What is your vibrator telling others about you? [Potentially NSFW]?
This was bound to happen, and now it has. The wonders of modern technology.
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Several companies have built vibrator devices that communicate with a smartphone app, for ‘remote control’, and now it turns out that the usage statistics of these devices is being reported back to the manufacturer (and god knows who else), along with the smartphone owner’s identity, and so on.
Think of the possibilities for data theft, possible embarrassment and maybe blackmail, etc.
Would you buy an intimate device that ‘reports home to mama’ every time you use it?
What was the manufacturer thinking?
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21 Answers
Product does exactly what it was designed and marketed to do, customer buys >$130 product, consents to terms service, customer sues company.
Sounds legit.
WeVibe is a great company that makes a very high quality product. The anonymous plaintiff is an idiot.
What are you saying!?!?!?!
Does the government have sensors build in to vibrators now that pass on all kinds of personal information!?!?!
MY GOD! What have we come to?!?!?!
Why can’t WeVibe market a simple remote control device with simple terms of service, .rather than recording data and sending it to points unknown? I’m guessing when this revelation is widely dispersed sales will be drastically reduced.
Or users will start firing up Tor before firing up their vibrators.
@rojo Not the government, the manufacturer. Corporate monitoring of everything.
Orgasm, and then get ads for dating sites sent to you.
@LuckyGuy – this particular product is designed to be able to be controlled by a user’s partner from anywhere in the world. Think, military couples and such. That’s why it’s linked to an app.
And it would be stupid of them, from a marketing perspective, not to keep anonymous usage stats, in order to help then to continue to create products their users love.
It would be immensely silly of WeVibe to send users ads for dating sites, since it’s a line of sex toys aimed at couples.
@Seek = I sort of agree with you, about the manufacturer keeping usage stats. I see two problems:
- companies get hacked all the time. The NSA does its own share of hacking, as we know. Are these really anonymous and are these really secured? Can we trust the company to have taken precautions? (Look at Home Depot, Target, and hundreds of other companies that have not secured customer data)
- is the connection from the vibe to the phone encrypted or plain text? What about the connection to the company’ server? If it isnt encrypted, then anyone with half a brain can intercept it.
And that’s where my practical thought of “what’s the statistical likelihood anyone gives a damn about what pattern I run my vibrators at?” Comes into play.
What’s the big reveal here? That you own a sex toy? That you have a partner that you use sex toys with? Shock! Horror! Scandal!
If the software is half way competent it keeps a record of both partners and how often and how long they use the device. IP addresses.
How long will it be before divorce lawyers and law enforcement start demanding copies of the records so they can search for dalliances and extra curricular activities?
@LuckyGuy – the drug companies will subpoena the data as well “it wasn’t the heart drug that killed her, your honor, it was the action from the vibrator”
Dalliances for a vibrator that only works when your partner is controlling it with the linked app?
Look guys, if you don’t like it, don’t buy one.
It’s a toy, an expensive one, directed at a niche market – couples who are forced to have their sexytime at a distance.
The fact that people can’t read the TOS before clicking “I agree” doesn’t make it a bad toy.
@Seek – I am in no way criticizing the toy itself, and how it works, and whether it works for customers. That’s not my concern.
MY concern is the way that the data is stored, handled and shared.
(By the way, this is the same concern I have with my Fitbit – it’s shipping and sharing all sorts of data about me and I have no real idea where it’s going in and who gets to see it. The difference between the Vibe people and the Fitbit people is that the moment I signed up for Fitbit, it told me exactly what was being sent to whom.)
http://we-vibe.com/legal
Privacy is Paramount to Us
Standard Innovation Corporation understands the need for and is committed to all reasonable protection of our customers’ 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.
Sharing
We do not share, rent, or sell your personally identifiable information with any third parties for marketing purposes.
Legal Disclaimer
We reserve the right to disclose your personally identifiable information if required to by law.
All freely available on their website.
@Seek
Lovely. And if they are hacked?
What if the sky falls tomorrow?
I can see the manufacturers ad now
“Over 1 Million Orgasms Served!” and maybe a realtime counter included
@rojo We-Vibe is not some cheesy joke-dildo company. They’re very high-end toys.
@Seek – that link is good. That’s what they should have been doing all along. My problem with these companies (not just vibrator companies, but internet / app based services in general) is that data security is usually the last thing they think about, and usually when someone puts them in the newspaper.
They ought to be building secure transmission in – from the start. (And I work for a software company; that’s what we do)/
Honestly I think it’s fucking cool. Literally. Just need a secure VPN ( virtual pussy network) tunnel and a dildo and pocket pussy can link up securely and tightly over the web, or perhaps across the room. Could save a few geeky marriages.
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