The first time your child asks a toy a question and the toy answers, your stomach does a small flip. Half wonder, half alarm. Both halves are correct, and the alarm half deserves a checklist. Here is ours, the one we would use on any smart toy, including our own.
One: when is the microphone on?
The only good answer is: when your child invites it. Look for wake-word listening, and an honest explanation of what happens the rest of the time. Off should mean off.
Two: can it reach the open internet?
A toy that can browse can stumble, and so can your child right behind it. A safe AI toy is a closed world: no search, no videos, no strangers.
Three: can you read everything?
You would not leave your child with a babysitter who refuses to tell you what happened all afternoon. The same bar applies to a talking toy. Every conversation should be readable, and deletable, by you.
Four: where does the voice go?
Ask where recordings live, who can see them, and whether they are ever sold. Vague answers are answers.
Five: is it built for your child's age?
A toy sold for small children should filter every response for the age of the child holding it. Age-graded safety is the difference between a children's product and a gadget with a cute shell.
That is the bar we hold Lumi to: wake-word listening, no open internet, a full conversation log in the parent app, voice data that stays in your region and is never sold, and an age-graded safety layer on every reply.
Hold us to it too. Read the Safety page, ask us the hard questions, and if the answers earn your trust, the pre-order list is open.
