Bad vibrations: Your sex toy may be collecting information about you
Published: Sept 20, 2016 12:10 p.m. ET
Here’s a place you probably don’t want Big Brother joining you: your bedroom.
An Illinois woman is suing the company behind her connected vibrator for getting a little too close for comfort. The suit alleges manufacturer Standard Innovation “secretly collect[ed] intimate details about its customers’ use of the We-Vibe†through the accompanying app, which allows users to control the device remotely and customize its features.
According to the lawsuit, the We-Connect app was transmitting information including dates and times of use as well as vibration mode and pattern to the company’s servers along with personally-identifiable email addresses without notifying customers. Although Standard Innovation said in a statement it has not yet been served the lawsuit, the allegations are already rippling through the industry, changing the ways consumers and sex-toy manufacturers look at privacy.
The suit highlights how technology is woven into our lives, with devices from fitness trackers and water bottles to smart refrigerators — and more — capable of logging data on our activities. Now, with even the most personal devices app-enabled, companies and consumers are facing new questions about privacy practices.
OhMiBod, another sex-toy company that offers connected devices, has suspended all data collection while it re-examines its own privacy policies. Co-founder Brian Dunham said OhMiBod has never transmitted data connected to personally-identifiable information like email addresses or names, as We-Vibe has been accused of doing, but the lawsuit still prompted the company to be proactive about its policies.
Published: Sept 20, 2016 12:10 p.m. ET
Here’s a place you probably don’t want Big Brother joining you: your bedroom.
An Illinois woman is suing the company behind her connected vibrator for getting a little too close for comfort. The suit alleges manufacturer Standard Innovation “secretly collect[ed] intimate details about its customers’ use of the We-Vibe†through the accompanying app, which allows users to control the device remotely and customize its features.
According to the lawsuit, the We-Connect app was transmitting information including dates and times of use as well as vibration mode and pattern to the company’s servers along with personally-identifiable email addresses without notifying customers. Although Standard Innovation said in a statement it has not yet been served the lawsuit, the allegations are already rippling through the industry, changing the ways consumers and sex-toy manufacturers look at privacy.
The suit highlights how technology is woven into our lives, with devices from fitness trackers and water bottles to smart refrigerators — and more — capable of logging data on our activities. Now, with even the most personal devices app-enabled, companies and consumers are facing new questions about privacy practices.
OhMiBod, another sex-toy company that offers connected devices, has suspended all data collection while it re-examines its own privacy policies. Co-founder Brian Dunham said OhMiBod has never transmitted data connected to personally-identifiable information like email addresses or names, as We-Vibe has been accused of doing, but the lawsuit still prompted the company to be proactive about its policies.
