Sonos forces post-purchase privacy policy change: Difference between revisions
Add categories, expand and rephrase, format to match incident blueprint better, name and archive citations |
mNo edit summary |
||
| (6 intermediate revisions by 4 users not shown) | |||
| Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
==Background== | ==Background== | ||
[[Sonos|Sonos, Inc.]] specializes in the manufacture of audio devices many of which are connected to the internet and provide "smart" features. Using those features inevitably provides Sonos with data on the users of their products. | [[Sonos|'''Sonos, Inc.''']] specializes in the manufacture of audio devices many of which are connected to the internet and provide "smart" features. Using those features inevitably provides Sonos with data on the users of their products. | ||
==Changes to the privacy statement== | ==Changes to the privacy statement== | ||
On March 2023 Sonos' privacy statement stated, on page 12 of 35 under the "How We May Share Personal Information" section: "We do not and will not sell your personal data to third parties"<ref> | Very interestingly, the only 2 sentences that were emboldened in the May 2022 Sonos privacy statement<ref name=":0">4.[https://www.sonos.com/pdfs/policies/2022-privacy-statement-en-us.pdf Sonos, Inc. Privacy Statement 2022] ''(PDF). Sonos. May 2022.''</ref> that were NOT emboldened in the March 2023 Sonos privacy statement are the following: "We do not and will not sell your personal data to third parties." on page 1 of the statement; and "Sonos does not and will not sell personal information about our customers." on page 11 of the 2022 privacy statement and page 12 of the 2023 privacy statement.<ref name=":1" /> This change in text formatting is not present in any of the 100 other emboldened sentences and titles. | ||
This holds significance given the following event: | |||
On March 2023 Sonos' privacy statement stated, on page 12 of 35 under the "How We May Share Personal Information" section: "We do not and will not sell your personal data to third parties".<ref name=":1"> | |||
{{cite web | {{cite web | ||
|author=<!-- not stated --> | |author=<!-- not stated --> | ||
| Line 14: | Line 18: | ||
|archive-date=14 Jan 2025 | |archive-date=14 Jan 2025 | ||
|access-date=19 Feb 2025 | |access-date=19 Feb 2025 | ||
}}</ref> | }}</ref> That privacy policy was updated on June 2024 and said sentence was removed from the section as well as from Privacy Statement as a whole.<ref> | ||
{{cite web | {{cite web | ||
|author=<!-- not stated --> | |author=<!-- not stated --> | ||
| Line 26: | Line 30: | ||
|access-date=19 Feb 2025 | |access-date=19 Feb 2025 | ||
}}</ref> | }}</ref> | ||
It is worth noting | It is worth noting that the "Why?" section on the reasons Sonos collects user data has substantially changed between revisions and, in the 2024 version, it includes a balancing test <sup>[What?]</sup> and allows Sonos to "... enable you to select the right music service options based on your geographic location.". | ||
This new wording also does not explicitly prevent Sonos from sharing/selling user data to third parties. | This new wording also does not explicitly prevent Sonos from sharing/selling user data to third parties. | ||
[[File:Sonos FAQ.png|thumb|[https://www.sonos.com/en-us/legal/privacy-2018#changes A question present in the FAQ section attached to the April 2018 Sonos, Inc. Privacy Statement. The same section was no longer attached to future iterations of the Privacy Statement.]]] | |||
Consumers were then forced to agree to the new terms of service if they wanted to be able to continue using the Sonos product that they had already bought and paid for. There was no option to "disagree" or "opt out" of the agreement and continue using the product as usual after the terms of the privacy statement were changed.<ref> | Consumers were then forced to agree to the new terms of service if they wanted to be able to continue using the Sonos product that they had already bought and paid for. There was no option to "disagree" or "opt out" of the agreement and continue using the product as usual after the terms of the privacy statement were changed.<ref> | ||
| Line 38: | Line 43: | ||
|website=Youtube | |website=Youtube | ||
|url-status=live | |url-status=live | ||
}}</ref>{{citation needed|reason=Second souce of this behaviour}} | }}</ref>{{citation needed|reason=Second souce of this behaviour}} | ||
[[File:June 2024 license and warranty agreement update.png|thumb|Terms of use agreement prompt after change.]] | [[File:June 2024 license and warranty agreement update.png|thumb|Terms of use agreement prompt after change.]] | ||
== See Also== | ==See Also== | ||
*[[Post-purchase EULA modification]] | *[[Post-purchase EULA modification]]<ref name=":0" /> | ||
== References == | ==References== | ||
<references /> | <references /> | ||
Latest revision as of 13:10, 14 March 2025
Background[edit | edit source]
Sonos, Inc. specializes in the manufacture of audio devices many of which are connected to the internet and provide "smart" features. Using those features inevitably provides Sonos with data on the users of their products.
Changes to the privacy statement[edit | edit source]
Very interestingly, the only 2 sentences that were emboldened in the May 2022 Sonos privacy statement[1] that were NOT emboldened in the March 2023 Sonos privacy statement are the following: "We do not and will not sell your personal data to third parties." on page 1 of the statement; and "Sonos does not and will not sell personal information about our customers." on page 11 of the 2022 privacy statement and page 12 of the 2023 privacy statement.[2] This change in text formatting is not present in any of the 100 other emboldened sentences and titles.
This holds significance given the following event:
On March 2023 Sonos' privacy statement stated, on page 12 of 35 under the "How We May Share Personal Information" section: "We do not and will not sell your personal data to third parties".[2] That privacy policy was updated on June 2024 and said sentence was removed from the section as well as from Privacy Statement as a whole.[3] It is worth noting that the "Why?" section on the reasons Sonos collects user data has substantially changed between revisions and, in the 2024 version, it includes a balancing test [What?] and allows Sonos to "... enable you to select the right music service options based on your geographic location.". This new wording also does not explicitly prevent Sonos from sharing/selling user data to third parties.
Consumers were then forced to agree to the new terms of service if they wanted to be able to continue using the Sonos product that they had already bought and paid for. There was no option to "disagree" or "opt out" of the agreement and continue using the product as usual after the terms of the privacy statement were changed.[4][citation needed - Second souce of this behaviour]
See Also[edit | edit source]
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 4.Sonos, Inc. Privacy Statement 2022 (PDF). Sonos. May 2022.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Sonos, Inc. Privacy Statement 2023" (PDF). Sonos. March 2023. Archived (PDF) from the original on 14 Jan 2025. Retrieved 19 Feb 2025.
- ↑ "Sonos, Inc. Privacy Statement 2024" (PDF). Sonos. June 2024. Archived (PDF) from the original on 14 Jan 2025. Retrieved 19 Feb 2025.
- ↑
Rossmann, Louis (13 June 2024). "Sonos removes restriction on selling personal data & forces users to accept new TOS🤦". Youtube.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)