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Google's R&D team has looked into making internet-connected toys that control smart home appliances.
The firm has published a patent that describes devices that would turn their heads towards users and listen to what they were saying, before sending commands to remote computer servers. Google Patent For "Creepy" Toy-Like Internet of Things Controller [bbc.co.uk]
A spokeswoman for Google was unable to say whether this was a product the firm might develop and sell.
"We file patent applications on a variety of ideas that our employees come up with," she said.
"The privacy concerns are clear when devices have the capacity to record conversations and log activity," said its director Emma Carr.
"When those devices are aimed specifically at children, then for many this will step over the creepy line.