If You Own a We-Vibe, You Might Be Getting Some Money

Up to $10,000 to be precise.

Little did I know that all the time I spend dreaming about the future and its vast promises is a tremendous waste of time, because it’s actually here already and I just haven’t been paying attention.

I can ask my phone a question about the weather without having to actively engage with it. If so inclined, I could purchase a vibrator that would allow my theoretical long or near-distance partner to control said item via an app on their phone — a highly sexy but slightly unnerving prospect that I don’t think I will explore, because if I did, I’d be unwittingly providing the company that makes that vibrator with information that is frankly none of its freaking business.

We-Vibe, the “smart vibrator” that can be controlled by an app has recently agreed to pay up to $3.75 million as the result of a lawsuit that alleges that the app was collecting “highly intimate and sensitive data” without its user’s consent.

Maker of app-linked personal massage device settles privacy lawsuit for $3.75 million

Within the app’s interface, you could text and video chat with your partner and remotely control it through a smartphone. The lawsuit alleges that the app stored a lot of personal data including date, time, usage details and email addresses on the servers without letting their users know. It also sent info about the device’s temperature and the vibration intensity back to the manufacturer.

Well! What a terrible world it is, indeed. But, if you own a We-Vibe, you’ll get a nice little chunk of change.

The company also agreed to set aside roughly $3 million for people who downloaded the app and used it with a We-Vibe device and about $750,000 for people who purchased the devices alone. Each person who used the device as well as its app could receive up to $10,000, and each person who simply purchased the device could receive up to $199, according to the court records.

Remember Cayla? You know, the interactive doll that recorded your child’s voice and stored that information for unsavory things?

Maybe Don’t Buy Toys That Record Everything You Say

This is similar, except it’s not a doll, it’s a freaking vibrator that you’re using for private sexy-time with your partner of choice. And all of that information about what you choose to do and how you do it with your partner of choice is nobody’s business but yours. No need to buy a vibrator that stores your information. There are plenty of other options out there that…don’t do this.

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