Are the Golden State Warriors listening to you via their mobile app? That is what the lawyers at Edelson P.C. are claiming. From Ross Todd of Law.com:
The proposed class action claims the Warriors app surreptitiously turns on users’ phone mics to determine their location in order to serve ads and promotions using so-called beacon technology. Filed on behalf of New York resident LaTisha Satchell, the suit seeks to certify a class to bring claims under the Electronic Communications Privacy Act.
Edelson, which specializes in tech-related privacy cases, names the team as a defendant as well as Pittsburgh-based Yinzcam Inc., which developed the team’s app, and New York-based Signal360 Inc., which licenses the beacon technology.
…
According to the suit, the app uses Signal360’s beacons to precisely locate fans and send them ads and promotions on their mobile devices. The beacons, placed around the team’s home arena, produce unique audio signals that are picked up by the mics on users’ phones.
The 15-page complaint claims the Warriors app accesses users’ phone mics regardless of whether a consumer is actively using the app or it’s running in the background. As a result, according to the suit, “the app would constantly and continuously record and analyze” users’ conversations.
…
The suit acknowledges that the team and its co-defendants asked for permission to access users’ microphones. However, the Edelson lawyers claim that the defendants didn’t disclose sufficient details to users who downloaded the app from the Google Play Store. (Apple employs a different protocol than Google for seeking user permissions, and the suit doesn’t target the team with claims related to its iPhone app.)
The suit is seeking statutory damages under the Electronic Communications Privacy Act—the greater of $100 a day for each day of violation or $10,000—for all users who have used the team’s Android app, which has been downloaded more than 100,000 times. The suit also seeks an injunction blocking any future listening or recording of conversations.
The Warriors won’t be the only team facing legal trouble over this issue:
Edelson’s Christopher Dore said that the firm is looking into bringing additional privacy suits against about 10 professional sports teams. The relationship between fans and teams, Dore said, is “not the type of commercial interaction that consumers think they need to be wary of.”
“When you’re dealing with a team I think consumers sometimes forget that teams are for-profit enterprises,” Dore said. “When consumers are made aware of these privacy issues, they may set fan loyalty aside.”
This could be a big deal. It will be fascinating to see how the Warriors’ case turns out, because if they are found guilty, then that will become a precedent in cases against any other team that uses similar technology on their own mobile apps.
