A lawsuit has been put forward against Bose alleging that the company has been using its wireless headphones and speakers to spy on users, tracking the music, podcasts and other audio that they listen to for monetary gain.
The class-action lawsuit was filed on Tuesday in the US district court of Illinois by user Kyle Zak who claims that the Bose Connect app has broken federal wiretap laws, local wiretapping statute and fraud laws as well as carrying out “intrusion on seclusion.”
Zak purchased a pair of Bose QuietComfort 15 wireless headphones in March and downloaded the Bose Connect app which allows users to control their headphones through their mobile phone. However, he soon discovered that Bose were able to collect data such as the music he was listening to and for how long as well as a personal identifier code. According to the lawsuit, this data comes from a date mining firm named Segment.io.
The lawsuit reads:
“Plaintiff Zak never provided his consent to Bose to monitor, collect, and transmit his Media Information. Nor did Plaintiff ever provide his consent to Bose to disclose his Media Information to any third party, let alone data miner Segment.io.”
Following:
“Plaintiff Zak would never have purchased his Bose Wireless Product had he known that Defendant would use Bose Connect (which was necessary to access the product’s full array of functions and features) to collect, transmit, and disclose his Media Information.”
This case aims to extract millions of dollars in damages from Bose for its users of headphones and speakers that include the QuietComfort 35, QuietComfort 30, SoundLink Around-Ear Wireless Headphones II, SoundLink Color II, SoundSport Wireless and SoundSport Pulse Wireless. Plus, the case aims to halt all data collection on the basis of the federal Wiretap Act.