Sonos account now required just to add a speaker?!

An account was required back in 2013, when I bought my first Sonos product, and has been down to the present day. Nothing new and, therefore, nothing particularly remarkable.

1) You have always been required to register to a Sonos account.

2) The reason you need to specify the account when adding new devices is for your security, due to Sonos being more open to the internet.

3) There are no "essential connections" to any service. Alexa, Spotify, etc. are completely voluntary, and you have to add them yourself, they are not defaults.

4) You can turn off the majority of data collection (Sonos does need some for diagnostics) by following these directions:

Sonos for iOS or Android:

From the Sonos music menu, tap Settings.
Tap Advanced Settings.
Tap Usage Data then Turn off Usage Data Sharing.


Sonos for PC/Mac:

From the menu bar at the top of your screen click Sonos then Preferences.
On the left side of the window, click Advanced.
Click Improve Sonos.
Check the box that reads Turn usage data sharing off.

Thank you for your reply jgatie, and I trust you'll know that my annoyance on this theme isn't with you, it's with Sonos.


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4) You can turn off the majority of data collection (Sonos does need some for diagnostics) (....)
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I don't want to turn off just "the majority" of any data that Sonos might collect, and unless and until my Sonos system goes faulty, there is no reason - or there should be no reason - for Sonos to retrieve any so-called diagnostic data from my system.

Yes, if I am fully informed about what that data comprises then I am very likely to give my consent to some of it, but my default response to this option is 'No', and I should be given an absolute yes/no choice.

Can you or anyone outside of Sonos define what that 'diagnostic data' is?
(Of course that's a rhetorical question because I don't expect you actually to know the answer jgatie.)

Does Sonos tell anyone what information they glean from our use of our systems?

I do not presume that Sonos will ever use the data from my system in any sinister or bad way. I stand on the principle that 'privacy' is not divisible or conditional. If we can't control our personal privacy 100% then we don't have privacy at all.

If I want to grant visibility of any aspect of my life to anyone - however trivial that visibility might seem to some people - then I should be invited to negotiate on the details. It's a blindingly simple concept, yet we've been slowly 'persuaded' that real 'privacy' is impossible or that it's somehow beyond our reach.

In an earlier era I had no reason at all to mistrust Microsoft. Now that trust has totally evaporated.
My trust in Sonos hasn't gone completely yet, but it's fading for sure.

Colin P.

Yes, Sonos tells everyone what information they glean from our systems. So, no need for the rhetorical, I can (as can anyone) read the answers you seek right in Sonos' very detailed Privacy Policy:

https://www.sonos.com/en-us/legal/privacy

Functional data (cannot opt out)

Registration data:

This data includes your email address, location, language preference, Product serial number, IP address, and Sonos account login information (as described above).

System data:

This data includes things like product type, controller device type, operating system of controller, software version information, content source (audio line in), signal input (for example, whether your TV outputs a specific audio signal such as Dolby to your Sonos system), information about wifi antennas, audio settings (such as equalization or stereo pair), Product orientation, room names you have assigned to your Sonos Product, whether your product has been tuned using Sonos Trueplay technology, and error information.

Additional Usage Data (can opt out)

Performance Information:

This includes things like temperature of your Product, Wi-Fi information such as signal strength, what music services you have connected to your Sonos system (including, for some services, your login username – but not password – for such service), information about how often you use the Sonos app versus another control mechanism, flow of interactions within the Sonos app, how often you use the physical controls on the unit, and location data when the Sonos app is in use, and duration of Sonos Product use.

Activity Information:

This includes duration of music service use, Product or room grouping information; command information such as play, pause, change volume, or skip tracks; information about track, playlist, or station container data; and Sonos playlist or Sonos favorites information; each correlated to individual Sonos Products.

There is also Audio Data like Trueplay and Alexa commands, but they are not stored, only processed. Both are also voluntary.

Audio Data
Sonos is not continuously recording sound in your home. There are two times when we will record sound from within your home: (1) when you enable voice control technology on a voice enabled Sonos Product; and (2) when you utilize our innovative Trueplay room tuning technology.

Voice control. Voice control works by your voice enabled Sonos Product “listening” for a specific wake word. Please note that not all Sonos Products are voice enabled. At the most detailed level, this means that the voice enabled Sonos Product buffers and re-records locally, without transmitting or storing any information, until it detects the word or phrase that triggers the device to begin actively recording. If the Product does not detect the wake word, it continues to record over itself in a never ending loop lasting just a few seconds. This is all done locally on your Product and is not sent to Sonos or any third party. If a wake word is detected, the Product begins recording. In other words, it does not record or retain any audio data, or begin to transmit any data until it is “woken up.” You are notified that it is recording by a visual indicator such as a light on the Product. The Product will record until you are finished with your voice command. The actual recording of your voice command is then sent to the voice partner you have authorized to receive such recording (for example, Amazon). Sonos does not retain a copy of your voice recording. Concurrent with the voice recording, your Product will collect data (for example, decibel level at each frequency) about the ambient noise in the room. It is not possible to extract any speech from this type of data. We collect this data to help us improve our speech recognition technology. For example, if you are trying to state a voice command while music is playing, Sonos may improve the technology by lowering the music so that your voice command can be properly understood.

