No idea what the We-Vibe is doing out here. Photo via Facebook
An Ottawa-based vibrator company is facing a class action lawsuit for allegedly monitoring and recording how its customers masturbate.
Standard Innovation, the company behind the smartphone-controlled vibrator We-Vibe, has been accused of deliberately violating privacy laws to “secretly collect intimate details about its customers’ use of the We-Vibe,” according to a lawsuit filed in Illinois.
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The We-Vibe website says its users can control their own vibrators and their partners’ with the We-Connect app, giving them the opportunity to “tease and please with custom vibes you create.”
But that teasing and pleasing comes with a heavy price tag, as the plaintiff in this case—an Illinois woman who goes by the initials NP—allegedly discovered after purchasing a We-Vibe back in May.
In what can be described a worst-case masturbation scenario, the plaintiff alleges the makers of her $130 We-Vibe were keeping track of things like “the date and time of each use and the selected vibration settings” and was transferring that data, along with customers’ emails, onto their Canadian servers. Think about that: Some random people out in Ottawa potentially have access to how often We-Vibe users and their partners get each other off, and whether or not they’re feeling a “cha cha cha” vibe or going straight for “crest” mode at any given time.
According to the lawsuit, Standard Innovation failed to notify or warn customers about its allegedly creepy masturbation surveillance.
The plaintiff is seeking an injunction prohibiting Standard Innovation from monitoring people’s self-pleasuring habits without written consent and is demanding the company destroy all current information of this nature in its possession. She is also seeking financial compensation including the cost of the vibrators plus punitive damages.
In a statement to Motherboard, Standard Innovation said the company uses certain limited data in “an aggregate, non-identifiable form” to help improve products.
“There’s been no allegation that any of our customers’ data has been compromised. However, given the intimate nature of our products, the privacy and security of our customers’ data is of utmost importance to our company. Accordingly, we take concerns about customer privacy and our data practices seriously.”
Showerheads have never been more appealing.
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