Suit claims Warriors' app secretly records users' conversations
If you're going to speak ill of the Golden State Warriors, maybe you shouldn't do it near your phone.
A lawsuit filed in federal court Monday claims the Warriors' free team app utilizes the microphone on users' smartphones to secretly listen to and record their conversations, according to The Mercury News' Marisa Kendall.
The suit also claims the app uses "beacon" technology to track users' locations, which can be used to monitor their shopping habits and serve them targeted ads.
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"Even more disconcerting, the app turns on the microphone (listening and recording) any time the app is running," the court 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."
The app does ask for permission to access the phone microphone, but the suit says it fails to disclose how much and what it listens to.
Signal360 (the company who licenses the technology), Yinzcam (the app developer), and the Warriors are named as defendants.
Lauren Cooley, the CEO of Signal360, denied the allegations in an email statement earlier this week.
"We have been made aware of the suit and it appears there is a misunderstanding about how our technology works," Cooley wrote. "Our technology does not intercept, store, transmit, or otherwise use any oral content for marketing purposes or for any other purpose."
The Warriors declined to comment.