We-Vibe Settles Privacy Violation Suit for $3.75 Million

CHICAGO—Standard Innovation, the manufacturers of the We-Vibe family of pleasure products, agreed to pay $3.75 million to settle a lawsuit filed by an Illinois woman last year who claimed the company’s We-Connect app was in violation of the Federal Wiretap Act and Illinois privacy statues. In addition to the monetary settlement, Standard Innovation agreed to stop allowing the We-Conect app to collect personal information from users, as well as to destroy all data it previously collected. The settlement of the case, which was filed Sept. 2, 2016, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, was filed this week. Under the terms of the agreement, about $3 million will go to users of the app, while the remaining $750,000 will go to people who purchased the app-controlled vibrator. The woman who filed the suit and a co-plaintiff—who were identified only as N.P. and P.S. throughout the case—will each be awarded $5,000. The suit claimed the We-Connect app—which is used by some We-Vibe products, but not all—monitored and recorded how consumers use the device in real-time, and alleged the app tracked personal details such as the date and time of each use of the vibe and the app, the chosen vibration intensity and pattern and the email addresses of users who have registered within the app. We-Vibe launched the We-Connect App in September, 2015. We-Connect features in-app voice, chat and video, and the ability to draw and save custom vibration patterns. When it was released, the app worked with We-Vibe 4 Plus, We-Vibe Classic, We-Vibe 4 Plus App Only and the We-Vibe Passionate Play Collection. N.P. allegeed Standard Innovation did not obtain consent from any customers before beginning to monitor the information, and noted she would not have purchased a We-Vibe (the suit notes she purchased a We-Vibe Rave in May, 2016) had she known the app would monitor, collect and transmit her usage information. Standard Innovation stated at the time the lawsuit was filed that it had taken steps to enhance its data security and privacy measures, even going so far as to contact privacy experts to review its practices. “There’s been no allegation that any of our customers’ data has been compromised,” the company statement read. “However, given the intimate nature of our products, the privacy and security of our customers’ data is of utmost importance to our company.” For more, visit We-Vibe.com.