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News/Trending Sex and Relationships

Vibrator Company Accused Of Recording Customers’ Sexual Habits Settles Lawsuit for $3.71 Million

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Forget about your microwave secretly snapping pictures of you when you sneak into your darkened kitchen for a midnight snack. There’s an even more insidious spy lurking in your house, and it’s probably hidden in the bottom of your underwear drawer.

That’s right. Big Brother is watching, and by Big Brother, we’re referring to the nickname you’ve given your 12-inch, ebony-colored dildo.

Standard Innovation Corporation, the manufacturer of the “smart” We-Vibe sex toys, has settled a class action lawsuit alleging the company violated the Federal Wiretap Act as well as Illinois privacy laws. Standard Innovation Corporation collected usage information from customers via the mobile “We-Connect” app, which allows customers to connect their vibrator with a partner who can control the vibe remotely.

The technology behind smart sex toys is called teledildonics, which is quite possibly the least sexy word of all time. Teledildonics allows you to connect with other users for a more dystopian collaborative masturbatory experience. (Let’s just hope your dildo doesn’t get hacked. Yes, it’s happened.)

So, what kind of information did Standard collect from its customers? Information such as frequency and duration of use as well as vibration intensity was collected, often linked to customers’ personal email addresses. In other words, if you own a We-Vibe, there might be a database record out there detailing your weekly indulgence in belt-sander-intensity level vibration friction. No big deal, right?

The good news is, Standard settled this class action lawsuit to the tune of $3.71 million dollars. According to The Guardian, users of the We-Connect app may be entitled to up to $10,000 in compensation. (Seriously? For $10,000, I’ll describe my masturbatory habits to my in-laws at the next family reunion. To be fair, there’s a reasonable chance I would get drunk and do this anyway.)

Customers who only bought the vibrator may be eligible for $199.