【Comedy Archives】

UPDATE: Sept. 18,Comedy Archives 2016, 10:27 p.m. AEST Standard Innovation has not yet been served with a lawsuit, the company told Mashable in a statement.

It is also updating the We-Connect app, which it says will include in-app information for users about its privacy and data practices. "We have engaged external security and privacy experts to conduct a thorough review of our data practices with a view of further strengthening data protection and privacy for our customers," it added. "We are also committed to better communicating our data practices."

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In the brave new world of connectivity, even your most intimate moments may come with a heavy dose of data mining.

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At the August Def Con conference in Las Vegas, two New Zealand hackers demonstrated that the We-Vibe 4 Plus vibrator was sending information -- including device temperature and vibration intensity -- back to its manufacturer, Standard Innovation.

Dubbed the "couple's vibrator," the toy's modes, such as "wave" and "pulse," can be controlled remotely through the We-Connect app.

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At the time, Frank Ferrari, president of Standard Innovation, told Mashablein a statement the products recorded temperature "purely for hardware diagnostic purposes."

"Any changes in the temperature are not significant or noticeable enough to indicate the location of the product," he said. Ferrari added the company was in the process of reviewing its privacy and data collection policies.

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That answer must not have satisfied one customer, and a lawsuit has now been filed in a Chicago federal court.

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

The plaintiff, a Illinois woman who is simply named "N.P." in the suit, has accused the company of selling products that "secretly collect and transmit highly sensitive personally identifiable information" about their users.

She bought the device in May and used it several times, according to court documents, but she alleges the device never notified her about the information it was collecting.

The suit claims the We-Vibe device records the date, time and selected vibration setting when it's used, and then sends that data, tied to a user account's email address, to the company's Canadian servers. It also states the company failed to "notify or warn" customers about the data record being created.

It alleges the company violated the Federal Wiretap Act, among other privacy and consumer protection laws. As well as seeking damages, the plaintiff wants an injunction to stop Standard Innovation from continuing to collect We-Vibe customer data and make it destroy all the information it has so far collected.

"This is one of the more incredible invasions of privacy we've ever dealt with," Eve-Lynn Rapp, an attorney with Edelson, the law firm behind lawsuit, told the Chicago Tribune.

The woman is seeking class action status on behalf of "tens of thousands" other We-Vibe users.

At Def Con, the two hackers, Goldfisk and Follower, also suggested the vibrator had vulnerabilities that could leave it open to being hacked. "Unwanted activation of a vibrator is potentially sexual assault," Follower said.

Let's, um, just leave these things offline, ok?

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