Spotify unveils new privacy policy following public backlash

Spotify’s founder Daniel Ek was publicly remorseful last month when the streaming service’s new privacy conditions were met with a major backlash.

The new policy requested users’ permission to access their photos, contacts, location and more; requests which Spotify users - and Notch, the creator of Minecraft, who called out Ek on Twitter - felt were unnecessary and overstepped its bounds.

In Ek’s apology, posted on Spotify’s blog on August 21, he said “we have heard your concerns loud and clear”. He promised to update the policy.

In a new blog post overnight, the Stockholm-headquartered company wrote in layman’s terms to outline what it will and won’t do with its users’ data. While not much has changed from the previous policy, this time it’s been clearly explained what data Spotify will be collecting, how it will use that data, and what permission it needs from users.

Among other things, users are now consenting to the processing of data, transferring of information outside the user’s country, the collection, use, and sharing of information for advertising-related purposes and the public availability of information. And yes, Spotify is requesting access to its users photos, contacts and specific location, but only when granted explicit permission.

Spotify has also said that any user who agreed to the previous policy will be automatically in agreement with the updated version.