Smart vibrator manufacturer settles privacy case for 3.5 million euros
The Canadian manufacturer of the ‘connected vibrator’ We-Vibe makes approximately 3.5 million euros available to consumers who have bought the device. Without permission, the vibrator settings, battery life and temperature, among other things, would have been forwarded.
The consumers are divided into two categories in the distribution of the total settlement amount. Customers who can prove that they have used the accompanying app to set up the vibrator, and thereby provide personal data such as their name and telephone number, can receive converted up to more than 9,300 euros. Customers who cannot prove this and can only prove that they have bought the vibrator will receive a converted amount of up to 186 euros. This is apparent from the settlement agreement in this mass claim case.
A spokesperson for the Canadian company told Fortune that the company is satisfied that a “fair and reasonable settlement” has been reached in the privacy case. According to her, Standard Innovation, the company behind the We-Vibe vibrator, takes customer privacy and data security very seriously. The security of the app is said to have improved and buyers now have more options to choose which data they want to share.
Last year, the manufacturer already reached a settlement in this privacy case, but the details were still unknown at the time. This settlement arose from the fact that a woman filed a lawsuit against Standard Innovation in 2016. She claimed that the company was collecting data from the companion app. The app would, among other things, send the selected vibrator settings, battery life and temperature, without the user’s explicit permission for this.
The woman argued that Standard Innovation infringed privacy rights and violated multiple US laws by intercepting the data. She would also not have purchased the product if she knew that usage data was being forwarded. Her lawyers did admit that the collected data could be of use to the manufacturer. The case was filed as a class action, allowing other users to join.
Standard Innovation took it upon themselves, promising to improve security, have privacy experts vet its policies and communicate more clearly what happens to the data. The company also promised an update to the app, giving users more control over what is sent. The company claims that no user data has fallen into the wrong hands.