Does Talking Tom Have A Camera

If you lot're curious about whether someone has children, the simplest way to find out is to ask them. Simply if for some peculiar reason you're hesitant to pop the question directly, you could just as quickly enquire them what they think most Talking Tom and Friends. If they flash a quizzical expression, you've got your reply: They probably don't have young kids.

Since the first game launched in 2010, the Talking Tom and Friends franchise has attracted more than than 13 billion downloads. Its YouTube aqueduct network – which hosts a variety of web serial – boasted more than than 51 million subscribers and 65 billion views equally of June 2020.

My Talking Tom Friends at a Glance

The latest mobile game in the franchise, My Talking Tom Friends, drew more than 50 million downloads during its first 30 days on the Google Play store. Despite launching midway through the month, it was the third most downloaded Android app during June, trailing only WhatsApp and TikTok.

At commencement glance, My Talking Tom Friends looks wholesome enough. The app icon turns the cuteness quotient upwards to 11, with three blithe cats mugging it up for the camera. What could be unsafe about that?

Appearances aren't everything, though. Is My Talking Tom Friends safe for your kids? Here's what parents demand to know earlier they allow their children download the app on their iPhone or Android devices.

🏡🎮 My Talking Tom Friends is Here! 🎮🏡 NEW GAME (Available Worldwide)

My Talking Tom Friends is developed past Outfit7 Limited, a Slovenian developer based in Ljubljana with offices in seven cities beyond Europe and Asia. Its founders sold Outfit7 in 2017, reportedly for $i billion. The developer – along with the Talking Tom and Friends IP – currently belongs to Zhejiang Jinke Culture Industry Co., a Chinese company headquartered in Hangzhou.

The app is a virtual pet game. Think a pared-downward version of EA'due south massively-successful Sims franchise, except with talking animals – and without the "WooHoo."

Here'due south how Outfit7 describes My Talking Tom Friends on its Google Play Store page:

From the creators of insanely popular virtual pet games My Talking Tom, My Talking Tom 2, My Talking Angela, My Talking Hank, and other worldwide successful titles, comes a revolution in virtual pet simulation!…

What's improve than having one best friend? Having 6! Players can join Talking Tom, Angela, Hank, Ginger, Ben and Becca every bit they move in together in their new home for the beginning time, and get to know the pets that are adored effectually the earth!

Outfit7's business model is standard-fare for the mobile gaming industry. While the app is "gratis" to download, it's loaded with ads and in-game purchases. The developers brand this abundantly clear in the app description. Nosotros'll dive deeper into this beneath.

Don't Exist Fooled by the 'Talking Angela' Pedophile Ring Hoax

There are valid reasons to exist concerned nigh the Talking Tom games. Worrying that information technology's a front for a pedophile ring is not ane of them. | Source: Outfit7

Parents have long been concerned about the safety of the My Talking Tom franchise, but non e'er for the right reasons.

For years, pernicious internet hoaxes have spread fake rumors about Talking Tom and Friends games.

As far back as 2013, Snopes debunked the hoax that one Outfit7 game – Talking Angela – was a malicious app run past hackers and created by a pedophile ring to exploit children. In reality, the game was little more than a rudimentary chatbot with a digital feline overlay.

An investigation in the Guardian reached the aforementioned decision in 2014, though it raised questions about whether features in the app – similar the chat-box – were completely kid-safe. Outfit7 later removed the conversation characteristic.

Remarkably, false rumors about Talking Angela were still and then widespread on social media in 2019 that PolitiFact published another fact-cheque terminal that – for the umpteenth time – children won't go abducted past pedophiles if they download the game.

What Should Concern Parents About My Talking Tom Friends

It'south unfortunate that criticism of the My Talking Tom franchise has fixated on a sensationalist hoax that's so patently false considering there are several things you should know if your kids play these games.

Privacy, Data Collection, and Information Sharing

My Talking Tom Friends was just released last month, and then researchers haven't had time to review it thoroughly for privacy and security vulnerabilities. Considering the franchise's neverending stream of titles is quite similar, nosotros tin acquire quite a scrap by scrutinizing its predecessor, My Talking Tom two.

While Outfit7 boasts that third-party accountant PRIVO has certified its games as compliant with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), other researchers allege baseline COPPA compliance isn't plenty.

Outfit7's games have been certified by an independent auditor for COPPA compliance, but that doesn't mean their privacy standards ascent to the level that advocates recommend. | Source: PRIVO

Common Sense Media, a non-profit consumer advancement organization, put a alert label on My Talking Tom 2, indicating that it does "not see our recommendations for privacy and security practices." The game earned just a 49% (out of 100%) on its privacy study card.

The report highlighted concerns about the transparency of Outfit7'due south personal data collection and usage policies. View the full scores beneath:

Outfit7's latest game earned a reasonably depression grade from this consumer watchdog, although some other report ranked it as more than transparent than other loftier-profile apps. | Source: Common Sense Media

Common Sense Media's study focused on the game'due south privacy policy and terms and atmospheric condition. A recent report from the Norwegian Consumer Council delved deeper into how the app handles user information in practice.

The NCC study concluded that My Talking Tom 2 – like several other popular Android apps – shared information with tertiary parties, regardless of the user's age or private preferences.

