It's been a tough stretch for Sonos recently. CEO Patrick Spence now has a prepared reply for customers venting their frustrations about the revamped app. As the company works to regain trust and successfully launch the new Sonos Ace headphones, a product that relies heavily on customer data, it finds itself in the middle of another controversy.
A significant change in privacy policy
Louis Rossmann, a renowned repair technician and consumer privacy advocate, has spotlighted a major change in Sonos' privacy policy, at least in the United States. The updated policy no longer includes a key sentence that previously reassured customers, “Sonos does not and will not sell personal information about our customers.” While this pledge remains in other countries' policies, it is absent from the updated US policy, which came into effect earlier this month.
This change has not escaped the notice of customers, who are already dissatisfied with the performance issues of the new Sonos app. They perceive this as another stumble by the company's leadership, contributing to a mounting list of grievances with a brand they once endorsed without reservation.
Differences between old and new policies
The previous privacy policy from 2023 included:
“Sonos does not and will not sell personal information about our customers. However, certain data practices described throughout this Privacy Statement may constitute a ‘sale' or ‘sharing' of data under California and other US state laws. See the below CA Addendum for more information applicable to CA residents. We want you to understand that customer information is important to our business. We only disclose your data as described in this Statement.”
The new policy has omitted the no-sale assurance, now reading:
“Certain data practices described throughout this Privacy Statement may constitute a ‘sale' or ‘sharing' of data under California and other US state laws. See the below CA Addendum for more information applicable to CA residents. We want you to understand that customer information is important to our business. We only disclose your data as described in this Statement.”
Sonos' clarification and app concerns
Sonos has integrated web-based access for all customer systems into its updated app platform, giving the cloud a more significant role. However, the web app currently does not offer two-factor authentication, which has annoyed users; controlling Sonos devices remotely only requires an email address and password.
While the app's issues are being gradually resolved—with the restoration of alarms and sleep timers — getting through to Sonos customer support remains time-consuming in the wake of the extensive software update, which involved a complete overhaul of the app's interface and backend systems.
The latest privacy policy change has compounded the challenges Sonos is grappling with, leaving customers unsettled about how their data is being handled. Swiftly addressing these concerns is of utmost importance for Sonos as it endeavours to regain customer trust in these trying times.
