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posted by janrinok on Tuesday June 12 2018, @06:12PM   Printer-friendly
from the apps-have-ears dept.

The Spanish soccer league's smartphone app, which has been installed by millions of users, uses the microphone and GPS readings of the devices its installed on to report possible instances of streaming piracy by listening. The smartphone app listens to and analyzes the audio in its surroundings to check if one of La Liga’s matches is being played and then pairs that with GPS data to see if that location is an authorized broadcaster and file reports.

Spanish soccer league "La Liga" is using its official Android app to create an army of millions of piracy spies. The app can access microphone and location data to scan for restaurants, bars, and other establishments that broadcast their matches without a license. "Protect your team," La Liga notes, while encouraging users to enable the functionality.


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  • (Score: 4, Informative) by urza9814 on Tuesday June 12 2018, @07:20PM (5 children)

    by urza9814 (3954) on Tuesday June 12 2018, @07:20PM (#692066) Journal

    ...and about effectively turning random customers into unwitting and unpaid enforcement agents potentially against their will. If that job is so important to them, they can hire their own damn employees to do it.

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 12 2018, @07:25PM (4 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 12 2018, @07:25PM (#692070)

    With consent from the user, the app will analyze the audio in its surroundings to check if one of La Liga’s matches is being played. It then pairs that with GPS data to see if that location is an authorized broadcaster.

    No, the customers are willing participants in this - at least for now.

    • (Score: 4, Insightful) by urza9814 on Tuesday June 12 2018, @07:36PM (2 children)

      by urza9814 (3954) on Tuesday June 12 2018, @07:36PM (#692074) Journal

      "Consent" here seems to mean "they accepted the privacy policy." How many users do you really think read every single clause in the privacy policy before installing an app? Accepting such a policy is not the same as agreeing to work for someone.

      • (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 12 2018, @07:46PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 12 2018, @07:46PM (#692080)

        Not to mention how is the function described? Does it say "we'll listen in with your phone's microphone to record all background audio in order to find people pirating our soccer matches"? Or does it say something like "anonymized usage data may be gathered during specific events" which is so nebulous a description as to be useless? Even if someone went through the privacy policy they might still have no real clue how their phone was going to be abused via the app.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 12 2018, @10:09PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 12 2018, @10:09PM (#692118)

        It definitely wasn't clear from the original article. I was feeling optimistic, so I read it as explicit consent to this feature and not something stashed away in some legal text (why else would they "encourage people to enable" it if it was already allowed?). Assuming the other way is probably more realistic.

        The Ars [arstechnica.com] article is a bit more clear about how they consent - apparently, it comes up and asks you after this update if it can use the mic/geolocation data. Accepting that is dumb but it doesn't seem terribly misleading, and it does seem opt-in.

    • (Score: 4, Interesting) by sjames on Wednesday June 13 2018, @02:24AM

      by sjames (2882) on Wednesday June 13 2018, @02:24AM (#692194) Journal

      Possibly with consent. You're sitting at home, and there's a knock at the door. The weather is cold and nasty, and the guy at the door says his car broke down and his cell is dead, can he use your phone? You agree and invite him in. He asks if he can use your bathroom and you agree again. Soon after, a tow truck arrives and off he goes.

      A few days later, at 3:00 A.M. you awake thinking you heard a splashing sound. To your surprise you find the stranded motorist taking a bubble bath in YOUR bathtub. He says "I found an open window". Understandably, you demand that he get the hell out before you call the cops.

      With a hurt look, he says "but you invited me in and said I could use your bathroom!"