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posted by martyb on Thursday April 20 2017, @07:32PM   Printer-friendly
from the listen-up dept.

The audio maker Bose, whose wireless headphones sell for up to $350, uses an app to collect the listening habits of its customers and provide that information to third parties—all without the knowledge and permission of the users, according to a lawsuit filed in Chicago on Tuesday.

The complaint accuses Boston-based Bose of violating the WireTap Act and a variety of state privacy laws, adding that a person's audio history can include a window into a person's life and views.

"Indeed, one's personal audio selections – including music, radio broadcast, Podcast, and lecture choices – provide an incredible amount of insight into his or her personality, behavior, political views, and personal identity," says the complaint, noting a person's audio history may contain files like LGBT podcasts or Muslim call-to-prayer recordings.

The lead plaintiff in the lawsuit is a man named Kyle Zak, who claims he followed the company's suggestion to "get the most out of your headphones" by downloading the Bose Connect app, and supplying information such as his name, phone number and email address.

Zak is seeking to represent other headphone owners over allegations of illegal data mining. According to the complaint, Bose created detailed profiles of customers' listening histories and habits, and shared it with marketing companies, including a San Francisco firm called Segment whose website offers to "collect all or[sic] your customer customer data and send it anywhere."


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  • (Score: 2) by nobu_the_bard on Thursday April 20 2017, @07:59PM (2 children)

    by nobu_the_bard (6373) on Thursday April 20 2017, @07:59PM (#497030)

    Typo seems to be in the original article, not the website? I couldn't find that precise phrase going back a month, though I didn't try super hard.

    The website https://segment.com/ [segment.com] has/had "Collect all of your customer data and send it anywhere. Stream data to every marketing integration your team needs." The current front page has "Capture data from every customer touch point. Send your customer data to the tools where it can be used most effectively." It's some kind of CRM automation thing I assume, based on that- article makes it sound like they're a firehose just spraying it everywhere.

    Starting Score:    1  point
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  • (Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 20 2017, @08:01PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 20 2017, @08:01PM (#497031)

    Penisectomy Jones

  • (Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 20 2017, @08:47PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 20 2017, @08:47PM (#497051)

    article makes it sound like they're a firehose just spraying it everywhere.

    Like a golden data shower?