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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. [...]
" seriously intimate personal information like when you get off, how long it take"
Most Slashdotters already have information like this collected by their ISP ;-)
No mod points today, but +1 Funny, everybody.
You would be talking about OhMiBod. See also the website chaturbate (sex cam chat, often coupled with the OhMiBod vibrator.)
My first thought was, for a lot of people this is a feature because future models will be better at getting them off.
But if you read Dan Savage, you might be skeptical that it will help their sex lives.
If they disclose it, I don't see why it is a problem. I wouldn't want to use it, but a lot of people would. Especially if they offer free software upgrades for people who share their data.
The general case is scarier to me. My banking data or my political activities seem more in need of protection than masturbation details. The only people in the world who care about this data are people who sell devices to aid the activity. Whereas with my banking data, it is not only people who sell banking services that might want to steal it!