Spotify now has access to more personal information in its updated privacy policy

Update: Spotify CEO Daniel Ek has issued an apology and statement surrounding the "confusion" of the new privacy policy:

"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 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."

Read the full statement by Daniel Ek over on Spotify's website.

Spotify rolled out a new update of their app this week – one that can gain more access to gather a user’s personal information.

The new upgrade now asks permission to access your contacts, photos, location and other info to know more about their consumers. The app now tracks your location through GPS and Bluetooth, while it’s also able to monitor your movement with its new Running app. Another feature gives the app an insight on your searches to tailor and displays relevant advertisements in your direction.

While Spotify maintain that they “will always ask for individual permission or clearly inform you of the ability to opt out from sharing location, photos, voice, and contacts,” there is a feeling that there is less control of how much you can share as a customer. In less frightening news, the information gathered by the app will be anonymised so that users won’t be identified by their advertising partners.

The new update follows the launch of Spotify’s Discover Weekly feature (which curates music based on your taste) as well as the aforementioned Running device, which can match a track’s BPM to the pace of your workout.

For a full breakdown of the new update, head to Spotify's website to read a new statement.