We-Vibe Class Action Says Vibrator App Collects Sensitive Data

Standard Innovation (US) Corp. d/b/a We-Vibe has been hit with a class action lawsuit alleging the smartphone-paired vibrator secretly collects and transmits users’ personally identifiable information.

According to the app privacy class action lawsuit, We-Vibe is a high-end vibrator that can be paired with a smartphone using the “We-Connect” app.

The We-Connect app can be downloaded from the Apple App Store or Google Play.

Once the app is installed and paired with the We-Vibe, consumers can use their smartphone to remotely access and control the vibrator’s features and settings.

The We-Connect app is a major selling point for the We-Vibe, and the vibrator sells at a higher price point over other products because of this unique functionality, the app privacy class action lawsuit alleges.

“Unbeknownst to its customers, however, Defendant designed We-Connect to (i) collect and record highly intimate and sensitive data regarding consumers’ personal We-Vibe use, including the date and time of each use and the selected vibration settings, and (ii) transmit such usage data—along with the user’s personal email address—to its servers in Canada,” the We-Vibe class action lawsuit states.

Plaintiff “N.P.” of Illinois says she paid $130 for a We-Vibe Rave in May 2016 and downloaded the We-Connect app to her smartphone in order to access the full assortment of features.

N.P. says she has used the We-Connect app in conjunction with the We-Vibe on several occasions, and was unaware that her personally identifiable information was being intercepted, collected and transmitted.

The app privacy class action lawsuit claims that the We-Vibe maker’s conduct “demonstrates a wholesale disregard for consumer privacy rights and violated numerous federal and state laws.”

According to the We-Vibe class action lawsuit, the We-Connect app is necessary for users to fully access the functions and features of the We-Vibe. However, users are not notified or warned that the We-Connect app collects information about how a consumer uses the vibrator, N.P. complains.

Users are also not informed that the defendant transmits their sensitive, personal data to servers in Canada, the We-Vibe class action lawsuit alleges.

“Indeed, Defendant programmed We-Connect to secretly collect intimate details about its customers’ use of the We-Vibe, including the date and time of each use, the vibration intensity level selected by the user, the vibration mode or pattern selected by the user … and incredibly, the email addresses of We-Vibe customers who had registered with the App, allowing Defendant to link the usage information to specific customer accounts,” the We-Vibe class action lawsuit states.

N.P. states that she would not have purchased the We-Vibe vibrator if she had known that the We-Connect app, which is required to use the product’s full functionality, would transmit her usage information and personally identifiable data to the defendant.

She seeks to represent a Class of consumers in the United States who purchased a Bluetooth-enabled We-Vibe.

N.P. seeks an injunction prohibiting We-Vibe from continuing to monitor, collect and transmit consumers’ data as well as actual and statutory damages.

The plaintiff is represented by Benjamin H. Richman and J. Dominick Larry of Edelson PC.

The We-Vibe Privacy Class Action Lawsuit is N.P. v. Standard Innovation (US) Corp. d/b/a We-Vibe, Case No. 1:16-cv-08655, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division.

UPDATE: The We-Vibe data collection class action settlement is now open! Click here to file a claim.

UPDATE 2: On Oct. 26, 2017, Top Class Actions viewers who filed a claim for the We-Vibe Data Collection class action settlement started receiving checks worth as much as $128.16. Congratulations to everyone who got PAID!