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World Congress 2026 Europe • Jul 10, 2026 • Session details

The Sound of Privacy – What Your Spotify Data Reveals About You

Dennis Schulz , Thomas Hugle

Think Spotify only reveals your taste in music? Discover how hidden app metadata exposes your exact physical locations, daily routines, and intimate life changes.

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#1 about 4 min

Requesting personal data through European privacy regulations

Three specific rights granted by the GDPR force companies to provide accessible and portable user data.

#2 about 2 min

Navigating the data request and download process

The procedure for exporting user information includes triggering a privacy portal request and downloading categorized archives.

#3 about 2 min

Extracting basic patterns from account listening history

Standard user account tables reveal track history, playlist updates, and skipped media over short recent timeframes.

#4 about 2 min

Exposing sensitive information through partial search logs

Stored keystroke data reveals search habits and potentially leaks accidentally typed passwords.

#5 about 4 min

Uncovering hidden behavioral metrics in extended histories

The extended metadata logs expose long-term histories including network locations, offline behavior, and incognito sessions.

#6 about 3 min

Reconstructing device ownership and hardware lifecycles

Client platform metadata allows analysts to trace a timeline of primary smartphones, media players, and operating systems.

#7 about 2 min

Detecting account sharing via distinct usage behaviors

Comparing track skip ratios across different connected devices highlights when multiple people share a single profile.

#8 about 3 min

Inferring critical hardware failures from usage timelines

Identifying rapid regressions to older mobile devices indicates unexpected hardware damage or replacement periods.

#9 about 3 min

Mapping sleep cycles and lifestyle changes over time

Aggregating playback activity against daily hours reveals shifting work routines, sleep disruptions, and pandemic lockdowns.

#10 about 3 min

Tracking daily locations through linked network addresses

Geolocating frequent IP networks correlates habits with strict university or workplace schedules and stressful deadlines.

#11 about 3 min

Constructing comprehensive international travel chronologies from metadata

Analyzing country codes and distinct provider addresses constructs a detailed matrix of past vacations and global movement.

#12 about 4 min

Evaluating the accuracy of corporate behavioral profiling

Extracted audience segmentation flags demonstrate how platforms attempt to predict user preferences and personal social behaviors.

Matching moments

1:00 min

Tesla sensors and Spotify dance move analysis

Andrew MacLean Andrew MacLean +2 · LIVE

2:53 min

Real world case studies of model privacy failures

Aditi Godbole · LIVE

3:44 min

Identifying recommendation loops and algorithmic bias in music

Emily Wright Emily Wright · Europe 2026 Virtual

2:12 min

Navigating data regulations and the future of mobility

Tonci Zilic · World Congress 2022

55 sec

Exploitation of data in the information revolution

Phil Bennett · World Congress 2021

2:42 min

Privacy trade-offs in smart home devices

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