A woman filed a class-action lawsuit against a sex-toy company this week, arguing it used a smartphone app to track users sex lives, including dates and times.
The Georgia woman, identified only as S.D. in court documents, brought the action against Hytto LTD., a China-based company which conducts business under the name “Lovense.”
She said the company sells the vibrator named “Lush” for $114 that can be remote-controlled through an app, which she said records “highly intimate and sensitive data” including customers’ email addresses and personal Bluetooth identifiers. The product can be used from long distances and also synced with music.
“Defendant’s monitoring, collection, and transmission of Plaintiff’s and the App Class members’ Usage Information — without their knowledge or consent — is highly offensive to a reasonable person as it reveals intimate private details about their sexual behavior that they believed were confidential,” said S.D.’s complaint, which was filed Wednesday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.
A spokesperson for the company told Courthouse News Service that the vibrator’s users agreed to the collection.
“Users of our software and applications must agree to our privacy policy before using our services,” the spokesperson said. “It clearly mentions the kind of data transiting through our servers.”
The lawsuit argues the company violated the Federal Wiretap Act, which prohibits intentional “interception” of electronic communications.
The plaintiffs are asking the court to enjoin the company from tracking and collecting the data.
• Alex Swoyer can be reached at aswoyer@washingtontimes.com.
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