBI is unlikely to warn about this “unconventional avenue” of exposure by a $50 spy camera in a doll, but I am sure it also crossed their minds.

The camera has a USB interface and runs on two AAA batteries. Enterprising children may find it easy to modify and use with other decoys or toys. That is why I also suspect this doll could give many children an early sense that they are being watched and recorded; anything anywhere now might be a spy camera. It could lead to adaptive behavior (anti-Barbie Doll measures?) and end up making a new generation far more aware than their parents of surveillance risks.