Bose Headphones Secretly Collected User Data - Lawsuit | Fortune.com
▻http://fortune.com/2017/04/19/bose-headphones-privacy
▻https://fortunedotcom.files.wordpress.com/2016/12/quietcomfort_35_wireless_headphones_-_silver.jpg?w=72
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 on Tuesday.
According to the complaint, Bose created detailed profiles of customers’ listening histories and habits, and shared it with marketing companies, including a San Francisco firm called Segment whose website offers to “collect all or your customer customer data and send it anywhere.”
Last month, for instance, a “smart sex toy” maker called We-Vibe agreed to pay around $3.75 million to settle claims its app had illegally collected information about how its customers used the product.
According to Jay Edelson, the privacy lawyer who filed the Bose lawsuit, companies should not be able to help themselves to consumer data just because they can.
“Companies need to be transparent about the data they take and what they are doing with it, and get consent from their customers before monetizing their personal information,” said Edelson.
