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Sonos' Privacy Policy Change Suggests It Might Sell Your Data
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It’s a bit unfair to make that charge yet. This policy update could be that they want to incorporate AI features that require data for instance, not necessarily that they’re becoming a data broker
Nothing prevents anyone from filing a lawsuit. I'm not predicting an outcome, but I'm sure people will try.
Until the company that sells that new product you switched to does the same. Even Apple might consider it at some point, maybe not Tim, but possibly his successor might give the green light. Hardware is just a tool now to make more money with subscriptions and/or data harvesting. We don’t buy the product anymore, the product buys us. I was thinking of replacing my two Sonos One speakers which I bought in 2019 with the third generation HomePod which I expect to be released next year. As much as I like Sonos speakers, I’m not comfortable with this change so it’s more likely now that I will switch to Apple. I just want to wait until the third generation.
It would be nice, but unrealistic. To respond to your obviously loaded question, I'd like UNtargeted ads. Tell me about Tide or Chevrolet or some political candidate in general terms, not endless ads for rain gutters across multiple sites because I searched for it once. Oh, wait, this guy (likely a guy) is a homeowner - let's put an ad here with an annoying dancing silhouette about how he could save money on roofing, or his power bill, what party he should vote for (does he live in a swing state? turn on the fire hose!). Targeted advertising is a new invention and it's not necessary for an ad-funded business but now companies scramble for every penny.
So instead I'll reply to your leading question with one of my own: Do YOU enjoy being hounded mercilessly by marketers over purchasing decisions you may have already made? Do you enjoy a "free" internet in trade for faceless corporations and their algorithms knowing various bits of data about you, from your likely credit score, zip code, health status, sexual preferences, etc? Or would you like to just ignore ads about Tide and Chevy?
BTW this is rhetorical. I'm not interested in a debate with you. I just want you to know that there are other options out there for funding the internet that you may not have considered.
There is a middle ground. Politics, sexual health etc don’t have to be part of targeted ads. But yes lots of people prefer targeted ads because they’re relevant. It is possible to have relevant targeted ads without having to give up every piece of info.
Yes they are going to sell your data every company will do anything they can to sell your data and everything that you purchase or think about or talk about or interact with on any device they sell because selling data is how they make their money not selling the product
I post all of my life on social media. Pics, thoughts, whatever.
Popular audio company Sonos recently updated its U.S. privacy policy to make a small but notable change that seemingly puts customer data at risk. As noted by Louis Rossmann (via The Verge), the new Sonos privacy policy removes a line about not selling customer data.
In the 2023 version of its privacy policy, Sonos had this sentence: "We do not and will not sell your personal data to third parties." The statement has been removed from the 2024 version of the privacy policy in the United States, though it is still present in privacy policies in other countries.
The change to the privacy policy has sparked commentary on Reddit from Sonos customers who have become increasingly unhappy with the company in recent months. Back in May, Sonos rolled out a new app design that has been widely criticized for missing a long list of features like editing a song queue, managing playlists, shuffling a music library, and more.
Sonos users already unhappy with the app changes feel that the privacy policy update is another nail in the coffin for Sonos. From Reddit user RemarkableAgent1350:
The removal of that line from the privacy policy doesn't mean Sonos is definitely selling customer data, and the company has not responded queries about what the change means as of yet.
Article Link: Sonos' Privacy Policy Change Suggests It Might Sell Your Data
But hell no, is Sonos telling somebody else what type of music 18.3% of their user base is using?
That’s outrageous, let me go on social media and explain how this threats my privacy.
Wait so they aren’t end-to-end encrypting my music likes!?? Hackers are going to have a field day
Sonos needs to "come clean" immediately and let customers know that sentence will be retained or else...
You should be able to upload each ToS to ChatGPT and ask it to summarize and tell you the differences.
privacy policy update or not, I found it ridiculous to require an account just to use their speakers. I'm fine with "dumb" speakers, thank you very much.
What's interesting about the old promise – "We do not and will not sell your personal data to third parties" – is that it promised something into the future, forever. Most policies say 'we don't do this, we don't do that'; I've seen few that say "We won't do that in the future." But that's the promise Spotify made: that, going forward, they would never sell users' personal data. I'm not sure taking the language out of the terms now changes the fact that they promised millions of customers that they would never do that. Maybe the language shouldn't have been in there in the first place, but it was.
I suppose the defence of that would be "legacy data won't be sold so if you cancel your account when the new ToS take effect, your data won't be affected and the original promise won't be broken." Of course, I'm assuming that legacy data won't be sold, but I can see that being the wiggle room.
A week or so ago, I had to click through a new agreement to use Spotify. Even after I had opted out, there were still a bit over a thousand vendors that had ”legitimate interest” in tracking me that I could not opt out from.
Yes, I’m ditching Spotify.
The issue is that Sonos have consumers at gunpoint - agree to ANYTHING we ask or you can't use the hardware you paid for. There is already one appalling example of this - you cannot set up a speaker in your home without giving their app access to precise location data. Why on earth do they need that? They spout some BS answer that holds no water at all. My $$, my hardware I should be able to keep its location private. I decided long ago that when my current Sonos kit goes U/S or is no longer supported , then I am out of that ecosystem for good. Too many alternatives out there, some of which don't have the Sonos track record of regularly screwing their customers.
Why I switched to AirPlay2 via Apple app‘s on the Sonos speakers. The Sonos app used only for setup and software updates. Sonos app knows way too much about ones listening preference. If Apple does not have a speaker I need, will look only at AirPlay2 compatible speakers. Less apps in the mix the better. The less apps the better across all aspects of smart devices My new world order.
I bought a Marantz receiver last year. It connects to WiFi and bluetooth but doesn't have its own app (though it is compatible with HEOS), and I stream my Apple Music to it. Phenomenal sound, and none of this privacy nonsense to worry about.
In practice, probably useless. Presumably, the developer would be able to do this scan themselves and tweak the new TOS until it no longer finds the difference they want to hide.
Interestingly, the promise not to sell personal data is still made to customers in other countries. (I checked the wording for the UK (screenshot 1), New Zealand, and Switzerland.)
While comparing the texts, a pop-up appeared and I was asked if I was willing to participate in a survey. I said yes and gave some feedback (screenshot 2).
While comparing the texts, a pop-up appeared and I was asked if I was willing to participate in a survey. I said yes and gave some feedback (screenshot 2).
Attachments
So aggravating. Sonos is regularly top-rated for multiroom music solutions. We have 10 of their products in large part so that we can share our vinyl collection throughout our house. I've started looking for alternatives, but so far it's slow and confusing going. Anybody have some ready-made suggestions?