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Bose Headphones Spy on Users, Lawsuit Says

fortune.com

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Re: Bose Headphones Spy on Users, Lawsuit Says

#21

Post by marak830 »

jdmichal wrote: post #15
pinewurst wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

EULA for other Bose app (Connect EULA seems not to be available online): https://hearphones.bose.com/eula "YOUR USE OF THE SOFTWARE ALSO OPERATES AS YOUR CONSENT TO THE COLLECTION, TRANSMISSION AND STORAGE OF CERTAIN STANDARD NETWORKING INFORMATION, DEVICE USAGE DATA, AND BOSE PRODUCT INFORMATION VIA THE INTERNET TO SERVERS OWNED OR CONTROLLED BY BOSE OR OPERATED BY THIRD PARTIES ON BEHALF OF BOSE"

IANAL, but that language does not seem to permit selling of the data to third parties.

It doesn't say they cant resell it - or transfer it.

Re: Bose Headphones Spy on Users, Lawsuit Says

#22

Post by crazygringo »

I would understand it if the app were tracking how often the headphones were connected, when they were actually being used, or possibly even which app is playing audio (e.g. how much are the headphones being used for listening to music vs podcasts vs videogames) -- although this should all be done anonymously.

But the idea that the app can detect which music or podcasts I'm listening to, and build a profile from that -- if true, that would be shocking. Can anyone answer, is that even possible via iOS API's?

Re: Bose Headphones Spy on Users, Lawsuit Says

#23

Post by vr46 »

Hmm, not pleased, we have two sets of the 35 earphones and I use the app - well, I have to, else I can't change some settings on the earphones. This is totally overstepping the boundaries of what earphones/headphones should be doing. Any company that collects my data and moves it from under my purview to theirs should have to display or expose this data in the exact form that it's collected to the user, so we can see exactly what it is. Not cool.

Re: Bose Headphones Spy on Users, Lawsuit Says

#25

Post by 0x0 »

crazygringo wrote: post #22

I would understand it if the app were tracking how often the headphones were connected, when they were actually being used, or possibly even which app is playing audio (e.g. how much are the headphones being used for listening to music vs podcasts vs videogames) -- although this should all be done anonymously. But the idea that the app can detect which music or podcasts I'm listening to, and build a profile from that…

The app shows metadata about the currently playing track, such as title and artist, so it really does look like it has full access to what is currently playing. This is discomforting. What if I am playing a locally synced file "board meeting xyz company case abc something secret in the title.mp3"

Re: Bose Headphones Spy on Users, Lawsuit Says

#26

Post by 40acres »

Arizhel wrote: post #8

What I think would be interesting is: what if a company like this made an app like this, but then clearly stated to users that it'd be collecting data on them and sending it to marketers? They could even pitch it as helping to keep prices "low". How much would this hurt sales? Would it even hurt sales at all? Given the proliferation of "smart TVs" and various IoT devices, I'm extremely skeptical that a company would…

Honestly I don't think so.

No one who I know personally, outside one or two folks who also work in tech and would fit perfectly with HN's demographic, cares about tech spying on them.

Friends of mine have gotten home assistants, video game console, smart TVs, etc for years without one thought of their data being sold to a third party.

Re: Bose Headphones Spy on Users, Lawsuit Says

#27

Post by 40acres »

vr46 wrote: post #23

Hmm, not pleased, we have two sets of the 35 earphones and I use the app - well, I have to, else I can't change some settings on the earphones. This is totally overstepping the boundaries of what earphones/headphones should be doing. Any company that collects my data and moves it from under my purview to theirs should have to display or expose this data in the exact form that it's collected to the user, so we can see…

What settings can you change in the app that are not available through the headphones?

Re: Bose Headphones Spy on Users, Lawsuit Says

#28

Post by kevin_b_er »

Karunamon wrote: post #5

So what are the chances this never goes anywhere thanks to a clickwrap EULA that's shoved into your face in 3pt font the moment the app starts? "Well, your honor, he agreed.."

High chances.

The courts have repeatedly shown that a meeting of the minds is not required to be bound to an EULA contract. The consuemr does not have to comprehend or understand their loss of rights in order to have them stripped.

Re: Bose Headphones Spy on Users, Lawsuit Says

#29

Post by jdmichal »

marak830 wrote: post #21
jdmichal wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

IANAL, but that language does not seem to permit selling of the data to third parties.

It doesn't say they cant resell it - or transfer it.

I suppose that's really the heart of the matter, isn't it? When should a company be able to collect what would otherwise be private information protected by law? And if they do collect it, what does the law provide as default protections on selling or transferring that private information?

The "Privacy Policy" bits posted by aaronpk [0] only speaks to collecting what engineers would call telemetry information. It has zero mention of collecting other data, and zero mention of reselling the data.

I know the US is relatively weak on such laws compared to some EU countries. This lawsuit might not go anywhere here, but there could very well be a strong case in, say, Germany.

[0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14148461

Re: Bose Headphones Spy on Users, Lawsuit Says

#30

Post by 0x0 »

40acres wrote: post #27
vr46 wrote: post #23

Hmm, not pleased, we have two sets of the 35 earphones and I use the app - well, I have to, else I can't change some settings on the earphones. This is totally overstepping the boundaries of what earphones/headphones should be doing. Any company that collects my data and moves it from under my purview to theirs should have to display or expose this data in the exact form that it's collected to the user, so we can see…

What settings can you change in the app that are not available through the headphones?

Language, device name, firmware updates, voice-prompts, auto-off-timer, list of paired devices, multi-headset-mode, and so on. The app is almost mandatory, especially since iOS pushes you to download it on connect.
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