Interactive Mobile Apps and Wiretap Laws
Mobile apps are increasingly designed with features and functions promoting interaction with users, including voice commands. Could the design of an app to capture and transmit user communications and other information violate federal wiretap laws?
An amended class action complaint filed in federal court in California against the Golden State Warriors and the team’s app designers poses that question. In 2014, the Warriors organization apparently updated its mobile app to include beacons to track consumers and how they interact with marketing and advertising. The amended complaint further alleges that, when the app is installed on a user’s smartphone, it monitored and recorded all communications, including the users’ conversations.More