Is Spotify's Terms of Service safe?

Top concerning points

1. 1.

   Specific content can be deleted without reason and may be removed without prior notice

   blocker

   High

   This service can delete specific content. Usually they will claim they reserve the right to do it at their sole discretion, which is legalese for saying they won't give a specific reason. If the terms say they will not notify you, it shall be included in the quote but if it does not explicitly say they will give you a notice, it can be reasonably inferred that they can do it without telling you.

2. 2.

   You waive your moral rights

   blocker

   High

   Moral rights are rights to creators of literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works, as well as directors of films. "The moral rights include the right of attribution, the right to have a work published anonymously or pseudonymously, and the right to the integrity of the work. The preserving of the integrity of the work allows the author to object to alteration, distortion, or mutilation of the work that is "prejudicial to the author's honor or reputation". Anything else that may detract from the artist's relationship with the work even after it leaves the artist's possession or ownership may bring these moral rights into play. Moral rights are distinct from any economic rights tied to copyrights. Even if an artist has assigned his or her copyright rights to a work to a third party, he or she still maintains the moral rights to the work." -Wikipedia In general, any terms that use the exact words "moral rights" as rights that are waived will fall under this Case.

3. 3.

   Your personal data is used for automated decision-making, profiling or AI training

   blocker

   High

   Personal data or content you share with the service may be processed to make decisions by automated means without human involvement. This includes profiling, which is any form of automated processing of your information to analyse or predict things like your economic situation, health, personal preferences or interests; as well as Artificial Intelligence training.

4. 4.

   Many third parties are involved in operating the service

   bad

   High

   Generated through the annotate view

5. 5.

   Usernames can be rejected or changed for any reason

   bad

   High

   The service's terms explain they may change or remove usernames at their sole discretion, and they may do so without prior notice.

6. 6.

   Your content can be licensed to third parties

   bad

   High

   By posting content through the Services, users grant them a transferable and/or sublicensable right, which allows user content to be licensed to third parties.

7. 7.

   If you offer suggestions to the service, they become the owner of the ideas that you give them

   bad

   High

   The service can claim ownership on feedback, proposals, ideas and suggestions submitted by the users, who may waive their "moral rights" on that feedback.

8. 8.

   Your personal data is used for advertising

   bad

   High

   Your interaction with the service and data you have shared with them may be gathered to create an advertising ID or profile to target ads on you, either on the website you were visiting or in third party websites.

Frequently asked questions

What is Spotify's ToS;DR privacy grade?

ToS;DR rates Spotify as Grade E. Grades range from A (best) to E (worst). See the full breakdown on ToS;DR.

Is Spotify's Terms of Service safe?

ToS;DR's Grade E means the terms raise serious concerns. Read the blocker and bad points carefully before accepting.

What is a top concern in Spotify's terms?

Specific content can be deleted without reason and may be removed without prior notice — This service can delete specific content. Usually they will claim they reserve the right to do it at their sole discretion, which is legalese for saying they won't give a specific reason. If the terms say they will not notify you, it shall be included in the quote but if it does not explicitly say they will give you a notice, it can be reasonably inferred that they can do it without telling you. (Source: ToS;DR approved point).

Where can I read Spotify's official terms?

ToS;DR tracks "Terms of Use" at https://www.spotify.com/us/legal/end-user-agreement/. Always prefer the official document over summaries.