By Jonathan Stempel
(Reuters)
- Bose Corp spies on its wireless headphone customers by using an app
that tracks the music, podcasts and other audio they listen to, and
violates their privacy rights by selling the information without
permission, a lawsuit charged. They also turn on a hidden microphone inside the headset to listen in on the room.
The
complaint filed on Tuesday by Kyle Zak in federal court in Chicago
seeks an injunction to stop Bose's "wholesale disregard" for the privacy
of customers who download its free Bose Connect app from Apple Inc or
Google Play stores to their smartphones.
"People
should be uncomfortable with it," Christopher Dore, a lawyer
representing Zak, said in an interview. "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."
Bose
did not respond on Wednesday to requests for comment on the proposed
class action case. The Framingham, Massachusetts-based company has said
annual sales top $3.5 billion.
