Plenty of child-friendly tech was expected to be in high demand this festive season, from iPhones and teddies to the new Xbox.

Almost half of parents who bought their children an internet-connected gadget for Christmas will not check who they are speaking to online, according to new research.

Barnardo’s estimates that four million online-enabled devices were bought for youngsters over the festive period.

However, the children’s charity found that just 55% of parents surveyed will monitor who they communicate with.

Plenty of child-friendly tech was expected to be in high demand in the run-up to Christmas, with new iphones models available from Apple and a new Xbox from Microsoft are among the  gadgets released just weeks before the festive season.

More than half of the devices bought – ranging from tablets to teddy bears – were bought for children aged 10 and under, but only 60% of parents plan on activating the maximum privacy settings designed to keep them safe.

Barnardo’s has urged parents to be cautious of devices that use Bluetooth, have speakers, microphones or cameras, and use GPS technology or request personal information during the set-up process.

Even Fisher Price has come under scrutiny as their Smart Toy Bear could potentially allow hackers to compile a database of all children using the toy.

Not only that, but the accompanying app also had a flaw that allowed hackers to find out the names, birthdates and even genders of the children using the toys.

In 2015, a cyberattack on toymaker VTech released the personal data of 6.4 million children.

Prevention advice can be downloaded here