Sonos: Accept Our New Privacy Policy or Lose Your Speakers
In preparation for adding Alexa-powered smart speaker features, sound system manufacturer Sonos is about to start collecting audio settings, error data, and other account data. Sonos has updated its privacy policy, and if users don’t agree to it, they won’t be able to update the Sonos software, and their speakers may cease to function in the future. Users will be able to opt out of some data collection, but not all. The Electronic Frontier Foundation and other privacy-oriented groups are both crying foul and warning that this is an increasing problem with Internet-connected devices. Sonos’s move seems particularly shortsighted in light of Apple’s forthcoming HomePod.