If trust is the predicate of sex, how much greater the pain to discover one’s own dildo has been double-dealing?
Commercially available since 2014 from Ottawa-based Standard Innovation (SI) — embracing paradox as lustfully as next-generation kink — the “We-Vibes” dildo can be synced to a user’s smartphone via the We-Connect app. The app allows users to customize vibration settings, build intensity, set device temperature, and unlock bonus modes with time.
An unidentified user brought a five-count civil complaint against the company in Illinois, after she discovered that SI uses the app to record user data in real-time, and transmits the information to its servers in Canada. Two researchers, known only as “followr” and “g0ldfisk,” told a hacker convention last month that they discovered the practice while looking for security flaws in the app. They further suggested a deviant hacker would have little trouble remotely accessing the device, in furtherance of a lubricious plot. Hackers could alter device settings during use, or even activate the dildo. (RELATED: UT Students Wield Dildos To Protest Campus Carry Law)
The five-count complaint asserts violations of the Federal Wiretap Act and Illinois Eavesdropping Statute, as well as torts including intrusion upon seclusion, unjust enrichment, and consumer fraud. The user claims SI illegally collected user-preference data and email addresses.
For its part, SI claims it had no voyeuristic intent, and was merely conducting standard market research. “We do collect certain limited data to help us improve our products and for diagnostic purposes,” the company said on its website shortly after the revelations. “As a matter of practice, we use this data in an aggregate, non-identifiable form.”
“We will also do a better job of communicating about our data practices in order to provide greater transparency,” it added, while promising to retain additional security protocols. The company has not yet made a comment pertaining specifically to this litigation.
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