Vibrator manufacturer in breach of UK data protection laws?

Breach of confidentiality and data protection has become more and more prevalent in the UK as the public become more educated about their rights. We have certainly seen an increasing number of enquiries in the last 12-24 months from clients who want to seek compensation and make organisations account for their actions.

People’s sexual lives is one of the most sensitive data guarded most jealously. Therefore, you can understand why people would be horrified if that private information was then retained by a third party. This is exactly what has been reported to have happened to users of a vibrator called We-Vibre made by a Canadian Company (Standard Innovation).

Unbeknown to the users of the app which goes with We-Vibe, sensitive information about their sexual habits were being collated and stored. Clearly this was not something that they had knowingly signed up for, and obviously there is a huge fear about the misuse of such sensitive data or even an inadvertent leak of this information.

Standard Innovation have clearly recognised their wrong doing as a compensation scheme has been set up in North America and it is alleged that they have already paid out more than £2million in compensation.

In the UK, confidentiality and privacy is a fundamental right under the Human Rights Act 1998 (Article 8) and breach of the same is taken very seriously. The law protects people’s rights to privacy in a number of ways, particularly under the Data Protection Act 1998 which provides vert strict rules for how information is obtained, processed and stored.

We have been approached by consumers of We-Vibe who wish to bring a claim in the UK for this huge invasion of their privacy and we are investigating these potential claims.