Spotify CEO: Sorry about our super creepy new privacy policy
Spotify users were appalled when the company changed the terms of its privacy policy this week to allow the app to access your phone’s sensor data, photos, contacts, location, and voice controls. Why would a streaming music app need all of that information
“Let me be crystal clear here: If you don’t want to share this kind of information, you don’t have to,” Ek explained in his apologetic blog post. “We will ask for your express permission before accessing any of this data—and we will only use it for specific purposes that will allow you to customize your Spotify experience.”
Why this matters: It’s not unusual for an app to request access to other parts of your phone, like your contacts so you can find friends or your Camera Roll so you can share photos. That’s exactly how Spotify plans to use its access to your contacts and photos. But typically apps ask for that access up front, not quietly change their privacy policies to make it sound like users have no choice. In the year 2015, have companies really learned nothing from Facebook’s history of privacy screw-ups Ek was initially defensive when users tweeted him for an explanation of the new policy, but he quickly realized that 140 characters weren’t quite enough to outline the reasons behind the changes.
Below is Ek’s explanation for how Spotify will use the information you (willingly!) let it access on your phone:
Is this apology and explanation sufficient enough to persuade you to stick with Spotify, or is this enough to send you running to another streaming service Let us know in the comments.