A federal judge in Oakland has breathed new life into a lawsuit against the Golden State Warriors and a company that it partnered with to deliver targeted advertising to fans via its Android app.

U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White of the Northern District of California on Monday denied the National Basketball Association team's motion to dismiss a proposed privacy class action that claims the Warriors Android app acts essentially as a bug, recording fans' private conversations while it runs in the background.

The Warriors app uses so-called proximity technology to serve location-specific ads and promotions on game days. The app accesses microphones on mobile devices to listen for unique audio signals produced by beacons placed around the team's home arena to determine fans' locations—something the team has claimed in court papers nearly 90 percent of Major League Baseball teams and half of NBA teams do to serve up location-specific promotions in their home stadiums.

Lawyers at Edelson PC sued the team in August 2016 alleging that the app intercepted fan communication in violation of the federal Wiretap Act, which carries statutory penalties of $10,000 per violation.

White in February largely sided with the team and co-defendants in an earlier motion to dismiss finding that Edelson lawyers had failed to offer details that would support their theory that the app used the content of LaTisha Satchell's conversations rather than her location to conjure targeted ads. But in Monday's order, White found that Satchell's lawyers had put forward  “at least four instances where she had her phone with her, the app was running, and she had conversations about private matters, including nonpublic information during a business meeting and private financial matters.”

Michael Rhodes of Cooley, who represents the team and co-defendant Sonic Notify Inc. , which developed the app's underlying beacon technology, declined to comment when reached by email Monday. A spokesman for the Warriors didn't immediately respond to an email message. Likewise, representatives of Sonic Notify could not immediately be reached.

Edelson's Rafey Balabanian said in a phone interview Monday afternoon that plaintiff had amended her complaint to show that she had carried her phone into otherwise private areas such as business meeting and her bedside table.

“The reality is that she's able to allege that the app was running in the background when she was having private conversations,” he said. “The bottom line is it's being recorded. There's all types of things in this world where you don't think something is being recorded.”

Raymond Ridder, the team's vice president of communications, cited team policy in saying the Warriors would have no comment.

A federal judge in Oakland has breathed new life into a lawsuit against the Golden State Warriors and a company that it partnered with to deliver targeted advertising to fans via its Android app.

U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White of the Northern District of California on Monday denied the National Basketball Association team's motion to dismiss a proposed privacy class action that claims the Warriors Android app acts essentially as a bug, recording fans' private conversations while it runs in the background.

The Warriors app uses so-called proximity technology to serve location-specific ads and promotions on game days. The app accesses microphones on mobile devices to listen for unique audio signals produced by beacons placed around the team's home arena to determine fans' locations—something the team has claimed in court papers nearly 90 percent of Major League Baseball teams and half of NBA teams do to serve up location-specific promotions in their home stadiums.

Lawyers at Edelson PC sued the team in August 2016 alleging that the app intercepted fan communication in violation of the federal Wiretap Act, which carries statutory penalties of $10,000 per violation.

White in February largely sided with the team and co-defendants in an earlier motion to dismiss finding that Edelson lawyers had failed to offer details that would support their theory that the app used the content of LaTisha Satchell's conversations rather than her location to conjure targeted ads. But in Monday's order, White found that Satchell's lawyers had put forward  “at least four instances where she had her phone with her, the app was running, and she had conversations about private matters, including nonpublic information during a business meeting and private financial matters.”

Michael Rhodes of Cooley, who represents the team and co-defendant Sonic Notify Inc. , which developed the app's underlying beacon technology, declined to comment when reached by email Monday. A spokesman for the Warriors didn't immediately respond to an email message. Likewise, representatives of Sonic Notify could not immediately be reached.

Edelson's Rafey Balabanian said in a phone interview Monday afternoon that plaintiff had amended her complaint to show that she had carried her phone into otherwise private areas such as business meeting and her bedside table.

“The reality is that she's able to allege that the app was running in the background when she was having private conversations,” he said. “The bottom line is it's being recorded. There's all types of things in this world where you don't think something is being recorded.”

Raymond Ridder, the team's vice president of communications, cited team policy in saying the Warriors would have no comment.