Bose Might Be Spying on your Listening Habits

By now we all know about the common practice of targeted ads, where companies use information gleamed from our browsing activity to determine what we like and then they tailor their ads accordingly. The idea is to try to sell us things that we’re actually inclined to buy.

According to a new lawsuit, it’s not just our browsing being tracked, but our listening habits as well. An Illinois man is taking audio equipment manufacturer Bose to court, claiming that the Bose Connect app has been collecting information about what he’s been listening to through his headphones, including the actual file names of the audio tracks.

What’s worse, he alleges, is that they’re then giving that information to a data mining company called Segment.io, something that was uncovered by the law firm that’s representing him. Bose did not immediately comment on the lawsuit.

By tracking what users are listening to (which Bose may or may not be doing), Bose can learn a lot about the user. Keep in mind that this isn’t limited to music. Your podcast preferences say a lot about you, especially if those podcasts are political or maybe even medical. It’s become common practice for hospitals to put out their own podcasts or audio programs for patients suffering from mental health disorders. If Bose is indeed tracking such personal information, than it’s certainly something that needs to be brought to light.