Bose Headphones Secretly Collected User Data, Lawsuit Reveals (fortune.com)

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. From a report: 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.

Comments

Your headphones are spying on you.

[sheramil]

Paranoid yet?

Re:Your headphones are spying on you.

[Mycroft-X]

noting a person's audio history may contain files like LGBT podcasts or Muslim call-to-prayer recordings.

Why do people who, if you asked them, would say that things like the above shouldn't be stigmatized, then go out of their way to stigmatize them with an implication that content in those categories should be subject to some sort of special expectation of privacy?

Re:Your headphones are spying on you.

[Anonymous Coward]

Oh, I don't know, perhaps because dickheads persecute them for it?

Re:Your headphones are spying on you.

[Quirkz]

There's nothing special about the right to privacy, and stigmatization doesn't have to have anything to do with it. Anything you don't want to reveal, you ought to be able to keep to yourself. Religion and sexuality get cited a lot, because they're commonly things people might not want to reveal to strangers, corporations, etc.

Oh, shit.

[Anonymous Coward]

I've bought Bose headphones (no, not the wireless: it's pretty improbable they spy on me, for a lack of channel for that).

Remember to add Bose to no-buy list.

HELLO, BOSE: You just went from "I'm a happy customer" to "You're on my no-buy list". Are you glad now?

(Captcha: "decibel". Perhaps my earphones are listening on me, after all?)

Re:Oh, shit.

[Opportunist]

This was for the longest time the approach to security. How high is the damage if our customer data gets lost? How much would it cost to secure it? It costs HOW MUCH? Screw security!

Only when laws were passed that made CEOs personally (!) liable (yes, with their private money) if they can't show that they've taken reasonable steps to secure it, suddenly security became an issue.

And we won't see anything being done in favor of privacy unless corporations feel the govenments' boots on their necks.

Re:Oh, shit.

[Gr8Apes]

Companies are, in fact, not (usually) stupid.

I'd disagree - companies are, in fact, very stupid in very many ways. Just remember that the "brains" of a company for all intents and purposes are usually the CEO/COO and related C level folks. Now realize that most of those folks don't know the first thing about data security (for purposes of this particular topic) and only see the marketer numbers about how collecting x will generate y revenue for a minimal cost of 0.01% of generating y, as they determined with a single question during a program meeting. (Marketers generally have 0 grasp of anything regarding IT best practices and real costs) I have had many fun conversations with bosses about why something so simple as adding an age and gender field to an account and displaying that info costs far more than adding, say, a nickname field, especially when working for an entity that deals with PII restrictions.

I am so sick of this shit

[Anonymous Coward]

I don't buy expensive headphones and generally have avoided some things that are privacy invading. But even surfing the web I get some well-timed mailings that make me fucking paranoid as shit. So to that end I have a request of corporate America: My life is not a resource to be commoditized. Stop fucking spying on me you slimy pieces of shit. I will share information with you IF I WANT TO.

Re:I am so sick of this shit

[fahrbot-bot]

Not to worry. I still get American Girl adverts after buying one for my niece. Who just graduated college.

I still get Hello Kitty adverts after buying some USB drives as a joke.

Your "nice" and "joke" aside, just a reminder that /. is a safe space and you're free to be yourself w/o any judgment. :-)

sigh

[Anonymous Coward]

Sigh. I know this is Slashdot, but come on!

Bose Headphones Secretly Collected User Data, Lawsuit Reveals

No.

The lawsuit alleges (innocent until proven guilty) that the Bose completely optional app - not the headphones - collects too much data and shares it with 3rd parties without the user's consent.

Which is bad if true, but it is a far cry from the "your headphones are spying on you" that the headline claims.

Unsurprisingly, Slashdot probably picked this up to take yet another a jab at Apple.

Now, queue ignorant comments about how bluetooth headphones are tools of the devil, Apple is evil, etc.

Bad, but not as horrible as one would think.

[Old97]

In the article it says you can use the headphones without the app. Bose "encourages" customers to download and use the app with the headphones. That should give it away. Why do you think they want you to use their app? You can adjust the app settings - presumably what it can and cannot do. It seems what Bose did wrong was not be clear up front as to what the default result of using the app would be. That's not quite as bad as your smart TV spying on you if you connect it to your internet connected LAN.

I'm going to recheck my microwave now. I wonder if I should down this GE microwave app.

Re:Bad, but not as horrible as one would think.

[Rick Schumann]

You answered my question before I even asked it: 'Why do you need an App to use wireless headphones?' You don't. You shouldn't ever, either.
How fucked-up is this world, where you can't even get wireless headphones without the gods-be-damned manufacturer invading your privacy and selling your personally-identifiable information for profit?

In Soviet Russia...

[DogDude]

... the headphones listen to you!

Re:You get what you pay for...

[Anonymous Coward]

Why would anyone spend $1 to $2 on a pair of headphones? I read sheet music and play it back in my head.

BOSE = terribly privacy policy

[linuxwrangler]

My wife bought a Wave IV Soundtouch with a 30-day return policy - the only good policy they have and the one we exercised.

Want to set the thing up and use the features you paid for like Internet radio? You have to use the app. The first thing the app requires to even start setup is access to your location. WTF? Then there is their so-called "privacy" policy (which is currently so private that they have broken links on their site so you can't even find it now) that allows them to track your listening (which could even include AM, FM, CD, etc), combine it with other info and sell or use it for marketing purposes.

In the words of my sound engineer friend: BOSE stands for Bring Other Sound Equipment.