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An Indianapolis Colts fan says the team’s app eavesdrops on users’ conversations without their consent.
Plaintiff Alan Rackemann is suing defendants Indianapolis Colts and app companies Lisnr Inc. and Yinzcam Inc. alleging the Colts app produced by the defendants violates the federal Electronic Communications Privacy Act.
Rackemann says the Colts app was designed by defendant Yinzcam. It provides fans with scores, news and other Colts-relevant information.
The Colts app is designed to determine the user’s physical location by using beacon technology from defendant Lisnr. Beacon technology works by using the phone’s microphone to listen for nearby Lisnr audio beacons.
These beacons originate from speakers placed in cooperation between Lisnr and partners like the Colts.
Once the Colts app pins down the user’s location, it may adjust its advertising so that it presents content relevant to that location.
The problem with beacon technology, according to the Colts app class action lawsuit, is that it takes in all audio information from the phone’s microphone – not just sound from Lisnr beacons, but also the contents of people’s spoken conversations.
Rackemann says he has been using the Colts app since first downloading it from the Google Play store in 2012. He alleges the app never discloses to the user that it exposes their conversations by turning on the phone’s microphone.
“[D]efendants designed the app so that consumers are not given any indication that defendants are listening,” he reports.
According to Rackemann, beacon technology is similar to other technology that uses Bluetooth signals to pinpoint a user’s location.
He points out that because Bluetooth tracking is considered inherently invasive, industry standards require the user’s consent before engaging it. The Colts app offers no similar prompt for user consent, Rackemann claims.
The Colts app is similar to another app produced for fans of the Golden State Warriors NBA team – which is also the subject of its own privacy rights class action lawsuit raising similar claims in a California federal court.
The plaintiff in that case notes that while the Golden State Warriors app alerts users to a list of permissions required for the app to function, nowhere does it give the user a chance to opt out of being tracked with beacon technology.
Rackemann proposes to represent two different plaintiff Classes. The proposed Lisnr Class would encompass “[a]ll individuals in the United States who downloaded and opened any mobile application from the Google Play store that included but did not disclose the presence of Lisnr audio beacon code.”
The proposed Colts Class would include “[a]ll individuals in the United States who downloaded and opened the Indianapolis Colts mobile application from the Google Play store.”
He seeks a court order that would stop the defendants from listening to and recording oral communications.
The plaintiff also seeks a damage award including punitive damages and statutory damages under the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, plus attorneys’ fees and costs of litigation.
Rackemann is represented by attorneys David S. Senoff of Anapol Weiss and Rafey S. Balabanian, Eve-Lynn J. Rapp and Stewart R. Pollock of Edelson PC.
The Colts Fan App Privacy Class Action Lawsuit is Rackemann v. Lisnr Inc., et al., Case No. 2:16-cv-01573, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania.
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