Amazon invents Alexa for BABIES

AMAZON can now track how you look after your baby using a creepy new tool released for its Alexa smart assistant.

Echo speakers will soon be able to keep a log of your baby's sleep, feeding times and even nappy changes.

They'll do this through a new Alexa application programming interface (API) – a piece of software that allows app developers to tap into your Echo speaker's tech.

This means the boffins behind childcare apps and gadgets can now create Alexa "skills" that make full use of the digital assistant, including voice control and data tracking.

Alexa skills are apps that you can download to your Echo speaker to give Alexa more abilities and let her speak to more devices.

Available only in the US for now, initial skills include the ability to track weight, sleep, nappy changes and feeding, with more to be added down the line.

Through the new Skills, you could use your Echo speaker to control childcare gadgets using your voice, Amazon said.

"With the Baby Activity Skill API, you can build Alexa skills and that enable your customers to easily log and query activity information using just their voice," June Lee, a data engineer at Amazon, wrote in a blog post.

"Voice is a powerful tool that increases the accessibility of your service.

"It can help increase consistent input and make your service more valuable, increasing usage and retention of customers."

The move has raised privacy concerns among some internet commenters.

One wrote: "Do you love your baby? If so, do the best for them by allowing them to be watched by Big Tech from day one!"

The NSPCC has previously raised concerns over the security measures Amazon has in place to protect children from giving away too much information to its Echo speakers.

An Amazon spokesperson denied that the company is storing data on children and their care.

Any data captured not being used to build profiles for marketing purposes and is not being sold to third parties, they said.