New Delhi: A sex toy company has been fined Rs 24 crore for tracking customers’ sexual activities without their permission. The sex toy was identified as “We-Vibe 4” and priced at £90. The toy can be controlled by an app from anywhere in the world.
The item description reads, “Touch the screen to control the vibrations and build intensity. Tease and please with the custom vibes you create.”
Following a lawsuit in 2017, the manufacturer in question, Canadian brand We-Vibe, has reportedly agreed to pay up to £6,120 per customer after using their smart vibrators’ to track its use, according to a LadBible report.
When it was revealed that the app was collecting and sending data back to Standard Innovation, alarm bells began to ring online. The data collection reportedly included how frequently the sex toy was used and at what intensity level, giving the owners a good idea of the customer’s usage pattern.
According to court documents, approximately 3,00,000 people worldwide use We-Vibe products. One-third of them used an app-enabled device.
A female customer told that the experience was appalling and it is ridiculous that the company collects personal data.
In defence, the company said, ” At Standard Innovation we take customer privacy and data security seriously. We have enhanced our privacy notice, increased app security, provided customers [with] more choice in the data they share, and we continue to work with leading privacy and security experts to enhance the app.”
