Golden State Warriors Class Action Says App Eavesdrops on Fans

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A smartphone app offered by Oakland’s Golden State Warriors eavesdrops on fans without their knowledge or consent, according to a class action lawsuit filed this week in California federal court.

The app privacy class action lawsuit takes issue with an app developed by defendant Yinzcam, which provides fans with news, scores and other information related to the Golden State Warriors and other NBA teams.

According to the Warriors app class action lawsuit, Golden State Warriors LLC partnered with defendant Signal360 in 2014.

Signal360 uses beacon technology, a tool that is useful for tracking consumers and identifying the ways in which they interact with advertisements and other types of marketing.

The app is able to determine users’ exact location by using the built-in microphone on their smartphone to listen for nearby Signal360 audio beacons, according to the Warriors app privacy class action lawsuit.

However, the app continues to use the microphone to listen and record any time the app is running, even if the person is not actively using the app, the class action lawsuit alleges.

“Unfortunately for consumers, Defendants never inform them that their smartphones are being turned into listening devices nor do they ever seek consent,” the Warriors app class action lawsuit states.

Plaintiff LaTisha Satchell is a Golden State Warriors fan and downloaded the free Warriors app in April 2016.

She used the app to stay updated on the Warriors’ season and progress. According to the app privacy class action lawsuit, she stopped using the app on July 11, 2016.

“From April 2016 until July 11, 2016, Plaintiff carried her smartphone on her person,” Satchell states in the Golden State Warriors class action lawsuit. “She would take her smartphone to places where she would not invite other people, and to places where she would have private conversations.”

“That is, her phone was present in locations and personal and private situations not generally accessible to the public where the expectation was that her conversations were to remain private,” the app privacy class action lawsuit continues.

Satchell says she did not consent to the app using her microphone to eavesdrop on her conversations.

She points to the list of “permissions” that a user must agree to before downloading the Warriors app. “Notably absent from the permission list is a request to ‘opt-in’ to the beacon technology,” Satchell states.

The Golden State Warriors class action lawsuit accuses the defendants of violating the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, which prohibits the intentional interception of any oral communication and from using the contents of the communication.

By filing the app privacy class action lawsuit, Satchell seeks to represent two Classes of app users. The proposed Signal360 Class includes anyone in the United States who downloaded and opened a mobile app from the Google Play store that did not disclose the presence of the Signal360 audio beacon code.

The proposed Golden State Class includes all individuals in the United States who downloaded and opened the Golden State Warriors mobile app.

The Signal360 app privacy class action lawsuit seeks statutory damages, punitive damages, injunctive relief, attorneys’ fees, and any other relief deemed appropriate by the court.

Satchell is represented by Stewart R. Pollock of Edelson PC.

The Golden State Warriors Mobile App Class Action Lawsuit is LaTisha Satchell v. Sonic Notify Inc. d/b/a Signal360, et al., Case No. 3:16-cv-04961, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

UPDATE: On Dec. 1, 2016, the Warriors fans bringing this class action lawsuit argued the case should continue because they can prove concrete injury.

UPDATE 2: On Feb. 13, 2017, Oakland’s Golden State Warriors got pretty close to a slam dunk Monday, when a federal judge partially dismissed a class action lawsuit accusing the team of spying on fans’ conversations through its free mobile app.

UPDATE 3: On April 10, 2017, the Golden State Warriors argued that this class action lawsuit failed to sufficiently allege any claims filed under the Electronic Communications Privacy Act and did not indicate the precise way the defendants are alleged to have violated the ECPA.

UPDATE 4: On Nov. 20, 2017, a federal judge denied efforts by the Golden State Warriors and a mobile app software developer to dodge accusations that they illegally recorded fans’ conversations.