"Bose headphones spy on listeners says lawsuit"

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by segue, Apr 20, 2017.

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  1. Malina

    Malina Forum Resident

    Location:
    NYC
    I was listening to my Bose headphones (far superior to Audeze, by the way) and thinking about pizza when suddenly there was a knock on my door and it was the pizza delivery guy, but I had not ordered a pizza. Creepy!
     
  2. izgoblin

    izgoblin Forum Resident

    If that could actually happen, I'm not sure that I'd object. For me pizza > privacy.
     
    billnunan likes this.
  3. Chris from Chicago

    Chris from Chicago Experience is simply the name we give our mistakes

    You're absolutely right. But Yahoo, Google, Microsoft and Apple have been doing this same thing for years.
     
    nm_west likes this.
  4. teag

    teag Forum Resident

    Location:
    Colorado
    :laugh:
     
  5. Helom

    Helom Forum member

    Location:
    U.S.
    Selling of illegal data collection is becoming quite popular. This is not the least bit surprising considering the marketing machine that is Bose.
     
    Strat-Mangler likes this.
  6. Hokeyboy

    Hokeyboy Nudnik of Dinobots

    It's not illegal if you agree to the EULA terms.
     
    Dennis0675 and nm_west like this.
  7. GuildX700

    GuildX700 Forum Resident

    Location:
    USA
    Just one more reason to hate the trash Blowz sells.
     
    Strat-Mangler likes this.
  8. segue

    segue Psychoacoustic Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Hawai'i
    "...customers do not see the Bose app's user service and privacy agreements when signing up, and the privacy agreement says nothing about data collection..."

    It's the App that is the issue, not the phones per se..
     
    Helom likes this.
  9. Strat-Mangler

    Strat-Mangler Personal Survival Daily Record-Breaker

    Location:
    Toronto
    Any company that does anything remotely like this has to be utterly destroyed financially. Hope the lawsuit will cripple them severely. It's the only way businesses will change their ways ; if their wallets get hurt enough. Otherwise, they'll keep on truckin'.
     
  10. Dillydipper

    Dillydipper Space-Age luddite

    Location:
    Central PA
    Those sound like great headphones to take with you on a United flight...
     
    Runicen, luckyno13 and F1nut like this.
  11. quicksrt

    quicksrt Senior Member

    Location:
    Los Angeles
    But it is currently not legal without your permission.

    The president said he is going to sign it into law that they can collect your data and sell it, no need for you to agree. Net nutrality rules are to be gutted as well with this administration. You guys didn't know this already?
     
    izgoblin and StimpyWan like this.
  12. dkmonroe

    dkmonroe A completely self-taught idiot

    Location:
    Atlanta
    My point is practical and not legal. Just because something is illegal doesn't mean people won't do it. If you use an app that connects you to the Internet, someone can exploit it for their benefit. That holds true even if it's not the company who sold it to you doing the exploiting. People hack Internet-connected baby monitors just because they want to be a-holes who scream at babies. You have to look out for yourself when it comes to technology, and make choices that do not make you vulnerable.
     
  13. Ham Sandwich

    Ham Sandwich Senior Member

    Location:
    Sherwood, OR, USA
    Audeze does have an iOS app for their SINE series of headphones (both the on-ear and the in-ear) that lets you load custom EQs and settings to the amp/DAC in the Apple Lightning headphone cable. If Audeze wanted to do similar tracking of what you listen to they could. Pretty much any audio related app could track what you play in a way similar to what Bose is accused of doing. Streaming sites and apps can do that too. Apps like Onkyo HF Player or Waves Nx could also track what you play if they wanted to.

    What's interesting about this case is that Bose saw an opportunity to track that doesn't benefit the user or the needs of the app, and they took that opportunity. In the decision of "be evil" or "don't be evil" they chose evil. There is no need for Bose to be tracking this info for what the app does. It's not even a very useful app. It just aids and assists in setting up Bluetooth connections and pairings. The app isn't necessary to use the headphones or do Bluetooth pairing. It's just a simple app that could easily be done for free with no need to attempt to recover costs through invasive data mining of the users. Bose chose to abuse that privilege and trust. When InnerFidelity reviewed the Bose QC30 headphones they mentioned that the app wasn't very useful and wasn't recommended.
     
  14. Ham Sandwich

    Ham Sandwich Senior Member

    Location:
    Sherwood, OR, USA
    I'm curious if this guy found out about this tracking by just reading the EULA or if he had to dig into the internals of the app and do network tracing to figure out what the app was doing?
     
  15. wgb113

    wgb113 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Chester County, PA
    This is disgusting...but not surprising.
     
  16. quicksrt

    quicksrt Senior Member

    Location:
    Los Angeles
    You must look both ways before crossing a street even if the light in your direction is green right. This goes without saying. You are trying to make a point that is obvious.

    The point I am making is we have a president that is selling us out to the highest bidder in corporate America. Not sure enough folks know that is is on the agenda. The rules on this data being sold is about to change. That is my point, and it is not so obvious.
     
  17. Kyhl

    Kyhl On break

    Location:
    Savage
    Good luck. Bose is a brand marketing machine run by a team of lawyers first. Selling over priced junk is the second order of business after making sure to legally defend their brand and marketing efforts. I will give them credit for occasionally marketing something useful but most of the time, no.

    The plaintiff better lawyer up because Bose lives in the courts and will try to crush him.
     
    Strat-Mangler likes this.
  18. dkmonroe

    dkmonroe A completely self-taught idiot

    Location:
    Atlanta
    I am not interested in driving this discussion in a political direction. My point is that you can't just trust laws to protect you. You have to be aware of what technology can do, and assume that if they can do it, the will do it. The fact that people seem surprised and shocked that Bose apparently collects data on you via your headphones seems to suggest that it's not quite so obvious as crossing the street.
     
    Kyhl likes this.
  19. John Storey

    John Storey Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Hamilton, ON
    I have no problem with Bose tracking what music I listen to, hey maybe they can take the information and advertise better music and hi-fi? Before you know it, the whole world will be grooving to Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, The Stones, Neil Young, Peter Gabriel, Dire Straits, and more. I don't own a pair of Bose, just Sennhesier, but just now thinking about the good I could be doing the world by exposing good music, I may make the switch!
     
    forthlin likes this.
  20. John Storey

    John Storey Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Hamilton, ON
    Hey here's an idea, let's all buy Bose, and listen to good music, Bose will take it as a sign to advertise good music! We can start a revolution! How much do you think we'd have to pay that guy who started the lawsuit to drop it and join us?
     
  21. nm_west

    nm_west Forum Resident

    Location:
    Abq. NM. USA
    Bose is child's play compared to how other companies use your data.
     
  22. Well, I'm one of them. I've been using Sennheiser HD180 wireless phones for about five years, and I love them. No apps attached thank you very much.
     
  23. What? Can you please elaborate on this?
     
  24. Dennis0675

    Dennis0675 Hyperactive!

    Location:
    Ohio
    I get the moral outrage but really collecting information on the music I listen to is only used to target relevant advertising. What possible damages could be proved to award a settlement? and yes, when you click "agree" to the terms and conditions without reading you need to sue yourself.

    The real story is about another person trying to make a living by suing rather than getting a job. I've been spilling hot McDonald's coffee on my crotch for ages to try to keep from going to work.
     
  25. beppe

    beppe Forum Resident

    Location:
    Venice, Italy
    Buy
    Other
    Stereo
    Earphones
     
    SandAndGlass likes this.
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