‘Smart’ sex toy maker settles lawsuit over data breach

Adult video company Naughty America provides a gander at virtual reality content during the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) on January 8, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. For the first time in more than a decade, adult entertainment was back in view at the Consumer Electronics Show gadget extravaganza in Las Vegas. Naughty America had a room in a virtual reality section of the show floor, where it demonstrated how its video performed on rival headsets from HTC, Samsung, and Facebook-owned Oculus. AFP

WASHINGTON, United States — Well, that’s going to kill the mood.

The maker of a “smart” vibrating sex toy has agreed to a multimillion-dollar court settlement in a lawsuit claiming user data was uploaded to the company’s servers without permission.

According to documents filed in a US court last week, the Canadian maker of the We-Vibe agreed to pay damages of $3.75 million, or up to $10,000 for users whose personal data was collected.

The We-Vibe, which can be controlled by a smartphone app, is marketed as “the only vibrator which can be worn while making love” and “stimulates the G-spot, the clitoris and the penis simultaneously.”

At the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, it was promoted as a vibrator for couples, using technology to improve sexual experiences.

The class-action lawsuit was filed last year in Chicago alleging the parent company Standard Innovation collected “highly intimate and sensitive data” from its Bluetooth-connected app and uploaded the information to its servers in Canada.

According to the lawsuit, the company “intercepted” data such as each user’s “desired vibration intensity level” and vibration mode or pattern, without consent.

The company was also allegedly able to view the temperature of the device and communication sent in the “connect lover” mode designed to facilitate relations between a couple remotely, despite a promise of security.

The lawsuit was filed after security researchers at last year’s Defcon hacker event revealed security flaws in the vibrator’s mobile app that could allow data to be improperly accessed and could in theory allow someone to take control of the device.

The lawsuit alleged “a wholesale disregard for consumer privacy rights” and violation of several laws.

Under the settlement, users of the mobile app may receive up to $10,000 and others who purchased the vibrator $199, court documents showed.

In a statement to AFP, Standard Innovation said it was “pleased to have reached a fair and reasonable settlement” and added that “we take customer privacy and data security seriously.”

The company said it took steps in September to tighten security and give customers “more choice in the data they share.” CBB