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Spotify updates hated privacy policy ... with exact same policy

We're sorry, says CEO, that we didn't better explain how we're slurping all your info

Music-streaming service Spotify has finished editing its controversial privacy policy – to better explain why it's slurping people's private information, rather than taking an axe to the document.

Writing on the Spotify blog, CEO Daniel Ek said the new policy will kick in over the next few days: it will use some new wordings as well as an introduction to explain the reasoning behind its Facebook-like stance.

That introduction will outline two tiers of information the Spotify application collects. The first tier will be info users are required to enter in order to sign up, while the second will be optional information needed to enable certain features.

That second class of data includes user location, stored photos, contacts, and access to the device's microphone.

The latter class of data was the source of user outrage last month when Spotify first announced its new policy.

Ek said that Spotify would still collect that data, but wanted the new introduction to emphasize that the collection was opt-in, and would only be needed to enable additional features, such as finding nearby friends or enabling voice control.

"The Introduction is intended to be a clear statement of our approach and principles about privacy. We hope it provides a healthy dose of clarity and context too," he wrote.

"Yes, we still need to provide greater detail in the body of the policy, but those details are, and will always be, in keeping with the fundamental privacy principles we outline in the Introduction."

The debacle over the new policy comes at a particularly inopportune time for Spotify. The music service finds itself under pressure from a massive new challenger in the Apple Music service.

Apple's Beats-backed service went live in July, and while it has yet to build a huge user base, the service does have the weight of iTunes and Apple's billions of dollars in backing at its disposal. ®

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