The streaming giant is one of numerous entertainment companies that have been warned about the use and availability of their data in the wake of GDPR.
The Swedish Data Inspection Authority said it is investigating Spotify’s handling of customer requests under GDPR to find out what information the music streaming company hold about them. The streaming company has until July 1 to respond. The authority claims it has received several complaints regarding potential shortcomings in Spotify’s record keeping, such as incomplete and unclear records.
The investigation will focus on three areas of Spotify’s GDPR compliance, including what information is provided to customers who request data, which information is copied by Spotify, and how the information is handled after collection.
GDPR troubles are nothing new to Spotify. In January, the company received complaints from a privacy organization in Austria named None Of Your Business. The group made similar complaints against other tech companies, including Amazon Prime, Apple Music, DAZN, Netflix, Soundcloud, and YouTube.
At its core, GDPR is a new set of rules designed to give EU citizens more control over their personal data. It aims to simplify the regulatory environment for business, so both citizens and companies in the European Union can fully benefit from the digital economy. The guidelines aspire to create a world where consumers know what information they are sharing with websites and corporations before it is shared, and it requires that companies willingly provide that data to consumers upon request.
None Of Your Business created the following chart to reveal how unprepared major tech companies are complying with the new EU law.
Twitter user Peter Steinberger recently created a thread on his timeline detailing the experience of trying to retrieve information GDPR requires Spotify to provide. As Steinberger dug deeper, he found Spotify knows more about consumers than they may realize, including the type of headphones they use to stream music on the service.
GDPR went into effect in May 2018, but many companies have been slow to adapt. Spotify is the latest tech giant to be investigated, but unless more platforms take action soon similar headlines involving the company’s competition will emerge in the near future.
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