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Microsoft tracked sex toy shoppers in real time

by on01 July 2024


Vole knows what you did last summer

The software king of the world, Microsoft, is in trouble after it stands accused of stalking a user who bought a sex toy.

San Francisco resident Stella Tatola is suing Microsoft and sex toy retailers Babeland and Good Vibrations. Despite assurances to the contrary, she claims their websites track users without consent.

Barnaby (owner of Babeland and Good Vibrations) allegedly allowed Vole to intercept and use consumers' private information related to sexual practices and preferences.

The retailers reportedly installed trackers using Microsoft's Clarity software, which records real-time user behaviour, including mouse movements, clicks, scrolls, and site navigation.

The complaint argues that this undisclosed tracking violates privacy policies and exposes highly sensitive information, including sexual orientation and desires.

The lawsuit cites violations of the California Invasion of Privacy Act, the Federal Wiretap Act, and Californians' reasonable expectation of privacy.

The complaint includes screenshots of code from the sexual health sites that claim to show them using Machine Unique Identifier ("MUID") cookies, which, according to Microsoft, "identifies unique web browsers visiting Microsoft sites" and are used for "advertising, site analytics, and other operational purposes."

Last modified on 01 July 2024
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