HALL COUNTY, Ga. — A data breach with a popular VTech device for kids is still putting small children at risk weeks after it was first discovered.
The data breach 6 weeks ago hit the Hong Kong company that makes the InnoTab kids' tablet.
The devices were still on the shelf, at the same price even though parents can't yet get the updated software to run them.
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Local mom Erica Scoville says she was able to buy one for her son for Christmas.
“I was like, ‘Yeah, let's give him something that he can play with and learn on, and it will also help me to build him up for pre-school,’” she said.
She bought her 2-year-old son the InnoTab Max for $100. She says she got the last one the Toys R Us had two days before Christmas.
She found out while trying to register the device that a data breach forced manufacturer VTech to stop sending the devices the required software. It's not available until mid-January.
A coloring program and two other pre-loaded programs are it for now.
“He's learning to color but he could do that with a pen and paper from the dollar store. Coloring book for $1, crayons for $1, rather than $100,” she said.
Channel 2’s Jim Strickland was there as she tried to get through again on the phone. She'd hung up after 35 minutes on hold. VTech is in a time zone half a day ahead. They didn't respond to Strickland’s email.
“If you're gonna give a gift and you're gonna purchase these high end items, make them usable,” she said.
Toys R US is giving her until Jan. 6 to return it.
“There's no point in selling them to people who can't use them,” she said.
Hackers accessed data on 12 million people, half of them kids, but VTech has said neither credit card numbers nor socials were involved.
WSBTV
