Spotify has announced a new set changes to its privacy policy, which apparently gives the company a lot more access to a user’s personal information along with details of financial transactions. With the new policy change, the company essentially wants to get access to the sensor information on a user’s smartphone, which it might use to gather information such as whether a user is walking, running or sitting and could merge with its upcoming project Running, as the new product provides users with tracks that are in-tune with a user’s footsteps.
Though what is rather baffling is the fact that the company is seeking permission to access user’s photos, contacts along with media files.
Here’s a snapshot of some of the rather obnoxious policy changes the music streaming service is seeking: “With your permission, we may collect information stored on your mobile device, such as contacts, photos, or media files,” said Spotify on its new privacy policy page. In addition, the company also wants to access the GPS coordinates of its users, which might allow them to create playlists based on a user’s geographical location.
The policy change also includes information sharing with advertising partners, which according to the company is to give users ‘more tailored content’. The company also mentions that it’ll only share information with its advertising partners in a de-identified format, which they claim would preserve the identity of its users’.
Though there is still a lot of ambiguity surrounding how it intends to share this information with third party vendors.
And finally, under the new privacy policy change, the music streaming service also intends to store and share your credit or debit card details, along with other information such as postal code, mobile number including ‘details of your transaction history’.
A Spotify spokesperson has reached out to the media in response to the new privacy policy change with the following official statement: “Spotify is constantly innovating and evolving its service to deliver the best possible experience for our users. This means delivering the perfect recommendations for every moment and helping you to enjoy, discover and share more music than ever before. The data accessed simply helps us to tailor improved experiences to our users, and build new and personalized products for the future.
The change has now been rolled out to Spotify users in the UK. However, there’s no official word as to when the change goes into effect in the US. The new policy change could be a response to its rival’s newly launched Apple Music, as the company might be trying to overhaul its streaming service with new features and innovative products to bolster further its user base.
It’ll be interesting to see how Spotify users respond to the new policy change. Would they be willing to sacrifice their privacy for a bunch of new features? What are thoughts about the new policy change? Do let us know in the comments section below:
