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Spanish Soccer League App In Google Play Wants To Use Phone Mics To Enforce Copyrights (arstechnica.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the permission-denied dept.

The official app for the Spanish soccer league La Liga, which has more than 10 million downloads from Google Play, was recently updated to seek access to users' microphone and GPS settings. "When granted, the app processes audio snippets in an attempt to identify public venues that broadcast soccer games without a license," reports Ars Technica. From the report: According to a statement issued by La Liga officials, the functionality was added last Friday and is enabled only after users click "eyes" to an Android dialog asking if the app can access the mic and geolocation of the device. The statement says the audio is used solely to identify establishments that broadcast games without a license and that the app takes special precautions to prevent it from spying on end users. [La Liga's full statement with the "appropriate technical measures to protect the user's privacy" is embedded in Ars' report.]

[E]ven if the app uses a cryptographic hash or some other means to ensure that stored or transmitted audio fragments can't be abused by company insiders or hackers (a major hypothetical), there are reasons users should reject this permission. For one, allowing an app to collect the IP address, unique app ID, binary representation of audio, and the time that the audio was converted could provide a fair amount of information over time about a user. For another, end users frequenting local bars and restaurants shouldn't be put in the position of policing the copyrights of sports leagues, particularly with an app that uses processed audio from their omnipresent phone.

33 of 77 comments (clear)

  1. Duped again! by WoodstockJeff · · Score: 4, Insightful

    https://yro.slashdot.org/story...

    1. Re:Duped again! by jrumney · · Score: 1

      It's reassuring that after all these years, and changes of ownership, Slashdot remains the same as it always has been.

  2. Is this even legal by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Presumably, they'd be recording also other people at the same venue who have not agreed to being recorded. Someone's voice is sensitive information. Given the new laws about privacy in the EU, I'm surprised this is even legal, or that they are taking the risk at all.

    1. Re:Is this even legal by ctilsie242 · · Score: 3

      This is probably for Central American countries where privacy laws are few to none, and where invasions of privacy will not go punished. I can see software like this in the US being used, with disabling the mic access considered a violation of the DMCA.

    2. Re: Is this even legal by youngone · · Score: 2

      I could be wrong, but ctilsie242 may be alluding to the fact that La Liga is really popular in Central Amrerican countries. br. La Liga may be under the impression that Central American countries don't buy licenses to broadcast the games.

    3. Re:Is this even legal by pezezin · · Score: 1

      It's not legal, and the Spanish government is already investigating it: https://www.eldiario.es/tecnol... (link in Spanish) Whoever created this app is in deep trouble now.

    4. Re:Is this even legal by 1ucius · · Score: 1

      I don't know why you assume spying/bugging. It's more likely to be a tip line. Collect evidence for us using this convenient app and we'll give you $50.00.

  3. Great for battery life by omnichad · · Score: 2

    Imagine if a handful of apps on your phone were this bad. Would your battery even last through the day?

    1. Re: Great for battery life by Reverend+Green · · Score: 1

      DOES your battery even last through the day?

    2. Re: Great for battery life by omnichad · · Score: 1

      Two days.

    3. Re:Great for battery life by omnichad · · Score: 1

      You have to wake the CPU for that. That's a lot more than you think.

  4. Go back to non-smartphones by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Do it now while you have at least a shred of your personal privacy left to you. Or do you all enjoy being treated like convicts in prison, or animals in a zoo, watched 24/7/365? Stop being stupid, get rid of your smartphone.

    1. Re:Go back to non-smartphones by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Do it now while you have at least a shred of your personal privacy left to you. Or do you all enjoy being treated like convicts in prison, or animals in a zoo, watched 24/7/365? Stop being stupid, get rid of your smartphone.

      I'll keep my smartphone and when I want privacy I will put the phone in a bag which is effectively a Faraday cage as well as a sound insulator.

      But thanks for the advice, you sad little paranoiac.

    2. Re: Go back to non-smartphones by nehumanuscrede · · Score: 2

      âoe I'll keep my smartphone and when I want privacy I will put the phone in a bag which is effectively a Faraday cage as well as a sound insulator.
      But thanks for the advice, you sad little paranoiac. âoe

      Pot, meet kettle.

    3. Re:Go back to non-smartphones by TeknoHog · · Score: 1

      We need a new name for these mass surveillance devices, there's nothing "smart" about them. I'd also like another name for pocketable networked computers outside that sheepcosystem (like the N900 could have been). Then again, what did I expect after the age of where "personal" computing meant Windows...

      --
      Escher was the first MC and Giger invented the HR department.
  5. Well, I wasn't expecting . . . by PolygamousRanchKid+ · · Score: 4, Funny

    . . . the Spanish Soccer Inquisition! Our chief weapon is surprise...surprise and fear...fear and surprise.... Our two weapons are fear and surprise...and ruthless efficiency....

