Spotify is in full scathe - control manner after the stream music servicing ’s new privacy policy spur a wafture of Internet outrage . Spotify CEO Daniel Ek apologized for the disruption on Friday , and promised that the company is retool its privacy insurance policy in the coming weeks to “ better reflect ” its intentions .
Spotify exploiter were appalled when the companychanged the terms of its privateness policythis week to set aside the app to access your speech sound ’s detector data , photo , inter-group communication , locating , and part controls . Why would a streaming medicine app want all of that information ?
“ Let me be crystal clear here : If you do n’t want to share this kind of information , you do n’t have to , ” Ek explained inhis excusatory blog post . “ We will involve for your express permission before access any of this data — and we will only use it for specific role that will let you to custom-make your Spotify experience . ”
Why this matters : It ’s not unusual for an app to request access to other parts of your earphone , like your contact so you may find friends or your Camera Roll so you may share photos . That ’s exactly how Spotify plans to use its access to your middleman and picture . But typically apps ask for that access up front , not restfully change their privacy policies to make it fathom like exploiter have no choice . In the twelvemonth 2015 , have companies really learned nothing from Facebook ’s history of secrecy nookie - ups ? Ek was initially justificatory when user tweeted him for an explanation of the new insurance policy , but he cursorily realized that 140 characters were n’t quite enough to outline the reasons behind the alteration .
Spotify is change its privacy policy to continue rolling out new features like the personalized Discover Weekly playlist .
Below is Ek ’s account for how Spotify will use the data you ( willingly ! ) let it access on your phone :
photograph : We will never access your photos without explicit permission and we will never scan or spell your photo subroutine library or camera roll . If you give us permission to approach exposure , we will only expend or access code images that you specifically select to share . Those photos would only be used in ways you choose and control — to create personalized cover artistic production for a play list or to exchange your profile image , for example .
locating : We will never gather or habituate the location of your mobile machine without your explicit permission . We would employ it to help oneself personalise recommendations or to keep you up to date about music trending in your orbit . And if you take to partake in placement information but later commute your mind , you will always have the power to stop sharing .
Voice : We will never access your microphone without your permission . Many people like to apply Spotify in a hand - free room , and we may ramp up voice control into succeeding versions of the intersection that will allow you to skip tracks , or pause , or otherwise voyage the app . You will always have the ability to disable voice control .
touch : We will never scan or spell your contacts without your permit . Spotify is a social program and many mass like to partake in playlists and medicine they discover with their friends . In the future , we may need to give you the ability to discover your friend on Spotify by searching for Spotify users in your contacts if you choose to do that .
