A class action lawsuit filed on Tuesday in Chicago federal court in Chicago has sought an injunction to stop Bose’s “wholesale disregard” for the privacy of customers, alleging the audio giant spies on its customers using its official Bose app and sells the information gathered without permission.
Originally filed by Bose customer Kyle Zak, the suit accuses the company of trying to boost profit by quietly amassing customer information, and then selling it or using it to solicit further business.
Zak says that after purchasing a pair of Bose headphones and installing the official Bose Connect app, he was surprised to learn that Bose sent “all available media information” from his smartphone to third parties – not just the name, email address and serial number he supplied.
According to the complaint, Bose preprogrammed its Bose Connect app to continuously record the contents of the electronic communications that users send to their Bose Wireless Products from their smartphones, including the names of the music and audio tracks they select to play along with the corresponding artist and album information.
The complaint argues that audio data gathered by the app both offer “an incredible amount of insight” into customers’ personal lives and “demonstrates a wholesale disregard for consumer privacy rights.”
“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 has yet to respond to the claims.