A lawsuit filed on Tuesday alleges that Bose Corp. is spying on consumers by tracking the music audio they listen to and selling that information without permission.
Plaintiff Kyle Zak, who filed the class action lawsuit in Chicago federal court, said that Bose is tracking the information of customers who have wireless headphones and download the Bose Connect app to their smartphones, and that it violates their privacy rights. He is seeking an injunction to stop Bose's "wholesale disregard" of privacy rights.
"People should be uncomfortable with it," Zak's attorney Christopher Dore said. "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."
Zak said he downloaded the free app after Bose suggested he "get the most out of his headphones," and during the registration process provided personal identifying information such as name, phone number, and home address. Registration for the app also includes providing the headphone serial number.
Dore claimed that the user agreement and privacy rights upon registration do not mention anything about data collection.
Zak is now seeking millions of dollars in damages after learning that Bose is sending "all available media information" from his smartphone and then selling it to third-party companies, which include Segment.io, a company that collects customer data and can send it virtually anywhere.
Several models of wireless headphones and speakers are mentioned in the lawsuit, including Bose's QuietComfort 35, QuietControl 30, SoundLink Around-Ear Wireless Headphones II, SoundLink Color II, SoundSport Wireless and SoundSport Pulse Wireless, according to Reuters.
Zak also alleges in the lawsuit that the data collection violates the federal Wiretap Act as well as Illinois state laws against eavesdropping and consumer fraud.
Bose did not respond to a request for comment on this story.
The case does not yet have a hearing date scheduled, but a Northern District of Illinois Court representative told TheBlaze that hearings are usually set about 60 days after the case was filed.