    " Our chief weapon is mics... mics and GPS... GPS and mics.... Our two weapons are mics and GPS...and IP Addresses ...."

    --
    Schroedinger's Brexit: The UK is both in and out of the EU at the same time!
    1. Re:Well, I wasn't expecting . . . by mjwx · · Score: 1

      . . . the Spanish Soccer Inquisition! Our chief weapon is surprise...surprise and fear...fear and surprise.... Our two weapons are fear and surprise...and ruthless efficiency....

      " Our chief weapon is mics... mics and GPS... GPS and mics.... Our two weapons are mics and GPS...and IP Addresses ...."

      And a complete inability to play football.

      --
      Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
  6. Idiotic. by K.+S.+Kyosuke · · Score: 1

    You can't determine if someone is broadcasting something with a microphone. You can determine it using an RF receiver.

    --
    Ezekiel 23:20
    1. Re:Idiotic. by iggymanz · · Score: 1

      you can pick up tell tails in a radio or tv broadcast audio, to determine for example if a bar has the game on tv

    2. Re:Idiotic. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      You can't determine if someone is broadcasting something with a microphone. You can determine it using an RF receiver.

      WRONG.

      You obviously misunderstand the meaning of "broadcast" in the context of the article. In this case "broadcast" has nothing to do with transmission via radio frequencies. In this case "broadcast" refers to a televised sporting event being shown to the public via a screen in a local setting, such as the premises of a bar or restaurant.

      The company which owns the rights to the games which are televised wants to make sure that businesses do not show the games on the TVs which are on the premises of the business without having paid for the right to show the games.

    3. Re:Idiotic. by ole_timer · · Score: 1

      a modern phone uses frequency skip keying, and the microphone bits are encoded (read the article) - I challenge you to identify one phone from another and then to identify encoded microphone bits among that. so no, you can't really see who's channeling their microphone.

      --
      nothing to see here - move along
    4. Re:Idiotic. by K.+S.+Kyosuke · · Score: 1

      I've never heard anyone ever to refer to this as "broadcasting". Screening, perhaps.

      --
      Ezekiel 23:20
    5. Re:Idiotic. by andymadigan · · Score: 2

      What if you charge a $10 (or 10 euro) "cover charge" on nights when games are being shown? What if the league has a payment tier for home users and a higher tier for bars that want to show their games?

      How about if the bar is streaming the game from a "pirate" site and isn't even paying what a normal cable subscriber would pay for access to the live game?

      Granted, I think it's absolutely ridiculous to expect people to spy for you, especially if you're burning their battery power to do it, but sports leagues can put whatever stupid restrictions they want on their broadcasts. Maybe they'll make it illegal to watch the games at all and rioting will be reduced.

      --
      The right to protest the State is more sacred than the State.
    6. Re:Idiotic. by K.+S.+Kyosuke · · Score: 4, Funny

      OLE

      FC Microsoft fans! Disgusting!

      --
      Ezekiel 23:20
    7. Re:Idiotic. by iggymanz · · Score: 1

      my favorite is

      GOOOOOOOOOOOL!

      (without an 'a', 'cause that would be Inglés

    8. Re:Idiotic. by K.+S.+Kyosuke · · Score: 1

      You must never have watched a single sports game in your life.

      I've been watching sports for decades. Just not in languages with ridiculous usages of words.

      --
      Ezekiel 23:20
  7. Is it just me by rsilvergun · · Score: 1

    or is /. becoming an echo chamber for Arstechnica?

    --
    Hi! I make Firefox Plug-ins. Check 'em out @ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/youtube-mp3-podcaster/
  8. as long as they willing to pay roaming fees! by Joe_Dragon · · Score: 1

    as long as they willing to pay roaming fees!

    1. Re:as long as they willing to pay roaming fees! by houghi · · Score: 1

      What roaming fees? This is Europe. There are no roaming fees anymore. And if you are outside Europe and have data enabled, you are an idiot that needs to pay.

      --
      Don't fight for your country, if your country does not fight for you.
  9. Riiiiight...... by superdave80 · · Score: 1

    ...and that the app takes special precautions to prevent it from spying on end users. [La Liga's full statement with the "appropriate technical measures to protect the user's privacy" is embedded in Ars' report.]

    They can say 'protect user privacy' all they want. Behind office walls in their offices and meeting rooms, they can decide to do whatever the hell they want with these recordings.

  10. \o/ by easyTree · · Score: 1

    Because video of a bunch of people chasing a ball is such a valuable asset a fence must be thrown around it!

    --
    Requiem for the American Dream
    1. Re:\o/ by easyTree · · Score: 1

      You're using the term laughing stock to defend chasing a ball around? Okaaay.

      --
      Requiem for the American Dream
  11. "eyes" or should that be "ears" by Trogre · · Score: 1

    Stuff this corporate spying nonsense.

    --
    "Nine times out of ten, starting a fire is not the best way to solve the problem." - my wife