(Radio Iowa) — Plush toys that were once stuffed with fluff are now also bristling with technology, and Iowa parents are being warned to use caution when buying so-called smart toys as holiday gifts. Bess Ellenson, with the Better Business Bureau, says those fancy internet-connected playthings could put your family at risk.

“We’re seeing that some of these smart toys are collecting personal information, like names or email addresses, from the children that are using them,” Ellenson says. Some toys may also be able to report the user’s geolocations — and even recordings of the child’s voice.

Ellenson says some toys are capable of gathering personal data on a child which third parties can use to illegally open a credit card account. “They might not do it until years later because it doesn’t take a whole lot of personal information to be opening up accounts in somebody’s name,” Ellenson says, “but it’s probably not going to get known until they’re 18 years old and they go to open up their own credit card.”

The B-B-B urges consumers to research smart toys before buying them, and be sure to read the company’s privacy policy on data collection practices.