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Hello! I have a problem. The problem is that "Sora, by OverDrive Education" (that is the real app's name. I'll use "Sora" as a shorter way) is spamming notifications which this company owns this is OverDrive, Inc (I'll use "OverDrive as a shorter way). It started in Oct 2024 but
I do not know which day it was but they keep spamming it everyday, even during the holidays such as Christmas in Dec. They didn't ask me for any payments but they keep spamming some notifications for the past few months. I don't know how it started but I'm guessing they are hiding a secret code in their app that spams that, which that is illegal. The notification says that my IT has access to my location, even though that is false and I never shared it with anyone. I tried turning off my location but they keep spamming. I tried turning off the notifications from that app but they keep turning that back on and continue spamming. And I even contacted support but they never fixed the issue.
Here are the reasons why this is not ok with spam notifications like this (sorry for any info that I made some mistakes on some parts if I made any mistakes):
1. Violation of privacy laws: Sending false notifications about accessing someone's location without consent which violates the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) or the CCPA (California Consumer Privacy Act) and these type of laws protect everyone's info such as personal info and requires consent before doing actions
2. Deceptive practices: False notifications fall into the category deceptive practices, which it is not allowed according to the Federal Trade Commission Act and misleading users about their location being accessed can cause stress, even if someone's location was turned off, they keep spamming it
3. Psychological impact: Getting false notifications like this about someone accessing their location can cause stress (as mentioned before). People with this would be worried because they are thinking that someone from OverDrive is stealing data such as emails, location, game data (like Fruit Ninja), and many other things which makes users to sue the company and can be reported to the government because of that privacy concern
4. Security risks: False notifications (someone's IT has access to someone's location, even though, it is false) can make users think it is a real security threat. If people are getting a lot of false notifications like this, then they think their things (such as personal info) would be a risk.
5. Consumer trust: If the app continues to spam notifications everyday, then the users will stop using the app and makes the usage decrease and will report it to court or the government
6. Legal consequences: Companies that spams notifications can face legal consequences, fined, lawsuits, and enforcement action and this would impact OverDrive which the one owns Sora that keeps spamming without consent
7. Not allowed for pranking: It should never be for pranking purposes because of these reasons:
- Any prank that is a false claim that someone's location has been accessed can cause stress (as mentioned before)
- Pranking someone with false notifications from Sora without someone's consent loses trust and privacy and should require consent before doing this to make trust
- Pranks that are like this make the government take action. It is not a legal prank to do. It's the same thing as #6 I mentioned up here
8. Spambots: If it is used as a spambot (a hidden code inside the Sora app) that sends false notifications, it is illegal because it violates anti-spam laws such as the CAN-SPAM Act, and breaches privacy laws like GDPR and CCPA. This is called harassment and can cause security risks to the people
With all of that, it should be taken action as soon as possible
However, I am trying to make this company stop making this by contacting support but they provided bad responses or never responded (possibly delays) without a reason.
My first thing I would say is do a fine with a warning to OverDrive. If they continue to do this after that, then I would say take the Sora app down in the Google Play Store or the App Store and report that to the government about privacy concerns.
Thanks for reading
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Hello! In addition to my response, I contacted support but they never fixed it. When I first contacted support, they said I need it's my IT's thing which I know that is false and I asked them to check the code of the app but they don't even check the code of the app and when I keep contacting OverDrive's support every week or every 2 weeks, they never respond without a reason and it's making me go crazy because it started a few months ago and it continues. If you look at the picture or the file I provided, that is what the notification was spamming me
Hello! In addition to my another response, I'm guessing that there is a spambot that spams notifications which it is illegal and I read it on https://www.anura.io/fraud-tidbits/is-bot-spamming-illegal and in one of the sentences in one of the paragraphs, it says "In many jurisdictions, activities that deceive users or exploit systems for fraudulent gains are illegal.". And that also means that OverDrive should not do this as this issue should be quickly taken as soon as possible
In addition to my response again, I updated the Sora app but they keep continuing to spam the same notifications
I keep updating the app every single time I see that the app requires a update but they keep spamming the same notification. I tried this test experiment that I have the Sora app installed and the Wi-Fi is off and the cellular data is off for 1 week but when I check everyday, they keep spamming notifications, even when my device is offline. So that means that the Sora app is spamming notifications
I forgot to mention that if you cannot see the file/image, it says "Your IT admin is allowing Sora to access your location". And again, my location services were off but they continue to spam the same thing, even in the current month
Also, when I uninstalled the app, the notification stopped spamming. However, when I install the same app back in, it started the same notification again
The notification keeps spamming for the past few months and it crashed my device because of the spamming thing
When I checked in the IT again (in April 2025) and showed them that I turned off the notifications of that app and when I opened the settings app again, it turned itself back on. However, the IT says they can't do anything about it as the cause is unknown (most likely from the app itself worldwide?)
Also, OverDrive is ignoring my responses without a reason. When I confirmed my AI bot to see if spamming like this is illegal (the AI bot was Microsoft Copilot), that AI bot said it is true. And I'll try to make it spread on social media (I can't share my username from social media in here)
Also, when I restarted my device (did not erase any saved data) with everything saved to my account, the same app continues to spam the same thing, even when the device was restarted
I forgot to mention this important part. Whenever it sends 1 notification related about that and I never cleared the notification feed, whenever the next notification sends it, it would clear that notification from the notification feed and reappear. And I also forgot to mention the story that happened on Oct 2024 and before Jan 2025. So when I installed the Sora app on my device, the 1st notification I saw was "Your IT admin is allowing Sora to access your location" and I thought it was fake so I just cleared the notification and never see it again. However, later in the same day, it reappeared for some reason and kept clearing it everytime I saw this. However, after 1 or 2 weeks with the app installed, I noticed that it is spammed everyday at a certain time. So I contacted OverDrive support (the owner of the Sora app) which I started in Nov 2024 or Dec 2024 but they said it was my IT's thing (as mentioned in the comments or the complaint) but that is false. When I check with the IT, it says the Sora app is doing that. And there was no action done and as of today's date, it keeps spamming me with the same thing. Nothing else to say for now unless there are updates
Also, as mentioned before, I think that OverDrive is secretly trying to hack my account or something like that. The notification says about that and again, I know it's false and OverDrive is trying to find my (these are guesses) IP address, my home address, and even trying to steal my personal info that I never shared with OverDrive. I do have third-party cookies blocked on my browser just in case they're trying to look into my things but the notifications keep spamming the same thing. However, I have no extension that does that and it spams. Right now, I'm not sure if I should file a lawsuit in court about this. I'm going to uninstall this app on June 2025 and I will reinstall this back at Sep 2025 and see if it continues. Now if I uninstall this app, it stops spamming the notifications as I tested it before. However, I didn't mention this before but this app is important for me as it's a requirement
Here are my possible estimates that would happen to the usage if the notification spamming happens if it happens worldwide for anybody that have this app on and referring to the amount of people by 2030 and 2050:
Today's date (2025) estimated: 1 million-10 million
Estimated usage (worldwide) by 2030 without the spammy notifications from the Sora app: 4 million people to 30 million people
Estimated usage (worldwide) by 2030 with the spammy notifications from the Sora app (since 2024): 1,000 people to 10,000 people
Estimated usage (worldwide) by 2050 without the spammy notifications from the Sora app: 10 million people to 500 million people
Estimated usage (worldwide) by 2050 with the spammy notifications from the Sora app (since 2024): Possibly 0 people (if the company goes bankrupt at that time) (mostly unlikely) or 100 people to 10,000 people
