Bose Corporation Slapped With Lawsuit For Secretly Collecting, Sharing User Data

Bose Corporation has been charged with a class-action lawsuit that accuses the wireless headphone maker of secretly collecting and selling users' private music and audio selections to third parties without their permission.

According to Reuters, the complaint was filed by Kyle Zak in a federal court in Chicago on Tuesday night. Zak bought a $350 QuietComfort 35 headphone and installed the Connect app, thereby providing some personal information including his name, email address and headphone serial number in the process. The plaintiff claimed that Bose's Connect app secretly collected his data.

Zak explained that Bose collected all available media information from his smartphone including songs, podcast and other audio files when paired with the Connect app and transmitted the same to third parties such as Segment.io.

As per the complaint, audio choice of an individual offers detail insight about the person's personality, behavior, as well as political and religious views. As for example, a person who listens to Muslim prayers might be a Muslim. It is claimed that Bose's conduct demonstrates a wholesale disregard for consumer privacy rights, Business Insider reported.

"People should be uncomfortable with it," Christopher Dore, Zak's lawyer, said in an interview. "People put headphones on their head because they think it's private, but they can be giving out information they don't want to share."

The lawsuit seeks millions of dollars in damages for buyers of Bose headphones and speakers, including SoundLink Around-Ear Wireless Headphones II, QuietComfort 35, QuietControl 30, SoundLink Color II, SoundSport Wireless and SoundSport Pulse Wireless. The amount of compensation was not specified in the suit. Furthermore, the lawsuit also wants the court to force Bose to cease in collecting and sharing of customers' data with other companies and destroy everything it has already recorded.

Bose Corporation is yet to respond to the allegations. The case is Zak vs Bose Corporation, U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois, No. 17-02928.