Spotify · Spotify Privacy Policy

Tailored Advertising and Cross-Context Behavioral Advertising Opt-Out

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What it is

Spotify uses your listening habits and data from other websites and apps to show you personalized ads, and shares your data with advertising partners for this purpose — but you can opt out via your account settings or a link in the website footer.

Consumer impact (what this means for users)

Your personal data — including your listening history and behavioral data from third-party sources — is shared with advertising partners for targeted advertising on Spotify's free and paid services (including podcasts), meaning even Premium subscribers may receive targeted ads in some content.

What you can do

⚠️ These actions may provide transparency or partial mitigation but may not fully address the underlying issue. Effectiveness varies by jurisdiction and individual circumstances.
  • Opt Out of Arbitration
    Log in to your Spotify account, go to spotify.com/account/privacy, and toggle off the 'Tailored Ads' setting to opt out of interest-based advertising and data sharing with advertising partners.

How other platforms handle this

Dropbox Medium

You can access, amend, download, and delete your personal information by logging into your Dropbox account and going to your account settings page. You can also ask us for a copy of personal data you provided to us or that we've collected, the business or commercial purpose for collecting it, the ty...

Salesforce Medium

Our websites and services are not directed at children. We do not knowingly collect Personal Data from children under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect Personal Data for children between 13-18 unless we have obtained consent from a parent or guardian, such collection is subject to a separat...

Google Medium

To delete your information, you can: Delete your content from specific Google services; Search for and then delete specific items from your account using My Activity; Delete specific Google products, including your information associated with those products; Delete your entire Google Account.

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Why it matters (compliance & risk perspective)

This constitutes 'sharing' of personal data under CPRA, triggering opt-out rights for California residents, and similar rights under other state privacy laws — failure to honor opt-outs exposes Spotify to regulatory action.

View original clause language
This is when we use information about your use of our services and other websites and mobile apps to tailor ads to be more relevant to you. This is also known as interest based advertising, targeted advertising, or 'sharing' for purposes of cross-context behavioral advertising. An example of tailored advertising is when an advertising partner provides us with information indicating that you may be interested in cars. This could enable us to show you ads about cars. You can control tailored advertising through the 'Tailored Ads' setting. If you do not have an account or are not logged in, you can also opt-out by clicking the 'Your Privacy Choices' link at the footer of our website.

Institutional analysis (Compliance & legal intelligence)

(1) REGULATORY FRAMEWORK: This provision directly implicates CPRA 'sharing' for cross-context behavioral advertising (Cal. Civ. Code §1798.120), requiring a clear opt-out mechanism equivalent to a 'Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information' link. Virginia VCDPA §59.1-578, Colorado CPA §6-1-1306, Texas TDPSA, and Connecticut CTDPA all include analogous targeted advertising opt-out rights. The California Privacy Protection Agency (CPPA) and respective State AGs are primary enforcement authorities. FTC Act Section 5 also applies to any deceptive representations about the scope or effectiveness of the opt-out. (2)

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Applicable agencies

  • FTC
    The FTC has authority over unfair or deceptive advertising data practices and has actively pursued cases involving inadequate opt-out mechanisms for behavioral advertising.
    File a complaint →
  • State AG
    California CPPA and other State AGs enforce cross-context behavioral advertising opt-out requirements under their respective consumer privacy statutes.
    File a complaint →

Applicable regulations

EU AI Act
European Union
BIPA
Illinois, USA
CCPA/CPRA
California, USA
COPPA
United States Federal
CAN-SPAM
United States Federal
FCRA
United States Federal
GDPR
European Union
GLBA
United States Federal
HIPAA
United States Federal
TCPA
United States Federal
UK GDPR
United Kingdom

Provision details

Document information
Document
Spotify Privacy Policy
Entity
Spotify
Document last updated
April 29, 2026
Tracking information
First tracked
April 28, 2026
Last verified
April 28, 2026
Record ID
CA-P-002175
Document ID
CA-D-00036
Evidence Provenance
Source URL
Wayback Machine
SHA-256
62bfd0910e1d9815b6915626d36d1058b28aa407638be86ce562523eaf99f811
Verified
✓ Snapshot stored   ✓ Change verified
How to Cite
ConductAtlas Policy Archive
Entity: Spotify | Document: Spotify Privacy Policy | Record: CA-P-002175
Captured: 2026-04-28 08:47:36 UTC | SHA-256: 62bfd0910e1d9815…
URL: https://conductatlas.com/platform/spotify/spotify-privacy-policy/tailored-advertising-and-cross-context-behavioral-advertising-opt-out/
Accessed: May 2, 2026
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