Bose rejects “misleading” user privacy claims, reassures customers no data is misused

Following on from yesterday’s report that Bose are facing a class-action lawsuit in the States over their collection and use of users’ data, Bose have provided Ausdroid with a statement vehemently denying the claims.

The lawsuit, filed in a Chicago, US federal court, claims that Bose collects all user data — including what they listen to — which allows the user to be identified. The claim is that this data is then passed onto third parties without permission from the user. This is all alleged to occur through the Bose Connect app, available for Android and iOS. We note, though, that this app isn’t usually required to use your Bose gear.

Bose have released a statement to Ausdroid strongly rejecting the claims of the Class Action lawsuit:

We understand the nature of Class Action lawsuits. And we’ll fight the inflammatory, misleading allegations made against us through the legal system.

Nothing is more important to us than your trust. We work tirelessly to earn and keep it, and have for over 50 years. That’s never changed, and never will. In the Bose Connect App, we don’t wiretap your communications, we don’t sell your information, and we don’t use anything we collect to identify you – or anyone else – by name.

Companies often deny privacy claims when presented with allegations but rarely do we see a company respond this strongly, in no uncertain terms telling us that the app is safe for users to use.

We must declare that Ausdroid do have a good relationship with Bose, but that does not stop us reporting what we see or hear around the traps.

These kinds of law suits frequently pop up in the litigation-happy United States, and don’t always result in any particularly useful outcome, especially if the allegations can’t actually be proven which might end up being the case here. If we receive any more information we will keep you posted.