The Warriors, who blew a 3-1 lead to the Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA Finals, are being sued for allegedly listen to and record conversations of fans using the team’s official mobile app.
A federal lawsuit was filed in San Francisco this week, accusing the Warriors of turning on the microphone on mobile users who have downloaded their official app and listening to and recording conversations fans were having. If true, that is quite an invasion of privacy.
“Even more disconcerting,” the lawyers wrote, “the app turns on the microphone (listening and recording) any time the app is running. No mater if a consumer is actively using the app or if it is merely running in the background: the app is listening.”
The app is designed to give fans a way to check on the team scores and states as well as other news headlines. Fans can also voluntarily use the app to share social media posts with their various social accounts. Before these functions are used, the app asks users to verify use of the microphone. But is the microphone being used without consent?
From Silicon Beat;
The lawyers claim the Warriors app employs new “beacon” technology, which allows it to track where its users are. Beacons placed throughout an area send out certain audio signals, which are picked up by a smartphone’s microphone and used to pinpoint the phone’s location. That information is used to send customers targeted adds or to glean information about their shopping behaviors.
Odds are this is merely a design flaw in the programming, as there has been no evidence the Warriors are secretly stashing audio archives of conversations fans were having. If there is, that’s quite a story the Warriors would have to defend.
The Warriors have not commented on the lawsuit, as per team policy to not comment on any pending litigation. Why they can’t just say they weren’t spying on their fans is beyond me.
