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Popular Sex Toy Caught Sending Intimate Data To Manufacturer (fusion.net)
In a world where thermostats, and smart locks can be hacked, and companies covertly record information, why should sex toys remain unaffected. Fusion is reporting that the We-Vibe 4 Plus, a popular vibrator sends a range of intimate data to its manufacturer. The sex toy uses a smartphone app, which lets a use control the vibration among other things. From the report: When the device is in use, the We-Vibe 4 Plus uses its internet connectivity to regularly send information back to its manufacturer, Standard Innovations Corporation. It sends the device's temperature every minute, and lets the manufacturer know each time a user changes the device's vibration level. The company could easily figure out some seriously intimate personal information like when you get off, how long it takes, and with what combinations of vibes. This was revealed on Friday at hacker conference Defcon in Las Vegas by two security researchers, who wish to be called only by their handles @gOldfisk and @rancidbacon. The two examined the app's code and the information being sent by the device over Bluetooth. In a statement sent by email, Standard Innovation Corporation's president Frank Ferrari confirmed that the company collects this information. [...]
There are so many grammar and punctuation errors in that summary that it hurts to read it.
" seriously intimate personal information like when you get off, how long it take"
Most Slashdotters already have information like this collected by their ISP ;-)
If you post as Anonymous Coward, don't expect a reply.
Is nothing sacred anymore? Are we really nothing more than market research tools and products to be sold to the highest bidder anymore? Look, if you give me something for free, I don't think it's necessarily unreasonable to ask for something in return (provided you disclose that you're collecting that data). But if I'm paying for it, then please just stop. I'm the customer, not the product.
"Tell me doctor, with all of your defenses, are there any provisions for an attack by killer bees?"
Intimate stuff - be it data or other things that the customer had in mind when buying it. So that they can de-automate this and replace toys w/ people in the long run
Do they have the smartphone-enabled model that lets you control the vibration functionality from a *remote* smartphone, so you can further bridge the phone sex gap?
I'm asking for a friend.
Brings a whole new meaning to pentesting doesn't it?
Which way is the transparency?
To the customer, by making it plain Big Brother is watching their orgasms?
To the company, as in "OK. Delilah in Kansas City likes Echo Mode at 5.7Hz. Why don't we start offering pre-customized models which have all the user's preferences pre-programmed? For a fee, of course."
"The company could easily figure out some seriously intimate personal information like when you get off, how long it takes, and with what combinations of vibes."
sure, then they sell your data to your health insurance company, employers, the goverment so they all know about your sexual activities and perceived health. takes longer than a few minutes for you to get off? that will earn you an interesting chat with your manager the next moring.
"Steve, we've noticed you recently have been sexually quite active. We are pleased it works out for you. However we're really concerned about the decline in your performance, sexually. I look at my statistics sheet here, and it says you usually took just 1.5 minutes, which is very good. It releases stress but it doesn't impact your productivity that much. So that's a good thing. However, for almost 2 weeks now, we see that it takes you 5, sometimes 10 minutes to get off. I have to tell you, we don't like this development. You have to look into this. If you can't improve it, we will ban you from any sexual activities in the future and treat you with a stress relexant. Am I clear?"
brave new world
If you can get over the fact it's about sex, it's actually a pretty good collection of metrics to collect when you're looking to get the best performance out of your product.
They'll take that data and use it to improve future products to better get you off /with science/
Also could provide pretty good data for legit scientific study - It can be hard to get funding to study taboo subjects.
Of course, this all needs to be clearly stated in a privacy policy and data should be anonymized.. That's the real fuck-up here.
Sex toy makers are dicks.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
Hire some.
That summary is so poorly written that it borders on editorial malpractice.
Just cruising through this digital world at 33 1/3 rpm...
Not sure if it's this one, but the device I read about is connected to the women's smartphone, but it also linked to a "partners" phone so they can activate it at will.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
...this security issue will affect very few /.ers...
Okay, so they capture completely non-personally-identifiable information... so?
They log how often the user changes vibration settings. This seems like clear product improvement data. Remove lesser-used settings and utilize the information on how frequently the settings are changed to create an auto-program that mimics that alternation.
They capture the temperature. This seems like possible safety data, if nothing else.
If it activated the microphone to record the ambient "noise", you'd have a clear case of 'catching' someone sending data. Does it send the phone's device ID? I didn't see it in the summary. So I'm genuinely not seeing what's inherently wrong with wanting to understand how products are used and could improve, especially in the burgeoning sexual-health industry.
[DISCLAIMER: This post is a work of satire and should not be misconstrued as a holy text upon which to base a religion.]
On the upside, it could be used to create a custom profile on what REALLY gets the person off. I imagine a vibrator that "learns" would be a welcome asset to a lot of women out there.
they buy orgasms.
Same concept as no one buys a drill bit--they buy a hole.
Heh?! Max speed?
Newsreader: in the latest IT scandal, Standard Initrode Corp has admitted that its Autobanger sex toys have been remotely hijacked by a variant of the Stuxnet virus. The effect of the hijacking is to cause the device to repeatedly apply the user's favorite settings, until the user becomes unresponsive. Last week's revelations by Federal investigators that a number of unexplained deaths among Congressmen and -women were caused by unexpected heart attacks may be related.
"Cock Up Your Beaver" does not mean what you think. This sig is intended to clog filters and annoy do-gooders
Slashdot just threw open the flood gates on this one
...what?
