Privacy Question for the DPO regarding the Nature publication

[vivekb]

I just read this paper published in Nature. It was very interesting, but I was a bit concerned about the level of data granted to the researchers. I tried looking through the website for a contact address for the DPO, but found none (which is itself kind of upsetting). Anyway, here is my question:

The Spotify privacy policy says that pseudonymized data is provided, but I suspect that when Age, Gender, Location and even a few songs are listed for an individual, there is a strong possibility of re-identification using Spotify or other social networks. The paper also seems to indicate that location information and IP address were used, but your privacy policy does not indicate that such information would be shared or used for this purpose. Do you have any information about how the possibility of reidentification was managed, and about whether location and IP were used? Thanks!

[Maxim]

Hey @vivekb,

Thanks for coming to the Spotify Community.

The following quote should answer your question about who to contact:

"You can find out more about the GDPR rights described above and the controls we provide to all Spotify users with respect to these rights in the ‘Your Rights’ section contained in the Privacy Center. If you have any questions about your privacy, your rights, or how to exercise them, please contact our Data Protection Officer using the ‘Contact Us’ form on the Privacy Center. We will respond to your request within a reasonable period of time upon verification of your identity. If you are unhappy with the way we are using your personal data you can also contact and are free to lodge a complaint with the Swedish Data Protection Authority (Datainspektionen) or your local Data Protection Authority."

You can also check out this page.

Hope this helps 🙂

[vivekb]

Thanks, but this doesn't help. I read the privacy policy and have questions about it. When I used the Contact Form, it just opened up a chat window where a representative directed me to the privacy policy (which I have questions about!).

I guess my big question at this point is: can you give me a direct link or email address that I can use to send my question to the DPO?

[vivekb]

Sorry, I just now read the part about you not being a Spotify employee! So you, like me, probably don't have a direct line to their DPO. But thanks for the answer!

[Maxim]

Thanks for letting me know.

I've escalated this post and will get back to you as soon as I receive a reply 🙂

[Katerina]

Hey there @vivekb,

Thanks for posting and welcome to the Community!

As @Maxim mentioned previously, you can find more info regarding your GDPR rights in the Privacy Center here.

We'd suggest getting back in touch with our support teams one more time to include the additional questions or clarifications you may have.

Hope this helps!

Have a lovely day 🙂