Cast your mind back to May 2018. Your inbox was probably drowning under a near-endless stream of amended privacy policies from every service you have ever signed up for.

It was all part of the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) policy which forced companies to give their customers much more control over the personal data they have collected.

As part of the reforms, Spotify introduced a new privacy tool. It allows you to download and view all the data that Spotify holds on you. Let's look at how it works.

How to Download Your Privacy Data From Spotify

To download your data from Spotify, you will need to head to your account portal using a web browser. You cannot do it through the desktop or mobile apps.

  1. Go to spotify.com/us/account and enter your login credentials.
  2. In the menu on the left-hand side of the screen, click on Privacy settings.
  3. Scroll down to the Download your data section.
  4. Go to Step 1 > Request. You will probably have to complete a captcha.
  5. You will receive an on-screen notification saying Spotify is processing your data. It could take up to 30 days.
  6. When the processing is complete, you will receive an email.
  7. After seeing the email, return to Privacy settings; you will now have access to Step 3.
  8. Click on Download.

There are a couple of other settings worth noting in the Privacy section of your account portal:

  • Facebook data: You can choose whether Spotify can process the Facebook data you share with the company. This setting is beneficial for people who use Facebook credentials to log into their account.
  • Tailored ads: If you use the free version of Spotify, this setting prevents Spotify from sharing your data with third-party ad companies.

Of course, you won't need to worry about tailored ads if you upgrade to Spotify Premium. If you're thinking about forking out, check out our guide to the Spotify Premium service before opening your wallet.