Slashdot Mirror
Woman Sues Sex Toy App For Secretly Capturing Sensitive Information (ctvnews.ca)
A woman in Chicago filed a class action lawsuit against the makers of a smartphone-enabled vibrator, alleging their devices "secretly collect and transmit 'highly sensitive' information." CTV News reports:
The lawsuit, which was filed earlier this month in an Illinois court, explains that to fully operate the device, users download the We-Connect app on a smartphone, allowing them and their partners remote control over the Bluetooth-equipped vibrator's settings... The suit alleges that unbeknownst to its customers, Standard Innovation designed the We-Connect app to collect and record intimate and sensitive data on use of the vibrator, including the date and time of each use as well as vibration settings...
It also alleges the usage data and the user's personal email address was transmitted to the company's servers in Canada. The statement of claim alleges the company's conduct demonstrates "a wholesale disregard" for consumer privacy rights and violated a number of state and federal laws.
Slashdot reader BarbaraHudson argues that "It kind of has to share that information if it's going to be remotely controlled by someone else." But the woman's lawsuit claims she wouldn't have bought the device if she'd known that while using it, the manufacturer "would monitor, collect and transmit her usage information."
It also alleges the usage data and the user's personal email address was transmitted to the company's servers in Canada. The statement of claim alleges the company's conduct demonstrates "a wholesale disregard" for consumer privacy rights and violated a number of state and federal laws.
Slashdot reader BarbaraHudson argues that "It kind of has to share that information if it's going to be remotely controlled by someone else." But the woman's lawsuit claims she wouldn't have bought the device if she'd known that while using it, the manufacturer "would monitor, collect and transmit her usage information."
This is their web site legal.. which says they collect information.
I'm betting their apps have a similar eula but I couldn't locate them (they may only be available while installing the app). I checked the user manuals and the eula is not in the manuals.
http://we-vibe.com/legal
Standard Innovation® Corporation intends to build the user's trust and confidence in Internet and App use by promoting the use of fair information practices. Our privacy statement covers we-vibe.com, standardinnovation.com and the We-Vibe® mobile app.
If you have questions or concerns regarding this statement, you should first contact us at our mailing address found on the Contact Us page or by emailing Customer Service at: customerservice@we-vibe.com.
Privacy is Paramount to Us
Standard Innovation Corporation understands the need for and is committed to all reasonable protection of our customersâ(TM) privacy. We will not share information about you with any third party other than the shipper you choose to deliver your goods ordered on our ecommerce site.
Information Collection
Distributor Orders and RMA's
If you contact us, we may collect certain personally identifiable information from you. On our web-form you must provide contact information such as: name, shipping address, telephone number, email. This information is considered private and will not be divulged to third parties except the shipper if relevant.
Links to Other Sites
Standard Innovation Corporation is not responsible for the content or security of other sites that we link to.
Sharing
We do not share, rent, or sell your personally identifiable information with any third parties for marketing purposes.
Customer Service
If you register on our Website to have access to the "Media and Trade" section, we will send you a welcoming email to provide your password. If you register in the We-Vibe App and choose to receive news and offers we will send you a welcome email. In both cases you can unsubscribe at any time by clicking on the unsubscribe link provided in the footer of each email message.
Agents
We use an outside shipping company to fulfill orders. To the best of our knowledge, these companies do not retain, share, or use personally identifiable information for any other purposes.
Legal Disclaimer
We reserve the right to disclose your personally identifiable information if required to by law.
Log Files
Like most websites and apps, we gather "cookies" and certain other information automatically and store it in log files to maximize your website and app experience. We use this information in the aggregate and it will not be traced to an individual.
Secure Transactions on our Website
We follow generally accepted industry standards to protect the personal information submitted to us, both during transmission and once we receive it. However, no Internet traffic is 100% secure. While we strive to use commercially acceptable means to protect your personal information, we cannot guarantee its absolute security.
Complete Shipping Discretion
If we ship you any product(s), the package will be shipped as from Standard Innovation Corporation in a plain package with no mention of the We-Vibe or product inside. This assures complete discretion.
Changes in this Privacy Statement
If we decide to change our privacy statement, we will post changes here in the Legal section of the Website so that you are aware of what information has changed. We reserve the right to modify our privacy statement at any time, so please check back here.
Contacting Us
If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, please contact us.
--
Any any case, this case will shake up the legal situation and set things vibrating!
She was like chocolate when she drank... semi-sweet at first and then increasingly bitter.
Fear? No. This is anger.
In the connected world, everybody that produces any software at all uses it to collect every bit of data they can get their grubby mitts on. Many people don't care, which is why it continues.
They will never stop out of politeness or respect. The only way to retain one's privacy is to fight for it, as this lady is doing.
In the event of a traffic accident, they will demand the records from the server to see if the driver was having an orgasm at the time.
Have gnu, will travel.
is such a dick move.
It never worked. In a winner-takes-all society like the US, just working hard is never enough. Lots of people work hard, they don't get rich.
Good parents and luck, that's how you get rich in America.
const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
We've talked about this before. On its face, collecting information about settings changes, time of use, and duration of use are not inherently sensitive.
However, the issue (for me) is that it was later learned that these reports tie back to a username. Now, obviously a username is arguably non-PII by itself, but there are enough people putting in real information about themselves that it becomes a problem.
Is it worth a lawsuit? Or more accurately, is this an instance where popular opinion of a manufacturer's "should have known better" will override their own stated ToS/Privacy policies?
[DISCLAIMER: This post is a work of satire and should not be misconstrued as a holy text upon which to base a religion.]
"Apples, oranges, etc."
It must be oranges. The iDick is not on the market yet.
It's not laziness. There's no way that you want to have to walk customers through the process - and imagine if their isp blocks inbound http requests? I'd say they're pretty much cock-blocked.
"Transparent" is a shit show that trades on every stereotype going. A man in drag is NOT a transsexual.
Any nerd should know that if it's not under BSD, GPL, or another free license, and unless you can see the source code for everything, it's probably phoning home constantly. This is what Stallman and EFF warned us about with Treacherous Computing, and anyone who uses a so-called "smart" anything is a willing enabler. Dump these parasites now.
This requires having a career that carries you through your life, which no longer exists. I know many people in the generation before me that went to work for one company, got on a defined benefit plan, worked there for their whole career and now have a great retirement. That won't be in the cards for many of my generation.
Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
How do you think two arbitrary mobile machines connect to each other on the internet (not just locally)? To connect two machines via the internet, you need to have known IP addresses to talk to, and these phones and devices can't act as internet servers, for a variety of technical reasons, listening for these connections. Anytime you communicate with anyone else in an apparent "peer to peer" fashion using smartphone apps, some central authority is needed to at least make the initial connection.
The problem is that these companies often can't resist collecting all sorts of personal information, and don't know how to properly secure the data and communications channel (security is hard), and so it ultimately ends up as a privacy nightmare. IoT is a security disaster, but the public still hasn't caught on. There are going to be many cases such as this one over the next few years.
Irony: Agile development has too much intertia to be abandoned now.
No. Being moderately well-off has usually been based on merit...with some race thrown in. Being rich has *almost* always been based on rich parents and good social connections. There are exceptions, but they are exceptions.
I think we've pushed this "anyone can grow up to be president" thing too far.
It's called the American dream because it has never, ever been reality.
Unicode killed the ASCII-art *