Controlling the Herd
Eww: Smart Sex Toy Maker Ordered To pay $2.9 Million Lawsuit After They Were Caught Collecting Customer Data
One of the users of this toy realized that the app was relaying this information back to Standard Innovation, and promptly sued their pants off.
You have to wonder how so many people could buy into the whole “internet of things” trend. By filling their homes with internet connected smart devices, they are trading their privacy over to corporations, hackers and governments in exchange for very minor conveniences. They’re handing over the keys to their most personal secrets to people they’ve never met. It’s utterly bizarre, and yet people keep doing it.
With that said, you really have to question the wisdom of someone who buys a smart sex toy. Talk about a situation that is just begging for privacy abuse. That’s a lesson that the owners of the We-Vibe sex toy learned after realizing that Standard Innovation, the Canadian company that made the toy, had been spying on them.
The We-Vibe came with a smartphone app that allowed users to customize various settings. One of the users of this toy realized that the app was relaying this information back to Standard Innovation, and promptly sued their pants off. The company was recently ordered by the North District of Illinois Eastern Division District Court to pay $2.9 million to their customers. $10,000 is being given to each person who used the toy and app before September 26th, 2016. Those who only used the toy are being given $199 each.
The Standard Innovation spokesman recently stated that the company was “pleased to have reached a fair and reasonable settlement in this matter” and that “at Standard Innovation we take customer privacy and data security seriously. We have enhanced our privacy notice, increased app security, provided customers more choice in the data they share, and we continue to work with leading privacy and security experts to enhance the app. With this settlement, Standard Innovation can continue to focus on making new, innovative products for our customers.”
The company is going to continue to collect information on users, but now they’ve agreed to only collect non-identifiable aggregate information, and only after informing their customers.
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