Imagine that you have just bought a sex toy and you are about to use it for the first time. It cost you more than 100 euros, but you wanted to treat yourself. You open the box, start reading the instructions and see that it has an app to control it. Well, well. You install it and then It starts bombarding you with permissions: location, telephone, photos… Is it really necessary?
It’s time to admit that connected devices have gotten a little out of hand. There are many devices where it makes perfect sense to be able to control them remotely, but there are others where it seems totally unnecessary to me, such as a vibrator.
Connected straws
Lelo, Satisfyer, We-Vibe… many sex toy brands have their apps. The main function is to be able to control them from your mobile and play as a couple (or in a group) even if they are at a distance. If each person has a toy, they can be synchronized with each other and have them be able to control the other’s. Some brands like We-Vibe or Satisfyer even offer the option to make video calls from the app itself.
There is an app called Joyhub that takes remote sex to another level. It is almost like a social network where there is a list of friends and you can create chat rooms to enjoy as a group. And on the next level we have Lovense Remote, which has an option to be able to connect you with strangers so they can control your toy and “explore the unknown.”
Lovense has “Control Roulette”, to connect with strangers.
Most apps give you the option to set custom vibration patterns, but some go further and have functions such as synchronizing vibration with music. And be careful because Satisfyer has a mode called High Touch Meditations that is basically like a guided meditation while you give yourself pleasure. One of his meditations is called Lullavulva Deep Sleep. No comments.
Permissions and privacy
Obviously all these extra functions mean that the apps need access to many functions of our phones, which is what I mentioned at the beginning of the post. Below these lines you can see an example of everything that the We-Vibe app asks for, one of the ones with the most functions and, therefore, that more permissions ask.
One of the permissions that these apps always ask for is location, but there is a reason. As Lelo says in the description of his app in the Play Store: since Android 6.0, Google requires that all Bluetooth devices also have access to the location. It also makes sense to access the camera and microphone if they have a video calling function, or the storage if it allows you to take and save photos.
But even if everything has an explanation, they are still very sensitive data. The apps know how much we use the toy, at what intensity, who we use it with if we connect with more users and they can even know where we are. It is always important to check if any app collects data and for what purposes, but in the case of an app of this type even more so.
In the Play Store, the data that is collected appears in the ‘Data security’ section. This is what each app collects:
- Satisfyer: They collect information about error logs and “in-app activity” for statistical purposes.
- Today– Collects error logs, device ID, name and email.
- We-Vibe: photos, although it says it is an optional feature.
- Lovense: crash logs, photos and videos (optional), activity in the app (optional), name and email address.
- Joyhub: does not collect data.
They say in this Wired report that most apps collect information as a market study; For example, if they detect that people use one type of vibration more, they can design future toys taking this into account. However, data theft occurs and as we said, this information is very sensitive.
As far as we know, there has not been any security breach related to one of these apps, but there is one striking case from a few years ago. The manufacturer Svakom starred in it when it launched a vibrator with a camera at the tip. We don’t judge people’s tastes, the problem was that The password that protected the toy’s WiFi was “88888888” And it was also in the toy manual. A disaster.
We return to the question at the beginning: are so many functions necessary in a sex toy? For most people, they probably aren’t, but perhaps for very specific cases of long-distance relationships it makes sense.
In addition, you have to understand two things: on the one hand, most of the toys that work with these apps They cost more than 100 euros and we must give them added value beyond “look, vibrate”. On the other hand, sex toys have come out of hiding, especially with the Satisfyer boom and competition is tight. You have to differentiate yourself.
Image | Anna Shvets, Pexels
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