Credit: AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez

Golden State Warriors Face Lawsuit For Spying On Fans Via App

It has been very tough for anyone to stop the Golden State Warriors in these past couple of years. But now, it seems like they’re stopping and harming themselves, as they face a lawsuit for spying on their fans. Like most teams, the Warriors have an app for their fans and it seems to be very popular as it has over 500,000 downloads.

One of the Warriors app’s promotional tools turns the user’s microphone on. This isn’t uncommon, but in this case, the app keeps the mic on, recording everything within earshot while relaying data back to the Warriors, in possible violation of wiretap laws.

The Warriors’ app claims to be a service for fans to keep track of scores and stats. But while fans were watching the game, the app was watching them. That’s what Warriors fan LaTisha Satchell claims. She is the one filing the lawsuit. Via TheDailyBeast:

 

“[The Warriors] gained access to tens of thousands of microphones belonging to consumers who downloaded the Warriors App and turned their mobile devices into bugged listening devices. The unlikely snooping program started as an effort to sell merchandise and ticket upgrades. The Warriors wanted to know when fans were on Warrior-owned property, and how long they stayed there. The app tracked this through audio “beacons” that played through special transmitters in their arena and stores, the suit alleges. The app listened for those beacons and sent customized advertisements to a user’s phone. ” the suit alleges. Satchell described the personal information the app could have intercepted, such as conversations with her husband in their bedroom, private business meetings, and discussions with a loan officer, reports The Daily Beast. Her phone was within earshot, which means that pap could have recorded all of it through the microphone.