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Lawsuit Accuses Warriors' Mobile App of Eavesdropping On Fans -- Even When Not In Use (cnet.com) 60

Posted by BeauHD from the always-listening dept.
An anonymous reader writes: A lawsuit is accusing the Golden State Warriors' app of spying on fans in order to determine a user's precise location in order to serve targeted ads. The creepiest thing about it? The lawsuit says the app does this even when it isn't in use. It claims the app secretly uses the microphones from the mobile device running the app to listen in and record user conversations. CBS Local reports: "The app, which delivers up-to-date scores, schedules and news, asks for permission to access the microphone on users' phones. But, according to a lawsuit filed Monday in San Francisco federal court, it doesn't disclose the extent to which it listens in. If true, the allegations would violate the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, which prohibits the 'interception and disclosure of wire, oral, or electronic communications.' The lawsuit, which seeks class action status, seeks statutory damages equal to 'the sum of actual damages suffered plus any profits defendants earned through its unlawful conduct.'" "Even more disconcerting, the app turns on the microphone (listening and recording) any time the app is running," the filing reads. "No matter if a consumer is actively using the app or if it is merely running in the background: the app is listening."
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Lawsuit Accuses Warriors' Mobile App of Eavesdropping On Fans -- Even When Not In Use More

Lawsuit Accuses Warriors' Mobile App of Eavesdropping On Fans -- Even When Not In Use

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  • If they're real Warriors fans (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward

    they'll do whatever they can for the team. Even letting the team listen in on their lives 24/7. If the fan isn't doing anything wrong, they have nothing to hide. Especially from their beloved team.

  • Android (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward

    ...asks for permission to access the microphone on users' phones.

    At least it asks - iOS. Too many Android apps want blanket permissions on everything. Just why does a fucking [insert here] app need my location, access to my contacts, camera, media files, microphone, and anything else? The stock quote apps are some of the worst. A metronome app was just as bad.

    Very rarely does a developer require no access to anything.

    Which means, I do not load your app on my phone. Unfortunately, Android has no way of denying access but yet allows the use of the app like iOS does. I'v

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by Anonymous Coward

      Android has no way of denying access but yet allows the use of the app like iOS does

      I agree it's a shame this doesn't exist in vanilla, but it's hardly a unknown feature in the Android space. You can mod fine grained permission controls into any ROM, and Cyanogen has a nice implementation out of the box.

  • Not possible with Free software (Score:1, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward

    If a free program wanted to do this, it would be readily visible and available for inspection to determine what exactly it's doing.

    And then any users of the free program could simply edit this functionality out and distribute the edited binary freely. Just another day in the proprietary software hell.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by Anonymous Coward

      But haven't you been listening? Apps vetted and only available through 'stores' are safer...

    • If a free program wanted to do this, it would be readily visible and available for inspection to determine what exactly it's doing.

      That's the fantasy world that free software proponents* like to trot out. While it's technically correct, in the real world, however, very few people have the ability, motivation, or time to code-review every application they use.

      * Not that it should change my point one whit, but I also am a free software proponent, but not for that dubious reason.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by EvilSS ( 557649 )

      If a free program wanted to do this, it would be readily visible and available for inspection to determine what exactly it's doing.

      And then any users of the free program could simply edit this functionality out and distribute the edited binary freely. Just another day in the proprietary software hell.

      Uh, it is a free program. Maybe you are conflating "Free" with open source? They are not the same.

  • Define "listening" (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Sumus Semper Una ( 4203225 ) on Friday September 02, 2016 @10:02AM (#52814633)

    As far as I can tell from the articles, the only thing that is provable that is going on is that the app has constant access to the microphone. That's a bug and potential concern for anyone using the app, but doesn't on its own point to anything nefarious.

    Also, why would an app use your MICROPHONE instead of your LOCATION data to determine your location? Are the claimants suggesting the app uses a voice-to-text converter and parses through the logs to find out that someone said "Wal-Mart" and then target them with Wal-Mart ads? Why wouldn't they just use location data instead to see if you're near a Wal-Mart? I mean, I know the old adage about "if all you have is a hammer, then everything looks like a nail," but that would be taking things to a whole new level.

    Unless there's something missing from the reporting on this article, it sounds like an overly litigious person/group crying wolf over what is at worst developer incompetence and is at best a bug.

    • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

      by Anonymous Coward

      What it's doing is listening to audio signals above human hearing range (let's say 22khz) your ears can't hear it but your mic can. Signal360 plays a binary tone @ 22khz through the venue's audio system that the app picks up, decodes and does something like flashing your screen in sync with pregame videos or popping up a promotional offer.

      • What it's doing is listening to audio signals above human hearing range (let's say 22khz) your ears can't hear it but your mic can. Signal360 plays a binary tone @ 22khz through the venue's audio system that the app picks up, decodes and does something like flashing your screen in sync with pregame videos or popping up a promotional offer.

        Just how good is this mic? I only ask 'cos the microphones I've seen on cellphones battle to get anything above 5KHz, nevermind 22KHz...

    • Re:Define "listening" (Score:5, Informative)

      by rbrander ( 73222 ) on Friday September 02, 2016 @11:16AM (#52815157) Homepage

      If you look up "WebCamGate" from 2010, when a school district was taking 60,000+ photos of students at home in their bedrooms by activating their school laptops, the administrator telling subordinates to conceal the surveillance, wrote back to a complainant with a note almost like that, "Why would we do such a thing? We would never do that!" Look up the name "Dimedio". So you'll have to forgive our skepticism.

    • I mean, I know the old adage about "if all you have is a hammer, then everything looks like a nail," but that would be taking things to a whole new level.

      I thought it was "if all you have is a hammer, then everything looks like a skull".

  • Ad networks are totally doing this. I don't have proof so I won't name names because I don't want to be sued for libel. The root of the problem is that the phone's permissions allow an app with microphone access to listen all the time whether or not the user is running the app in the foreground. Be suspicious of anything that needs microphone privileges, especially if it's something that has no reason to need to use the microphone. Looking at you, Twitter.
    • Why not use ActivityLifeCycleCallbacks instead of the microphone to check if your app is running in the background or foreground without giving away a permission hint that you are doing this?
      • It's intentional. Media companies are embedding high-pitched codes that you can't hear into all sorts of things, like music. Your phone tells the advertiser what you're doing in meatspace. It's a whole new way to track you.

  • Waiting for secret command (Score:4, Informative)

    by necro81 ( 917438 ) on Friday September 02, 2016 @10:25AM (#52814797) Journal
    The eavesdropping algorithm is waiting for the secret command: "warriors, come out to plaaay-aay [youtu.be]"

  • Hey, this ECPA thing allows for imprisonment of up to five years! Let's send a message!

  • One more piece of evidence added to my ever-growing mountain of evidence that smartphone 'security' is about as solid as a colander -- and are just as likely made that way on purpose as not, to track our whereabouts 24/7/365, and collect as much data on us as possible. George Orwell thought it was going to be giant two-way televisions in our homes, that you can't turn off under penalty of law, but in fact it's the smartphone. Makes sense, though, doesn't it? That closes the one 'hole' in the always-on TV se

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