Meet Boris. He's small, metal and squiggly - and he's on a mission to teach children about online privacy.
Boris the Babybot is the creation of Murray Hunter, who has worked with Right2Know and similar groups to educate and drive discussion around online privacy.
"My own work has focused on privacy and surveillance issues, and I started noticing how much anger and despair surrounds these topics for grown-ups. So I wondered how we could use the magic of children's stories to reboot the whole conversation, and start to talk about a serious topic in a way that was still joyful and fun," he told the Sunday Times this week.
Hunter, 33, has written a children's book aimed at those aged three to five. He describes the "little book about big data" as being a "quirky, fun-filled story about a baby-tracking robot".
"I set out to tell a story that was just silly and enjoyable - about a squiggly red robot that tracks babies for a shadowy corporation, until he learns to find joy and fun in his own life," Hunter said.
The aim was to amuse and delight, but also to 'lay some groundwork for a future conversation about digital privacy'
"But in telling a simple story, I tried to offer some visual reference points for a topic and process that can be difficult for children to begin to imagine. My hope is that the story gives a few building blocks for a child's imagination so that, as they hear more about this topic, they can 'see' it in their mind's eye, and get engaged."
The aim was to amuse and delight, but also to "lay some groundwork for a future conversation about digital privacy".
Hunter said that though he doesn't have children, he "worked with kids and parents in my family and circle of friends".
To get the book off the ground, Hunter set up an Indiegogo crowdfunding appeal. By Friday, he had already hit 96% of the nearly R59,000 target.
He told the Sunday Times he was overwhelmed by the positive response.
"I'm still trying to catch my breath and plan the next steps. The campaign is still running for a few weeks, so if we exceed the original goal, I'd hope to increase the print run and do some post-production work on the book. I'm also hoping to offer at least 10% of the print run to reading groups," he said.
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