what is spotify thinking?

[RenegadeAlpha]

http://govtslaves.info/spotifys-new-privacy-policy-is-atrocious/

this article i just read about privacy issues. this, i hope applies to only the phone option as i have your app on pc. i still love spotify. listen to playlists everyday.

[alduderin0]

Yes that is very disappointing. I just canceled my subscription and will completely remove the app once they enforce accepting the new policy. It's a shame since they were such a nice streaming service 😞

[RenegadeAlpha]

welcome to spotify. i will still keep using this service on the pc. but ive already removed it from my tablet and phone.

[Taktikatze]

I just canceled my subscription. Saw no way of giving feedback so I'm leaving it here. Spotify: 

No Privacy = No Spotify for me.

I don't know if I'm allowed to say it here, but at the moment I'm trying out an alternative service. Anyways, change your privacy policy and you might get me back as your customer.

[MattSuda]

Update from Spotify CEO Daniel Ek:

https://news.spotify.com/2015/08/21/sorry-2/

[user-removed]

So, he clarified...

Well actually nothing was really clarified, he repeats spotify will ask for permission, which in Android, you have to give to even download the app (on a non-rooted device, not sure if rooting or using CM changes that).

After that the app already has all the basic rights to use it all, and changing permissions afterwards by hand usually causes issues.

It never ceases to amaze me how many companies will pull this kind of backwards stunt rather than just offer the options to those who wanted them as an opt-in option, and then deal with the fallout in such a poor way.

[RenegadeAlpha]

thx matt. i was just reading article on that. 

http://www.wired.com/2015/08/spotify-clears-up-its-privacy-policy/

[user-removed]

Hey everyone if you read through Daniel's explanation and read between the lines and think instead of just reacting, you can see that new features are coming that users have been begging Spotify development to add for a very long time. With new features added, new terms are updated first before those new features are roll out.

This article here also might help some: http://www.theverge.com/2015/8/21/9186365/spotify-privacy-policy-app-permissions

[Claus-198]

I have cancelled my subskription, too.  My contacts, photos and so on are absolutely none of spotifys business.

[notmydata125]

I've read through and read between the lines and he doesn't clarify a single thing. You can implement new features without leaving wording in the EULA/privacy policy that trashes users rights.

[StickerBob]

---

@user-removed wrote:

Hey everyone if you read through Daniel's explanation and read between the lines and think instead of just reacting, you can see that new features are coming that users have been begging Spotify development to add for a very long time. With new features added, new terms are updated first before those new features are roll out.

This article here also might help some: http://www.theverge.com/2015/8/21/9186365/spotify-privacy-policy-app-permissions

---

There is some truth to this post.  New features can require new permissions and new permissions can require a tweak in the privacy policy.  With that being said I have to think the most requested new feature has been ignored for far too long.  And that for anyone living in a hole that is Chromecast support.  If you are all about making changes as drastic as this why not give your users what they need/want!?  I will likely be canceling very soon due to the policy change and I am growing tired of not being able to use a service that I pay for the way that I desire.  I don't use certain company products because I believe in freedom to choose how you use it, I despise someone telling me how I should be using what I pay for.

[ChrisFGB]

The Wired article referenced above does help explain the rationale, but what's disappointing is that if they can do it - why can't Spotify?

I love the Spotify service and I welcome cool new features which I accept may require me to allow data access. It's just a shame that they've dealt with this in such a clumsy fashion. I also don't see any real detail on exactly how I opt out of particular usage of data like photos.

Wonder how long it will be before users of other services like Tidal, Apple, Pandora etc turn on their T&Cs, since it sounds like they all have similar rules.

[hanpritcher]

Well. I'll have to say that I just stopped my Spotify premium subscription and next I will uninstall the whole application from my telephone. How can I actually know what the app does in my Android after I have given the initial permissions, regardless of what you promise. I'm getting sick of this information collection in general. My photos or location is not your business, I want just to have the music.

[Skatam]

Just want to add to everyone saying that they stopped their subscription... I really enjoyed the service for the last 8 months or so but this is just nothing I will accept. Some alternative will be found but it really is a shame.

[Reikjäda]

The Bs reasoning of "we gather your personal data to give you a better service you never asked for" is about as greedy as it gets. It's clear it is only to target customers with ads and giving that information forward for advertisers. You have lost another subscriber of many years for this.

[user-removed]

@ notmydata125 : Agreed, it's just the same kind of badly thought through legalese you see with FB and Twitter, and it's rightfully garnering the same kind of attention any bad changes for those services' EULA's do, IMHO.

One can read between the lines all they want, but end of the day, the app will require the sort of permissions i (and apparently many others) don't deem necessary, and the EULA leaves openings to a BOATLOAD of potential issues, where 'reading between the lines' doesn't change the reality of what the EULA says.

Granted, most EULA's wouldn't hold up in court because of consumer laws in many countries, but it's still unbelievably stupid to do something like this, and what's worse is then trying to brush it off with an 'explanation' that doesn't explain anything and doesn't change the reality of things.

I'm not surprised the bullmanure just hit the fan, people are threatening to cancel their subscriptions, and half the bloody internet is up in arms.

Hell, as i have said before, it never ceases to amaze me just how stupid some companies seem to be when it comes to changing their EULA/ToS/whatever, and/or their software, without considering all possible consequences and without doing (REALISTIC) projections of possible outcomes.

Anyone at Spotify's top who read this change and thought about it for half a second with a consumer POV in mind SHOULD have screamed 'HOLD IT ! REWRITE THIS!'.

[Im_Razorbacked]

Just so everyone knows, there IS an alternative to forfeiting your privacy:  Third-party apps.  Third-party apps that use the older APIs don't have to hand over your sensitive information.  See SpotEQ for iPhone.

No photo usage or sharing, no contact usage or sharing, no media file usage or sharing, no motion sensor or location data usage or sharing. Just you and your Spotify music.  And a 30-band EQ if you go with SpotEQ (quite handy).

[RenegadeAlpha]

even though the CEO clarified his previous statement, already a dozen friends have removed the app from their phones. and opted to use pandora.

[Ambivalence]

Welp, they'll be heading to the trainwreck, as Pandora collects all three.

http://www.wired.com/2015/08/spotify-clears-up-its-privacy-policy/

Honestly, everyone is overreacting.

[Taktikatze]

So far I'm enjoying Deezer. 

Here are their terms and conditions: http://www.deezer.com/legal/cgu