To understand why Spotify's data collection practices might be a matter of concern, it's first important to understand exactly what user data Spotify collects. Thankfully, there are steps you can take to limit what Spotify does with its vast repository of data points describing your life - or, at the very least, that make the company's effort to profit off your info just a tad bit more difficult. There's no need to passively hand over your valuable personal data free of charge as well. If you're a subscriber, you already pay Spotify $9.99 every month. 'Spotify uses the same surveillance capitalist business model as Facebook and YouTube: they harvest your data and sell access to it to advertisers who think they can use that data to manipulate you into buying their products and services.' What Spotify does with that data, and why that should concern you, are complex questions involving third-party advertisers, densely written terms of service, and inferences drawn from every piece of music or podcast you've ever listened to on the streaming platform.īut according to privacy experts, one aspect of this digital mess is absolutely straightforward: Spotify users should pay attention to how their data is used, and take the available steps to limit that use whenever possible.Įvan Greer, the director of the digital advocacy organization Fight for the Future and musician whose art has addressed this very subject, made that clear over direct message in early April.

While Spotify customers are busy rocking out, the company has its metaphorical hands full profiting off the data that rocking generates.Īnd it generates a surprising amount. It sounds like the setup to a bad joke, but the wildly popular music streaming service in fact collects, stores, and shares reams of seemingly mundane user data, adding up to an intrusion that's much more than just the sum of its parts. Privacy Please is an ongoing series exploring how privacy is violated in the modern world, and what you can do about it.

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