A remote-controlled vibrator secretly recorded user's entire sex session. Eek.

The Lovense app got a little too up close and personal.
 By 
Cassie Murdoch
 on 
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Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

Welp. Here's another scenario to add to your list of terrifying ways a remote-controlled vibrator can turn against you.

In a post Wednesday, Redditor tydoctor detailed a deeply disturbing incident related to the Lovense remote-controlled vibrator app:

"I was going through my phone media to prepare it for a factory reset and came across a .3gp file named "tempSoundPlay.3gp" in the folder for the App. The file was a FULL audio recording 6 minutes long of the last time I had used the app to control my SO's remote control vibrator (We used it at a bar while playing pool)."

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The app, which can be used to control several sex toys made by Lovense, does apparently ask for permission to access the phone's mic and camera, but it's only supposed to be used for the in-app chat -- so users can send voice commands to the person controlling the remote from afar.

As The Verge reported, someone from the company that makes the vibrator and app responded to the Reddit post, calling it "a minor bug." They added, "a temporary file that is created when someone uses the Sound Control feature. Your concern is completely understandable. But rest assured, no information or data is sent to our servers."

They confirmed it happened only on Android devices and an update has been released that delete the temporary audio file when you close out of the Sound Control feature.

While it appears this particular breach of privacy could have been far worse, let this serve as a yet another gentle reminder that any connected sex toy can ultimately betray you.

But don't despair, because know what can never be hacked? Your hands.

UPDATE: Nov. 13, 2017 A Lovense spokesperson confirmed the reply on Reddit came from a company representative. They also confirmed that none of the sensitive data was ever sent back to the company's servers.

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Cassie Murdoch

Cassie Murdoch is Mashable's Culture Editor.. Before coming here, Cassie was Senior Culture Writer at Vocativ. She previously wrote for Jezebel and The Hairpin. Cassie spends most of her time thinking about and consuming cheese in all its glorious forms.

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