“Today, CS, UBS, Migros, Coop, H & M and the other legal dealers of this world are targeting our children with digitized entry-level drugs.”
Digipigi – It’s All about Money
by the Editor, "Towards Better Health", 2 November 2017
Crédit Suisse, the second largest Swiss bank, has recently created a connected piggy bank called "Digipigi", available for now only in Switzerland.
1 Its purpose seems to be to attract clients from the youngest age with the hope of keeping them from "cradle to the grave". It is being promoted as a way of teaching children how to handle money from a very young age and to prepare them for a cashless society. Digipigi is not suitable for children under age 3.
2
Digipigi is full of technology. It is not just a clock, an alarm clock, a night light but communicates via Wi-Fi with the associated smartphone apps, one for the child and one for the parents. The digital pig interacts with the child with 25 different facial expressions and noises and talks to the child.
Is this like other connected toys, inviting easy access of hackers to the personal details of children? Almost as bad as hacking, the personal data of children is tracked and used for the purpose of marketing such items as product offers, prize games or website content. "The bank tracks users' behavior in the Digipigi apps and Digipigi money box together with the related personal information and stores this data on servers in Switzerland for five years."
3 This is not mentioned in the Instruction Manual.