- Spotify recently introduced a new Messages feature that connects users via past song shares and activities.
- These connections can expose user identities through trackable URLs shared previously, including with strangers.
- You can opt out of the Messages feature in your app settings or remove the tracking parameters from URLs before sharing them.
Spotify recently announced a new Messages feature, adding a layer of communication and social discovery to the music streaming app. Spotify Messages is rolling out to Spotify Free and Premium users aged 16 years and older in select markets on mobile devices. If the feature has already rolled out to you, there is some fine print that you should be aware of, lest you unintentionally expose your identity when you don’t mean to.
Reddit user sporoni122 spotted a few “suggested friends” under Spotify Messages that they did not recognize. The user then realized that these were people with whom they had shared music on Spotify in the past. This wasn’t an issue in the past, as the music streaming app had no element of direct social interaction. But now, anyone they have shared music with, including strangers on the internet through Discord or other pseudonymous platforms, can trace them back to the user, see their profile photo and name, and potentially message them.