Canadian Vibrator Maker To Pay Millions Over Claims It Secretly Tracked Use

[zenkai]

Came in expecting there to be something about maple syrup involved, left disappointed.

[Cosmic Janitor]

I'd guess they track it indirectly through friction (they likely do not care if moisture is due to lubrication or natural). I mean practically speaking, they do need such a dataset to both improve the vibrator and to make better estimates for warrantees

Quantifying friction is even harder ..

[Project 501D13R]

Welcome to the sad truth of the modern business world, the data that the people generate is more valuable than the people themselves are.

[judgementofantonidas]

PSA.

Internet controlled vibrator. The manufacturer tracked the data of thousands of customers without their knowledge.

They were tracking duration, warmth, moisture, etc.





http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-w...ly-tracked-use

The We-Vibe classic is one of several Bluetooth-enabled We-Vibe products that can be paired with an app and controlled remotely. Customers alleged that the company that makes the vibrators was secretly tracking their use. Courtesy of Standard Innovations hide caption

toggle caption
Courtesy of Standard Innovations

The We-Vibe classic is one of several Bluetooth-enabled We-Vibe products that can be paired with an app and controlled remotely. Customers alleged that the company that makes the vibrators was secretly tracking their use.

Courtesy of Standard Innovations
The makers of the We-Vibe, a line of vibrators that can be paired with an app for remote-controlled use, have reached a $3.75 million class action settlement with users following allegations that the company was collecting data on when and how the sex toy was used.

Standard Innovations, the Canadian manufacturer of the We-Vibe, does not admit any wrongdoing in the settlement finalized Monday.

The We-Vibe product line includes a number of Bluetooth-enabled vibrators that, when linked to the "We-Connect" app, can be controlled from a smartphone. It allows a user to vary rhythms, patterns and settings — or give a partner, in the room or anywhere in the world, control of the device. (You can see a video promoting the app's features here; be advised, it is briefly not safe for work.)

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I start a lot of threads that get zero responses but I'm surprise that this did.

yeah. you stick something in your body that is controlled via the internet and wonder why someone else knows.

[Deleted]

Qelcome to the sad truth of the modern business world, the data that the people generate is more valuable than the people themselves are.

and it's being stolen from under your noses.

[Deleted]

users should be tracked and accused for degereracy

[WskyDK]

users should be tracked and accused for degereracy

I'll save you some time.
We have a couple; they're awesome. That extra vibration while you're going at it is worth every penny.

[Deleted]

I'll save you some time.
We have a couple; they're awesome. That extra vibration while you're going at it is worth every penny.

why dont you find a bull and do it the american way. you can tell she is into it

[Medusa Cascade]

Am I the only one turned on by that?

[Cosmic Janitor]

Wouldn't you be able to quantify it by measuring the vibrating frequency and extrapolating from the expected frequency for that output at zero friction?
<-not done physics since I quit engineering for finance over ten years ago.

It would first depend on what kind of friction we are talking about. I'd go with insertion friction. In general a friction is a force, hence F=ma applies, as does F_total = F_push/pull + F_friction. You can measure the force you would exert onto the handle part and compare it with the acceleration of a cheap accelerometer/gyro and hece get the friction. The thing is just that measuring liear forces is a total bitch if you care for anything other than the general direction the force is applied to.

Doing the whole thing with the frequency of the vibration wouldn't do much here. You can't really change the frequency in a mechanical system all that well, the frequency wouldn't shift unless you put so much stress on the excenter motor inside it that it slows down. The thing you proposed would also be more useful for measuring the attenuation, aka the effect on the amplitude. That would be more along the lines of measuring tightness (or if orifice A or B ).

Moisture would probably be some system that works with a little current and measures conductiveness, but integrating that into a sex toy seem counter productive, even if we talk about tiny and safe currents. Not to mention the shifts in conductivenes depending on the person's.. well you know or the probably changing properties of other lubes .

Well I guess I know what I'll be doing when the instrial sector in my country goes down the shitter with the big car manufacturers .

[Deleted]

Am I the only one turned on by that?

no being mocked and disgraced is very common with degenarated people

[Quasar]

how do they even know they vibe data was tracked,

its all anonymous anyway, it could have been switched on and passed about 12 girls at the american equivalent to an Ann Summers party.

personally would not bother me and the misses at all - we are the ones having fun not them.. all they get to read it buzzed level 1 4 mins, buzzed level 2 5 mins, throb-n-jolt mode 10 mins - not really getting anything personal are they ???

[WskyDK]

why dont you find a bull and do it the american way. you can tell she is into it

Nah, we'll stick to the sex toys

[WskyDK]

I think they were initially marketed as an option for being able to sexually stimulate your partner in a long-distance relationship or when either of you has to be away for some time. It's a really fun concept imo for people who are into this. I do wonder though what on earth would anyone other than this company could do with this data? I guess you could get an alliby for a crime! "I didn't do it your honor, I was getting stimulated by a remote controlled vibrator at the time of the crime!" Or targeted advertisement for lubricants!

We-vibe was late to tele-dildonics. They started out as fairly standard vibrators and then added in the functionality when we all lost our minds and decided we need to be connected at all times

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I would assume they also know where exactly you were when each of those occured?

They'd be able to track where your phone was, but not the toy itself

[wowaccounttom]

better watch out... your isp knows when you use the internet too

[WskyDK]

I wouldn't know I prefer my toys to be manually operated

Oh, I'm on the same page. But the concept of long-distance sex toys is kinda fascinating (and the failed devices pretty funny)

[Acidbaron]

I find it a bit absurd that people are worried about that, while they are not worried about google, facebook and all others gathering more information in a same 'anonymous' matter to tailor the type of data they send to you, or do people believe the adds you get in there aren't obtained from you?

Anything and everything is tracked these days which is why privacy laws are important and why i'm glad i'm european and not part of another continent.

[WskyDK]

Doesn't the phone need to know where the toy is in order to send the information?

Bluetooth doesn't need to know specific location, just be in range of the signal

[Deleted]

Kinky.

/giggity

[Evil Midnight Bomber]

Sounds like a very low settlement for something that is a rather large invasion of privacy, wonder if its so low is because of "prudes" on the jury.

Jury's aren't involved in settlements. The settlement amount is probably reflective of how much the company was willing to pay just to make the case go away without having to admit guilt.