What if malware texts every one of the users contacts with detailed user data? "(Name of user) has gotten off 572 times this week"
Standard Innovation Corporation's or SIC will become Data Innovation Corporation or DIC.
I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
Why in the world would they stop? That data is valuable to them, and people will buy their product despite privacy concerns.
So no, they will not stop. If it is connected to the internet, in any way and at any time, then you can rest assured it is sending home anything and everything it can gather. This is the rule with *all* devices, no exceptions.
Just another example of how the insider threat results in data exfiltration.
Kenneth?
If I wanted to develop a sexbot, it might make sense to be collecting this kind data and trying to build models from it.
The issue is obviously whether or not the users know it's happening. The Internet connectivity (rather than it being just USB or bluetooth or something) alone strongly implies it, but apparently different people draw different inferences.
I think we're getting to the core of why dessicant packets have to be labeled with "do not eat" and your floppy disk label should warn against feeding it to alligators. It's better to be explicit about even extremely obvious things, because somebody is always going to step up and claim they were too stupid to understand what you thought was obvious. All they have to do is convince one other person that they're serious rather than pretending, and then at that point, even you will believe that people are as stupid as they say they are.
The only way to win is to not play: be explicit.
One reason why our smartphones need to provide a toggle to turn off internet access on an app-by-app basis.
Great - now I have to worry about man-in-the-middle attacks in the bedroom too?
If Slashdot were chemistry it would look like this:Cadaverine
(a) This is the creepiest thing I've read all week.
(b) When can I control the smartphone from the vibrator?
It must have been something you assimilated. . . .
As the ravenous Internet of All things pounded her joyfully, the unspeakable happens.. the tip flips open to reveal an undisclosed hidden cam! Somewhere Kim Jong is chortling!
Have you fscked your local propeller head today?
Yea the first part I jibed with, but he lost me on that second sentence.
Do you want pinkeye? 'Cause that's how you get pinkeye.
Would you like to share feedback to help improve the tool?*
*If not, the next version will use other people's preferences as the defaults. Your call.
I see the point being made here obviously, but I'm actually intrigued by the notion of security by orgasm. That definitely needs some attention.
So little to do these days. Lets just be outraged at everything.
Im sure "they" really care about your data timmy, the specialest of the snowflakes out of a billion? Internet users
Hmmm, now I know the true reason for Google wanting to do this:
Chrome Is Nearly Ready To Talk To Your Bluetooth Devices [Aug. 9, 2016]
It meant that they'd at some point replace the vibrators w/ actual live human beings. People replacing toys, as opposed to toys replacing people
Nevermind, I take back what I said - the article itself didn't specifically address the PII aspect, according to this Tweet/Image, you can infer the REST endpoint does include the username.
While I again don't personally care too much if it were me, and also while I think usernames are a weak form of PII, I do understand how storing it per account can be disconcerting and definitely hope this discovery will help change the company's policies.
[DISCLAIMER: This post is a work of satire and should not be misconstrued as a holy text upon which to base a religion.]
Once again we see so called "smart" devices sending data home without the users consent. How long before people wake up and simply say stick all this so called "smart" technology where the su don;t shine ?
I know one thing. I'm not having any "smart devices in my home. There's all either totally insecure, "feature" hidden backdoors, or are actively spying on you.
Fuck the internet of things and fuck "smart" devices.
Technology to help reduce medical costs. They can add a feature so that people don't need to spend thousands on colonoscopies! Brilliant!
-- I ignore anonymous replies to my comments and postings.
i expect it to clean up afterwards.
Slashdot aren't FBI! THEY ARE DILDO SPIES NOW!
Upgraded news at 12 inches.
Comment removed based on user account deletion
Just that the product is secure. I just don't want to be compromised through a backdoor by some Russian hackers.
"The sex toy uses a smartphone app, "
Seriously? Might as well build the sex toy right in the smart phone then. Maybe the smart phone is the ancestor of the XQJ-37 Pan-Sexual Roto-Plooker envisioned here after all:
http://wiki.killuglyradio.com/...
http://wiki.killuglyradio.com/...
Back on topic: In 2016, I prefer sex toys to be wired anyways. Less chances they will replicate and take control of the world this way.
Everything I write is lies, read between the lines.
We never say like "your dildo". We always say " a dildo".
I for one welcome our new sex toy overlords.
Seriously though. If they had only gotten consent, this'd be some seriously publishable data.
A woman calls into a sex shop:
Woman (in always a trembling / stuttering voice): is it your shoooop that sellllls this brand neeeeew electrooonic vibraaaaator?
Salesman: Yes ma'm, that's us.
W: which is 12 innnches llll-ong...?
S: that's right...
W: all leeeeeaather...?
S: yes ma'm...
W: and the new, eeeextra sssstrong viiibraaaaation...?
S: yes, that's us, ma'm...
W: wellllll then, pleeeeeeeease, tell me how to turn it offffff...
Now, it would be a fun (?) hack if someone hacked into it and controlled the vibration remotely. Revenge of the ex boyfriend, anyone?
I'm no longer fed up with MS Windows: I go rid of them
what exactly does someone think this information can be used for other than a: research or b: product improvement?
Teledildonics MITM?
Seems like it writes itself.
In Soviet Russia the dildo uses you!