Outfit7 transmitted data including the device's unique Android Advertising ID and "various other metadata" to at to the lowest degree four 3rd-parties. Those third parties can procedure this information and connect information technology with data from other apps to build detailed profiles of private users.

Two things are important to note. Starting time, the game collects and shares this information whether or not information technology's configured to allow targeted ad. So even if you disable targeted advertising in this app, the information tin can be used to serve you targeted ads on other apps. (Less information is shared when users indicate they are younger than 13, and these users cannot opt into targeted ads.)

My Talking Tom Friends shares a privacy policy with its predecessor, so it's reasonable to assume information technology engages in similar data drove and sharing behavior.

2d, this is (unfortunately) fairly standard operating behavior. Despite declining to meet Common Sense Media'south privacy recommendations, My Talking Tom 2 actually scored improve than other high-profile apps in terms of data sharing transparency in the NCC study.

Advertising, Addiction, and 'FOMO' Behavior

Absent sweeping legislative changes, some level of data collection is unavoidable if our children are going to participate in the digital world. With that in mind, I'thousand less concerned with the data My Talking Tom Friends would collect on my children (who are younger than historic period 13) than the way it shamelessly bombards them with advertisements and implicitly encourages negative behaviors.

The main game screen features four buttons that serve the user an ad or attempt to persuade them to make an in-game purchase. (The play push button takes yous to the Talking Tom YouTube channel, which is monetized with ads.)

The My Talking Tom Friends app is riddled with ads, even on the main game screen. | Source: Hacked

That doesn't include the advertisements (and in-game purchase "opportunities") that greet yous when you attempt to spend a virtual resource yous don't have. Which, unless you give your kids free rein to make in-game transactions with your credit card, is going to happen a lot.

Like virtually "freemium" games, My Talking Tom Friends monetizes user impatience by creating scenarios where they're incentivized to spend existent-world coin or lookout man advertisements. | Source: Hacked

And don't forget about the full-screen pop-up ads that seem to randomly trigger nearly every time yous printing a button. Trying to avoid them is like playing Operation with a blindfold on.

I would have said information technology's like a casino, except My Talking Tom Friends features literal casino imagery via a spin-the-wheel prize game. It awards a prize every time – as long as y'all sentinel a video advertizement first.

My Talking Tom Friends uses gambling-style imagery to encourage users to sentinel ads. | Source: Hacked

Granted, this – similar just about everything about My Talking Tom Friends – has long been part of the "freemium" template. Just information technology's an inadvertently-candid look into the sort of negative behaviors games similar this encourage.

Another of these behaviors is to beset users with a "fearfulness of missing out" (FOMO). These apps brand money by selling you ads, and they can't sell you ads unless yous're playing the game. They solve this problem by devising gameplay mechanics that encourage you to stay on the app equally long every bit possible. And when you do leave, they play on your emotions to lure yous dorsum in.

I didn't fifty-fifty have to get looking to find an illustration. Just minutes after I closed the My Talking Tom Friends app, it sent me a notification telling me that my pets are hungry, and I demand to feed them.

After closing the app, it doesn't take long for the game to start trying to lure you back. | Source: Hacked

It's the sort of strategy that'south implicitly designed to create conflict betwixt you and your kids.

"Honey, you've hit your screen time limit for today. Put away the tablet."

"But my pets are hungry! If I don't feed them, they'll starve!"

It's the game developer's fault the virtual pets are experiencing virtual hunger, of course. That's not who your children are going to arraign, though.

Honestly, I don't know if it's sad or refreshing that the Talking Tom YouTube page flat-out tells kids they'll "get massive FOMO" if they don't subscribe.

Is My Talking Tom Friends Prophylactic for Kids?

While My Talking Tom Friends isn't necessarily less safety for kids than the typical mobile game, it succumbs to a litany of problematic trends that plague the industry.

If you make up one's mind you're comfy with your children downloading it, y'all should be careful to monitor the time they spend playing it. Make sure to scrutinize whether their screen time correlates with any negative changes in their behavior.

The Outfit7 website features a dedicated Parent's Guide that gives advice on how to "maximize safety, security, and enjoyment" while playing Talking Tom games.

Accept a look:

Parents should e'er be skeptical when game developers merits to accept their children's best interests at heart. | Source: Outfit7

It's fine advice on its own, though you should e'er be a flake cynical when an app programmer feigns to have your child'south all-time interests at eye. Never forget that, no thing what they say, the incentive structure of mobile gaming ways they earn more coin by making their apps addictive and preying on other negative behaviors.

(And for your own sanity'due south sake, double triple-cheque that your kids can't spend in-game funds unless y'all input an access lawmaking.)

The but person who can go along your kids condom when playing My Talking Tom Friends – or any mobile game for that matter – is you. Every parent has a responsibility to educate themselves about the dangers children face in the digital world.

Hacked.com'due south resources and tutorials are an excellent place to start. If y'all demand an actress level of support, contact united states of america to find out more virtually how we tin can assistance your entire family stay rubber online.

Featured image by Optura Design from Shutterstock.com

Source: https://hacked.com/is-my-talking-tom-friends-safe/

Posted by: casianolous1944.blogspot.com

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