Bose Sued for Wiretapping
Posted by: Timothy Weaver on 04/20/2017 11:52 AM
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BlastingNews is reporting the Bose has been sued in a federal court in Chicago for selling user data without permission.
The lawsuit is charging that Bose's wireless headphones are gathering personally identifiable data and selling it to third parties.
What the suit alleges is that Bose collects data on a headphone user's listening habits which includes names, and titles of music.
According to the BlastingNews report, the audio manufacturer tags the data to the user's unique identifiable serial number and then sells it to third parties such as customer data platform Segment.
The plaintiffs lawyers argue that the practice constitutes wiretapping. If the customer was listening to a controversial podcast, that data could be used against him.
Bob Noel, director of strategic relationships and marketing for Plixer International, said “Bose is not alone here. One important part of the equation to understand in this case is whether or not there is an end user license agreement (EULA) outlining the PII that Bose is taking. In many cases the EULA you agree to when you download an application gives the manufacturer the right to collect and/or sell that data."
What makes the case difficult is to determine if the data collected in in alignment with the EULA. Noel said. "In many cases, this can be difficult because the data collection occurs across an encrypted tunnel. You know data is being collected, but as a consumer, it is impossible to verify what data is being taken, and what the manufacturer is doing with that data.”
Source: SCMagazine
The lawsuit is charging that Bose's wireless headphones are gathering personally identifiable data and selling it to third parties.What the suit alleges is that Bose collects data on a headphone user's listening habits which includes names, and titles of music.
According to the BlastingNews report, the audio manufacturer tags the data to the user's unique identifiable serial number and then sells it to third parties such as customer data platform Segment.
The plaintiffs lawyers argue that the practice constitutes wiretapping. If the customer was listening to a controversial podcast, that data could be used against him.
Bob Noel, director of strategic relationships and marketing for Plixer International, said “Bose is not alone here. One important part of the equation to understand in this case is whether or not there is an end user license agreement (EULA) outlining the PII that Bose is taking. In many cases the EULA you agree to when you download an application gives the manufacturer the right to collect and/or sell that data."
What makes the case difficult is to determine if the data collected in in alignment with the EULA. Noel said. "In many cases, this can be difficult because the data collection occurs across an encrypted tunnel. You know data is being collected, but as a consumer, it is impossible to verify what data is being taken, and what the manufacturer is doing with that data.”
Source: SCMagazine
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