【UK】

UPDATE: Sept. 18,UK 2016, 10:27 p.m. AEST Standard Innovation has not yet been served with a lawsuit, the company told Mashable in a statement.

It is also updating the We-Connect app, which it says will include in-app information for users about its privacy and data practices. "We have engaged external security and privacy experts to conduct a thorough review of our data practices with a view of further strengthening data protection and privacy for our customers," it added. "We are also committed to better communicating our data practices."

---

In the brave new world of connectivity, even your most intimate moments may come with a heavy dose of data mining.

---

You May Also Like

---

---

At the August Def Con conference in Las Vegas, two New Zealand hackers demonstrated that the We-Vibe 4 Plus vibrator was sending information -- including device temperature and vibration intensity -- back to its manufacturer, Standard Innovation.

Dubbed the "couple's vibrator," the toy's modes, such as "wave" and "pulse," can be controlled remotely through the We-Connect app.

SEE ALSO: Instagram is rolling out its tool to filter offensive comments to all users

At the time, Frank Ferrari, president of Standard Innovation, told Mashablein a statement the products recorded temperature "purely for hardware diagnostic purposes."

"Any changes in the temperature are not significant or noticeable enough to indicate the location of the product," he said. Ferrari added the company was in the process of reviewing its privacy and data collection policies.

Mashable Trend Report Decode what’s viral, what’s next, and what it all means. Sign up for Mashable’s weekly Trend Report newsletter. By clicking Sign Me Up, you confirm you are 16+ and agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Thanks for signing up!

That answer must not have satisfied one customer, and a lawsuit has now been filed in a Chicago federal court.

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

The plaintiff, a Illinois woman who is simply named "N.P." in the suit, has accused the company of selling products that "secretly collect and transmit highly sensitive personally identifiable information" about their users.

She bought the device in May and used it several times, according to court documents, but she alleges the device never notified her about the information it was collecting.

The suit claims the We-Vibe device records the date, time and selected vibration setting when it's used, and then sends that data, tied to a user account's email address, to the company's Canadian servers. It also states the company failed to "notify or warn" customers about the data record being created.

It alleges the company violated the Federal Wiretap Act, among other privacy and consumer protection laws. As well as seeking damages, the plaintiff wants an injunction to stop Standard Innovation from continuing to collect We-Vibe customer data and make it destroy all the information it has so far collected.

"This is one of the more incredible invasions of privacy we've ever dealt with," Eve-Lynn Rapp, an attorney with Edelson, the law firm behind lawsuit, told the Chicago Tribune.

The woman is seeking class action status on behalf of "tens of thousands" other We-Vibe users.

At Def Con, the two hackers, Goldfisk and Follower, also suggested the vibrator had vulnerabilities that could leave it open to being hacked. "Unwanted activation of a vibrator is potentially sexual assault," Follower said.

Let's, um, just leave these things offline, ok?

Topics Cybersecurity Privacy

• Entertainment
• Deals
• Digital Culture
• Games
• Tech
• Life
• Science
• Social Good

• A Decade Later: Does the Q6600 Still Have Game in 2017?
• Karlie Kloss thinks Roblox is the future of fashion
• The Teddy Bear Effect
• J. D. McClatchy, Darlingissimo
• Google will repair Hurricane Harvey victims' Pixel phones for free in Houston
• Redux: A Poem Is a Suitcase
• Best deals of the day March 24: Save on blenders, vacuums, Starz streaming, and more
• A Reckoning with Reality [TV]
• NYT Strands hints, answers for April 14
• Redux: A Mild Olfactory Hallucination

• Why you should watch 'Harlots' on Hulu
• Google's record
• Twitter may be making it harder to find its most controversial users
• 11 noteworthy Instagram posts from the past week
• Sony's new phone camera sensor will let you take 48
• Daisy Ridley reveals struggle with endometriosis
• Uber drivers in New York State can get unemployment insurance
• 'Aquaman' star Jason Momoa admits jeans were a 'bad choice'
• U.S. officials say Russian hackers infiltrated electric utilities
• 7 summertime shoe styles you loved as a little kid

• NYT Connections Sports Edition hints and answers for April 17: Tips to solve Connections #206
• Jonquil, the Light Yellow of Mad Painters and Dust Bowl–Era Pottery
• On Becoming an American Writer by Alexander Chee
• The Strange Magic of Libraries by Stuart Kells
• The State of 5G: When It's Coming, How Fast It Will Be & The Sci
• 'Succession's' Kendall Roy is now a mascot for teen girls
• “First of All I’m Naked”: On the Collected Poems of Michael Lally
• Poetry Rx: The Most Beautiful Part of Your Body Is Where It’s Headed
• Amazon Big Spring Sale 2025: Best deals under $50
• Ten Superstitions of Writers and Artists

• Character AI reveals AvatarFX, a new AI video generator
• The Book Jean
• On Telling Ugly Stories: Writing with a Chronic Illness
• DNA Test Kit Black Friday deal: $70 off AncestryDNA
• Best monitor deal: Get $350 off the Samsung Odyssey OLED G6 gaming monitor at B&H Photo
• How to watch CU vs. Utah football without cable: Kickoff time, streaming deals, and more
• The Age of Wreckers and Exterminators
• Black Friday MacBook deals: M1, M2, and M3 at record lows
• Commissioning Misleading Core i9
• Kansas vs. Cincinnati football livestreams: Kickoff time, streaming deals, and more