Why do adult entertainment platforms need to know so much about us?
Towards the end of July 2025, BobDaHacker, a self-identified ethical hacker, claimed to have discovered a critical flaw in Lovense’s online security that could potentially allow access to the smart sextoy manufacturer’s online user base.
BobDaHack alerted Lovense, which proceeded to address the security issues. However, BobDaHacker remained vocal, arguing that more should have been done sooner, as evidenced by their blog post: “BOTH critical vulnerabilities were finally fixed on July 30, 2025—but only after public pressure forced their hand.”
In response, Dan Liu, Lovense’s CEO, made a statement to Engadget stating that during the breach there was,, “no evidence user data, including email addresses or account information, has been compromised or misused.”
Unfortunately, what might have happened to Lovense’s customers is nothing new, with industry leaders, like Emily Conway, Dragon Toys’ CEO, even warning Yahoo News that sextech users should remain extremely cautious, “Cybercriminals can intercept Bluetooth signals, gain unauthorised access to devices and even take complete control during use.”
Conway also brings up another important point concerning the importance of sextech security, saying, “Most apps ask for unnecessary access to your contacts, photos, or location data.”
So the question is, why do smart sextoy companies like Lovense need to know so much about us?
Under lock and key
Not suggesting protecting the identity of people who use and enjoy internet-connected pleasure devices should be a top priority, so until everything can be done to thoroughly ensure user privacy, maybe it’s time to rethink not only sextech’s online connectivity but online adult entertainment as well.
Now, it should be fairly obvious why we all want information regarding our sexual interests and activities to remain exclusively under our control: to avoid blackmail, unintended exposure to family or employers, religious zealots, or even, depending on where you may happen to reside, governmental persecution.
However, this is only the case if the sensitive information is illicitly or, in some instances, accidentally exposed.
RECOMMENDED READ: Securing Sextech: The Importance of Keeping Your Private Life—Private
Instead, let’s approach the problem from a different angle. Rather than requiring customers to use an email address or, worse yet, register via Google or other social media platforms, why not use a method that is totally separate from a user’s true identity?
A super-secure, specialized email; individualized biometrics; or two-factor authentication—it doesn’t matter as long as your sextech self cannot be traced back to your other, more public self.
What do they know—and why do they have to know it?
Accepting the fact that most companies, whether involved in manufacturing or selling sextech devices, like to know about us for marketing purposes, perhaps it’s also time to review why we need security to begin with.
Of course, we all deserve to keep our private lives private. Still, it seems as if by trying to gather too much information sextech and adult entertainment companies are making it impossible to be as secure as they should.
What we need is for the sextech and adult entertainment businesses to reexamine what online security could and must be all about. For instance, keeping social media far away from anything to do with sextech products because otherwise, when Facebook, Twitter, or whatever gets inevitably breached, you might as well have posted what you like to do in bed.
Likewise, do we really need to register, thus putting our privacy on the line, when all we want to do is watch sexy movies, or play with a smart delete sextoy? Sure, it’s got to be 100% Bluetooth secure, as Conway mentioned, but how about focusing on that as a vital standalone feature instead of asking if we want—over and over and over again—to sign up for your companynewsletter?
Hardly a secret
As the situation with Lovense demonstrated, even highly regarded sextech companies struggle with preventing their customers’ personal information from falling into the wrong hands.
As wake-up calls go, this certainly seems like an extremely loud one—not just for one company but the sextech industry as a whole. We can only hope that from this, we’ll see fewer fingers in inevitably leaky dikes and a clearer, more determined understanding of why and, most of all, how to ensure everyone’s right to privacy.
Image Sources: Depositphotos
