Spotify CEO Daniel Ek apologized Friday for not doing a good job of communicating recent changes the streaming music company has made to its privacy policy.
In a blog post, simply titled "SORRY" on the company's website, Ek writes that Spotify "should have done a better job in communicating what these policies mean and how any information you choose to share will — and will not — be used."
In short, Ek says that Spotify will never use information like your location, your photos, and your contacts without asking for your permission first.
Ek explains in the blog post that if a person gives permission to the company to use this data, it will only use it in order to personalize the service.
And if you want to listen to music on Spotify without handing any of this data over to the company, that's fine too.
For example, Ek writes that Spotify may ask to access your location in order to give recommendations based on what other people around you are listening to. Or the company may ask for permission to access your photos so you can create cover art for a playlist you make.
Ek also writes that the company won't ever use your device's microphone without asking you for "explicit permission." The company, he said, may work on voice-control features in upcoming versions of the product.
Ek's blog post came in reaction to widespread outrage over changes to the company's privacy policy, which according to Spotify was last updated on Wednesday.
The changes came into focus late Thursday afternoon after Wired wrote a story labeling the privacy policy as "eerie" and saying "you can't do squat" about it.
Wired likened Spotify to "a jealous ex" who "wants to see (and collect) your photos and see who you’re talking to."
The article, unsurprisingly, prompted outrage on Twitter.
Markus Persson, AKA "Notch," the founder of the incredibly popular game Minecraft, tweeted a link to the Wired story calling Spotify "evil." In a subsequent tweet, he wrote that he had just canceled his Spotify subscription.
—Markus Persson (@notch) August 21, 2015
It's of course never a good time for a company to get negative publicity like this, but it's particularly bad timing for Spotify. The company has been working hard to build features that set it apart from Apple Music, and so far, it seems to be working.
Even though people feared that Apple's entrance into the on-demand streaming music market could be bad news for Spotify, the Stockholm-based company seems to be holding its own against Apple.
Apple Music has been panned by critics and users alike, and at the same time, Spotify's new music discovery features seem to have been well-received.
Here's the full blog post from Ek:
We are in the middle of rolling out new terms and conditions and privacy policy and they’ve caused a lot of confusion about what kind of information we access and what we do with it. We apologize for that. We should have done a better job in communicating what these policies mean and how any information you choose to share will – and will not – be used.
We understand people’s concerns about their personal information and are 100 percent committed to protecting our users’ privacy and ensuring that you have control over the information you share.
So let me try and clear things up.
In our new privacy policy, we indicated that we may ask your permission to access new types of information, including photos, mobile device location, voice controls, and your contacts. Let me be crystal clear here: If you don’t want to share this kind of information, you don’t have to. We will ask for your express permission before accessing any of this data – and we will only use it for specific purposes that will allow you to customize your Spotify experience.
Photos: We will never access your photos without explicit permission and we will never scan or import your photo library or camera roll. If you give us permission to access photos, we will only use or access images that you specifically choose to share. Those photos would only be used in ways you choose and control – to create personalized cover art for a playlist or to change your profile image, for example.
Location: We will never gather or use the location of your mobile device without your explicit permission. We would use it to help personalize recommendations or to keep you up to date about music trending in your area. And if you choose to share location information but later change your mind, you will always have the ability to stop sharing.
Voice: We will never access your microphone without your permission. Many people like to use Spotify in a hands-free way, and we may build voice controls into future versions of the product that will allow you to skip tracks, or pause, or otherwise navigate the app. You will always have the ability to disable voice controls.
Contacts: We will never scan or import your contacts without your permission. Spotify is a social platform and many people like to share playlists and music they discover with their friends. In the future, we may want to give you the ability to find your friends on Spotify by searching for Spotify users in your contacts if you choose to do that.
Sharing: The Privacy Policy also mentions advertisers, rights holders and mobile networks. This is not new. With regard to mobile networks, some Spotify subscribers sign up through their mobile provider, which means some information is shared with them by necessity. We also share some data with our partners who help us with marketing and advertising efforts, but this information is de-identified – your personal information is not shared with them.
Again, we have heard your concerns loud and clear. We are also going to update the new Privacy Policy in the coming weeks to better reflect what we have explained above. If you have any questions or concerns, please let us know by emailing us at privacy@spotify.com. We’re listening to you and we take your concerns very seriously.
Daniel
