Like the old song promises, “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year.” But mix that warm-and-fuzzy feeling with a dash of Stan Freberg’s 1958 satire “Green Christmas,” and you get something that looks a lot like today’s holiday season: joyful, yes — but also buzzing with high-tech gadgets, digital wish lists, and a whole lot of questions from parents trying to keep up.

In these rapid-fire, high‑technology times, Christmas morning doesn’t look much like it used to. Today’s youth are unwrapping gifts that connect to Wi-Fi before they connect to imagination. And one of the hottest categories this year isn’t a toy at all — it’s the growing world of GPS trackers and kids’ smartwatches.

Consumer Reports has been watching this trend closely, because parents have been wondering whether these devices are helpful, intrusive, or something in between. WGNS News spoke with Consumer Reports Senior Communications Specialist Lisa Chow, who explained that tracking kids has quietly become the norm. One recent survey shows that 80 percent of parents say they track their children, and many continue doing so well into their kids’ young adult years.

But here’s where the “Green Christmas” part comes in — the part where the shine of the season meets the reality of modern marketing. A new Consumer Reports investigation found that not all trackers are created equal, especially when it comes to how they collect and protect children’s data.

CR evaluated 15 popular devices from brands many families already know: Apple, Samsung, Garmin, Fitbit, Bark, TickTalk, Cosmo, and others. Some of the products earned high marks for privacy and security. Others, however, fell short in ways most parents wouldn’t expect. Missing multifactor authentication, unclear microphone or camera indicators, and data-handling practices that raised eyebrows were among the concerns uncovered.

For families trying to sort through the noise — and the advertising — Consumer Reports has laid out which devices performed best, which ones stumbled, what kinds of sensitive data these tools gather, and what parents should think about before strapping a tracker onto their child’s wrist.

And for those still unsure which device fits their family’s needs, CR has rolled out a new tool that offers personalized recommendations based on the type of tracker a parent is looking for.

You can read the full report at CR.org, just in time to help Santa — and parents — make informed choices before Christmas morning arrives.