Spotify has updated its privacy policy

Spotify has updated its privacy policy, and the changes are seriously bad news for those worried about corporate snooping.

From tracking your movements (including how fast you're walking) to sticking its nose into your contacts book and photo albums, the music streaming service is becoming the digital world's untrusting, jealous spouse.

Sadly, if you want to continue making use of the Apple Music rival, there's not a lot you can do - you're going to have to sign your life away.

For its part, Spotify has claimed the privacy update is simply a means to "provide, personalise and improve your experience". But take a look at some of the things Spotify wants to monitor and decide for yourself...

Your contacts, photos and files

"With your permission, we may collect information stored on your mobile device, such as contacts, photos, or media files. Local law may require that you seek the consent of your contacts to provide their personal information to Spotify, which may use that information for the purposes specified in this Privacy Policy."

Your whereabouts

"Depending on the type of device that you use to interact with the Service and your settings, we may also collect information about your location based on, for example, your phone's GPS location or other forms of locating mobile devices (e.g., Bluetooth). We may also collect sensor data (e.g., data about the speed of your movements, such as whether you are running, walking, or in transit)."

Your Facebook activity

"You may integrate your Spotify account with Third Party Applications. If you do, we may receive similar information related to your interactions with the Service on the Third Party Application, as well as information about your publicly available activity on the Third Party Application. This includes, for example, your "Like"s and posts on Facebook."

Defending its move in a statement sent to Gizmodo, the steaming service said: "Spotify is constantly innovating and evolving its service to deliver the best possible experience for our users. This means delivering the perfect recommendations for every moment, and helping you to enjoy, discover and share more music than ever before."

The company added: "The data accessed simply helps us to tailor improved experiences to our users, and build new and personalised products for the future. Recent new features include Spotify Running, which matches the BPM of your music to the pace of your run, or the new Discover Weekly feature, which curates a weekly playlist based on your tastes."

While many will undoubtedly skip to the 'Agree' checkbox at the bottom of the revised Ts&Cs without so much as glancing at the words, with this update we'd advise reading every line carefully before agreeing to be so deeply snooped on.