Bose headphones spy on listeners - lawsuit
Bose headphones spy on listeners - lawsuit
By Jonathan Stempel April 19, 2017
(Reuters) - Bose Corp spies on its wireless headphone
customers by using an app that tracks the music, podcasts and other audio they
listen to, and violates their privacy rights by selling the information without
permission, a lawsuit charged.
The complaint filed on Tuesday by Kyle Zak in federal
court in Chicago seeks an injunction to stop Bose's "wholesale
disregard" for the privacy of customers who download its free Bose Connect
app from Apple Inc or Google Play stores to their smartphones.
"People should be uncomfortable with it,"
Christopher Dore, a lawyer representing Zak, said in an interview. "People
put headphones on their head because they think it's private, but they can be
giving out information they don't want to share."
Bose did not respond on Wednesday to requests for comment
on the proposed class action case. The Framingham, Massachusetts-based company
has said annual sales top $3.5 billion.
Zak's lawsuit was the latest to accuse companies of
trying to boost profit by quietly amassing customer information, and then
selling it or using it to solicit more business.
After paying $350 for his QuietComfort 35 headphones, Zak
said he took Bose's suggestion to "get the most out of your
headphones" by downloading its app, and providing his name, email address
and headphone serial number in the process.
But the Illinois resident said he was surprised to learn
that Bose sent "all available media information" from his smartphone
to third parties such as Segment.io, whose website promises to collect customer
data and "send it anywhere."
Audio choices offer "an incredible amount of insight"
into customers' personalities, behavior, politics and religious views, citing
as an example that a person who listens to Muslim prayers might "very
likely" be a Muslim, the complaint said.
"Defendants' conduct demonstrates a wholesale
disregard for consumer privacy rights," the complaint said.
Zak is seeking millions of dollars of damages for buyers
of headphones and speakers, including QuietComfort 35, QuietControl 30,
SoundLink Around-Ear Wireless Headphones II, SoundLink Color II, SoundSport Wireless
and SoundSport Pulse Wireless.
He also wants a halt to the data collection, which he
said violates the federal Wiretap Act and Illinois laws against eavesdropping
and consumer fraud.
Dore, a partner at Edelson PC, said customers do not see
the Bose app's user service and privacy agreements when signing up, and the
privacy agreement says nothing about data collection.
Edelson specializes in suing technology companies over
alleged privacy violations.
The case is Zak v Bose Corp, U.S. District Court,
Northern District of Illinois, No. 17-02928.
(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by
David Gregorio)
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