Pokémon Sleep – The game with sleep monitoring

“With Pokémon Sleep, you can turn your sleep into entertainment!”. This is how the Pokémon Company advertises its new game – with success. The Google Play Store has recorded more than 5 million app downloads since its release in July 2023. The catch: the app accompanies children and young people to bed and collects sensitive health data in the process.

In a nutshell:

• Game app for iOS and Android
• Provider: The Pokémon Company
• free download, in-app purchases
• USK from 0 years, according to the provider, use for under 16s only possible with parental permission
• collects sensitive health data

What can the game do?

Pokémon Sleep is an app that embeds human sleep in a gaming experience. Players have to help Professor Neroli with sleep research on an adventure island and work together with the Pokémon Relaxo. The app records noises and movements during the night and uses the data collected to create a sleep log. The longer users sleep, the higher their score the next morning and the more new Pokémon appear around Relaxo. Sleep is divided into three types: Semi-sleep, light sleep or deep sleep. In the morning, Pokémon appear that sleep in a similar way. During the day, players can explore sleeping poses, feed the Pokémon and carry out other game activities. The aim is to record as much sleep as possible and thus collect many different Pokémon and poses. The app is also compatible with Pokémon GO Plus, which is the gadget for the game Pokémon GO.

What fascinates children/youth about it?

Whether as playing cards, a TV series or a video game – many children and young people grow up with Pokémon and love the little monsters. Pokémon is aimed at young people’s passion for collecting. With Pokémon Sleep, players can get new Pokémons and take care of them without much effort. Getting information about sleep behavior appeals to young people’s love of discovery. Tasks from the friendly Professor Neroli and rewards such as bonus cookies make children and young people want to spend time in the game world with the Pokémons.

What can be problematic about the offer?

Consumer protection warns that Pokémon Sleep monitors the sleeping behavior of children and young people and that the game concept can encourage addictive behavior:

• The app should be viewed extremely critically in terms of data protection. The smartphone or tablet must be placed on the mattress when sleeping. The app collects sleep data from users via the motion sensor and microphone. This is sensitive health data and is specially protected under the GDPR.
• With Pokémon rewards, Pokémon Sleep is intended to contribute to a regular sleep rhythm. However, the game concept exploits children’s play instinct and can encourage excessive use. The tricky thing is that the last thought in the evening and the first thought in the morning is about the app.
• The game contains in-app purchases. Diamonds are available as digital currency, which can be used to buy Poké Biscuits and more.
• As with other sleep monitoring systems, if you sleep all night next to a mobile device that is switched on and connected to the internet, you are constantly exposed to radiation.
• Pokémon Sleep is available in the Google Play Store without age restriction (USK 0), in the Apple App Store released from 4 years. At the start, a message appears stating that under-16s should read through the terms of use with a parent or guardian. However, children and young people can easily get around this.

What does the provider think?

In this test, the data protection website mobilsicher.de proved that the app sends data to advertisers. The audio recordings are saved locally and deleted after 24 hours. However, users’ sleep profiles are stored on company servers. The Pokémon Company states that it does not sell sensitive data of minors for advertising purposes. It is not possible for minors to link their accounts with those of friends. The provider advises you to switch off the audio recording function to save data.

What should parents pay attention to?

Protect your child’s privacy online and avoid data-hungry apps such as Pokémon Sleep. Younger children in particular can be very absorbed by this game directly before and after sleep, but also during the day. Children are not yet able to assess the implications of sleep monitoring in connection with digital currency.

If your child is older and really wants to use the app, please note the following information:

• Talk to your child about personal data on the internet, check the app permissions together and switch off push notifications on the device and the audio recording function in the app.
• Prevent your child from accidentally making expensive in-app purchases and avoid using a payment method such as your credit card in the Google Play Store or Apple App Store.
• Set binding rules for gaming use together with your child, pay attention to your child’s screen time and limit the time your child spends playing Pokémon Sleep. In consultation with your child, you can also use apps and programs from the technical youth media protection service.
• And last but not least: make it clear to your child that the information on sleep behavior is only collected and evaluated for entertainment purposes. They are neither precise nor do they say anything about the actual quality of sleep.