Sonos Users Forced To Choose Between Privacy And Working Hardware

Privacy

from the obey-or-suffer dept

For years now, we’ve highlighted how these days — you don’t technically own the things you buy. And thanks to a rotating crop of firmware and privacy policy updates delivered over the internet, what you thought you owned can very easily change — or be taken away from you entirely. Time and tine again we’ve discussed how companies love to impose new restrictions on hardware via software update, then act shocked when consumers are annoyed because they’ve had either their rights — or device functionality — stripped away from them.

The latest example of this comes courtesy of Sonos, which informed users this week that “over time,” they won’t be able to use their pricey speaker systems if they refuse a new privacy policy update:

“A spokesperson for the home sound system maker told ZDNet that, “if a customer chooses not to acknowledge the privacy statement, the customer will not be able to update the software on their Sonos system, and over time the functionality of the product will decrease.”

“The customer can choose to acknowledge the policy, or can accept that over time their product may cease to function,” the spokesperson said.

In an e-mail to users, Sonos informed customers that they can “opt out of submitting certain types of personal information to the company; for instance, additional usage data such as performance and activity information.” But users won’t be able to opt out of data collection Sonos deems necessary to the system’s core functionality. The problem with that, as we’ve seen with companies like Microsoft, is that companies aren’t traditionally transparent about just what this “necessary” data entails, and tend to be overly generous when it comes to determining what personal data is “essential” in the first place.

In this case, the “functional data” Sonos won’t let you avoid collection of includes email addresses, IP addresses, Sonos account login information, device data, information about Wi-Fi antennas and other hardware information, room names, system error data, and more. Needless to say, privacy advocacy groups like the EFF and the Center for Democracy and Technology aren’t thrilled about users having to choose between their privacy rights or working hardware. Nor are they impressed by companies’ apparent inability to cordon off essential functionality from data collection and sales:

“Sonos is a perfect illustration of how effective privacy, when it comes to not just services but also physical objects, requires more than just ‘more transparency’ — it also requires choices and effective controls for users,” said Joe Jerome, a policy analyst at the Center for Democracy & Technology.

“We’re going to see this more and more where core services for things that people paid for are going to be conditioned on accepting ever-evolving privacy policies and terms of use,” he said. “That’s not going to be fair unless companies start providing users with meaningful choices and ensure that basic functionality continues if users say no to new terms.”

Occasionally, consumer revolt is enough to change the tide. Media software developer Plex was forced to backtrack this week from an announcement that it would be issuing a new privacy policy that prevented users of its software from opting out of data collection and sales, including users that had paid for lifetime access to the service. Plex’s retreat was forced after the company’s forums lit up with complaints about what one customer called “super-duper bullshit.” A subsequent Plex blog post stated that the company heard its users loud and clear, and would be reversing course on the decision.

Filed Under: bricking, freedom, freedom to tinker, ownership, privacy, privacy policy, terms of service
Companies: sonos