2023-06-13 16:15:16
The world’s number one audio platform, Spotify, was fined Tuesday 58 million crowns (4.9 million francs) from the Swedish authorities under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Spotify will appeal the decision.
The company did not communicate sufficiently precisely on the way in which it uses the data of its users, estimated the Swedish authority of data protection (Integritetsskyddsmyndigheten, IMY).
“A person requesting access to their data must be able to easily understand how the company uses this data,” explained Karin Ekström, one of the lawyers who led the investigation within the authority. And in some more complex cases, the explanations around this data must be available “not only in English, but also in the language of the person concerned”. “We have identified shortcomings in these areas,” said Karin Ekström.
But these shortcomings are “not serious on the whole”, added the Swedish authority, stressing that the company had “taken several measures to meet the requirements of the right of access for people”.
The amount of the fine is justified by the place occupied by the platform in the legal music streaming sector, and given the number of its users, more than 515 million at the last score in April.
A late decision
The firm Noyb, at the origin of the complaint once morest Spotify, welcomed the Swedish decision, but regretted its late nature.
“The case lasted more than four years and we had to go to IMY to obtain a decision. The Swedish authority must absolutely speed up its procedures”, noted Stefano Rossetti, lawyer specializing in privacy protection at Noyb .
In a statement sent to AFP, Spotify assured “provide all users with complete information on how their personal data is processed”. Only a few “minor aspects” that have been identified by the authority need improvement, said the group, which intends to appeal the IMY decision.
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