Acceptable Use Policy for Spotify Services
Overall Score
Risk by Category
The Spotify User Guidelines outline the rules governing user behavior on the Spotify platform. They prohibit illegal activities, harmful content, spam, IP infringement, unauthorized automation, and account misuse. Users are required to maintain account security, use the service for personal non-commercial purposes, and respect community standards. Spotify retains rights over user content and can suspend or terminate accounts for violations. The policy promotes a safe environment through clear dos and don'ts, reporting mechanisms, and enforcement measures.
Using bots, scrapers, or unauthorized automated access leads to immediate account action.
Uploading or distributing copyrighted material without rights results in termination.
Harassment, hate speech, or illegal content strictly banned with enforcement.
Explicit lists of allowed and prohibited activities aid user compliance.
Easy mechanisms to report violations protect community.
Advice on protecting login and avoiding sharing credentials.
Spotify collects the following categories of personal data. High Risk categories are used for advertising profiling or involve sensitive personal information.
Username, security details collected for service provision.
Listening history and interactions tracked implicitly.
Your data serves the following purposes. Mandatory purposes cannot be disabled without canceling the service. Opt-out available purposes allow some user control.
Spotify can copy, distribute, and modify content you upload for service operation and promotion.
Spotify shares data with several categories of third parties. Sharing with advertising partners is extensive and represents the primary commercial use of your behavioral data.
Limited sharing with affiliates and providers for operations.
No explicit third-party ad sharing in guidelines.
The following rights may be available to you depending on your region. EU/EEA users have the broadest protections under GDPR. Non-EU users have more limited guarantees.
Users can close accounts, but Spotify may suspend for violations without notice.
Access to your content while account active; post-termination, limited retention.
Data is retained for different periods depending on category, and security disclosures vary in depth. The policy highlights the following retention and transparency points.
Retention Periods
Data retained as required by law or for legitimate business needs.
Aggregated usage data kept indefinitely for analytics.
Security & Transparency
Users responsible for security; no specific encryption details.
Transparent process for handling reports.
Source Text
You may not use any 'deep-link', 'page-scrape', 'robot', 'spider' without permission.
Interpretation
Strict ban on data extraction tools; high enforcement risk for developers.
Source Text
You grant Spotify broad rights to use your content worldwide.
Interpretation
Users lose significant control over uploaded content.
Source Text
Spotify can suspend or terminate for any violation without notice.
Interpretation
Broad discretion for Spotify; limited user recourse.
Source Text
No promotion of illegal goods/services or violent extremism.
Interpretation
Aligns with legal standards but broadly worded.
Limited sharing via Family or Duo plans; direct password sharing prohibited.