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Do we now have the NBA’s version of Spygate?
While it’s not about a team videotaping another team’s practice sessions, the Golden State Warriors appear to have found themselves in hot water in relation to an alleged spying of their fans via a smartphone app that had the ability to record and listen to conversations made by its user.
This is the meat of the lawsuit filed by Warriors fan LaTisha Satchell before a U.S. district court against Golden State, according to a report by Kelly Weill of The Daily Beast.
The Warriors’ app bills itself as a way for fans to keep track of scores and stats. But while fans were watching the game, the app was watching them, fan LaTisha Satchell claims in a lawsuit. One of the app’s promotional tools allegedly turns a user’s phone microphone on and keeps it on, recording everything within earshot and relaying data back to the Warriors and a tech company, possibly in violation of wiretap laws.
Basically, the app was intended to make push notifications, updating fans of scores, ticket upgrades, and merchandises on sale, by tracking the locations of users inside the arena through audio beacons. However, Satchell didn’t like the fact that the app can still record audio even when fans are already out of the Oracle Arena.
While distractions like this won’t do the Warriors’ quest to win another title any favors, this is something that is completely unrelated to what happens on the basketball court, so Stephen Curry and company should be spared of the wrath of an angry fan who felt his or her privacy was invaded.