Trueplay room tuning. Our innovative Trueplay speaker tuning technology analyses room size, layout, décor, speaker placement, and any other acoustic factors that can impact sound quality. Then it perfectly adjusts how your Sonos Product produces sound. In order to do this, a user goes through an interactive process (watch the video here) that gathers certain data about your room including information about background noise levels (for example decibel level at each frequency). This information is used to help make sure that the tuning gives you the best outcome possible. For example, if your dog barks during the Trueplay testing, the Product knows to ignore the background noise of a barking dog during the testing.

Creating a Sonos account and linking your system to protects your system and data with a username and password, linked through an email verification step. This is designed to facilitate seamless integration with cloud services that we use like Amazon Alexa, Spotify, and Deezer. Additionally, it has been necessary to create a Sonos account in the past in order to utilize cloud services such as Amazon Alexa or Spotify Direct Control when those features were introduced. We've also required creating a Sonos account when adding a new device to your system or registering a new system, as of last year.

At this point, we felt it was a reasonable precaution that all Sonos customers should take. The idea is to make sure that every Sonos user is ready to go when if they ever wanted to use one of these (and/or other future) services.

If you are currently opted-out of marketing communications, you will remain opted-out after creating your account and we will never sell your information to third parties. Ever.

Have any specific questions about our privacy policy or how we use your data? Check out our privacy policy for a full list of information we gather, and how that information is used. (jgatie did a great job giving the cliff notes.) There are some great answers to many of your questions here on the FAQ of the Privacy Policy here.

Any other questions, please feel free to reach out to our team and we'll be happy to chat.

Yes, Sonos tells everyone what information they glean from our systems. So, no need for the rhetorical, I can (as can anyone) read the answers you seek right in Sonos' very detailed Privacy Policy:
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Thank you jgatie for your impressively long reply, although really your reminder about the policies and a link to them would have been plenty ... but yes, you've made your point strongly enough.

TL;DR

I can say with 100% certainty that I had already read every word of that privacy policy (you may guess that I make a point of reading privacy policies) but I can say with equal certainty that I had rapidly forgotten most of the specifics.

The major point that had stuck in my memory (and which I think about each time I re-arrange my Play 3s or switch the audio inputs on my Sonos Connect) was that we cannot opt-out of feeding back to Sonos our System Data plus certain aspects of how our network components are connected.

Yes, to many folks these may be minor niggling points, but to Sonos Users like me (and I'm clearly not alone) - especially to those of us with a technical background who strive for maximum security on our home networks - they're not insignificant points.

As Sonos Users we've always known there would be - beyond our control - certain open (Sonos) network ports (although they sit safely behind our NAT routers) and some types of (Sonos) data flow on our networks. These networking details can be easily tolerated as long as we enjoy the trust and good-will of Sonos as a system designer/provider.

However, this trust is fragile (IMO) and it has been dented by Sonos's decision to make our use of our own, long established, perfectly functional hardware conditional upon us "signing in" unnecessarily (IMO) to an 'account'.

This retort is already too long. I'll be happy to say no more on this.
Pax.
Colin P.

Have any specific questions about our privacy policy or how we use your data? Check out our privacy policy for a full list of information we gather, and how that information is used.
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Any other questions, please feel free to reach out to our team and we'll be happy to chat.
Thank you Keith for your reassurances. I'll try to avoid unwarranted worries, but I admit I'm still simmering a little.
(jgatie did a great job giving the cliff notes.
Yes ... Touché !

Colin P.

Once again, your Sonos units have always been registered to an account. You could not have set up Sonos without one. The only change is that you must now enter that account info when you connect a new device. THIS IS FOR YOUR PROTECTION!!! It has nothing to do with Sonos collecting data, and everything to do with Sonos preventing someone from connecting to your system from the outside. .

Hi,

As mentioned in the thread before this is "poor form" by Sonos. I have no intention of buying or using any online services, so preparing for that is just a pain. Opening up for Alexa and other voice command services is just one huge security risk, which I absolutely do not want.

I expect my system to work offline and also to continue functioning in the future, regardless of whether Sonos changes their services, services become temporarily unavailable or Sonos goes bankrupt.

I am NOT, I repeat: NOT, interested in the tie in that Sonos is now doing.

I will not be purchasing any more Sonos products and I will continue to dissuade any potential buyers I come across to warn them that this tie in will lock them in and there is a big risk that their equipment will become unusable in the future.

There are countless examples of services that have been discontinued by their companies willingly or through bankrupcy that make the equipment unusable. This is NOT HOW YOU CREATE LOYAL CUSTOMERS.

Hi,

As mentioned in the thread before this is "poor form" by Sonos. I have no intention of buying or using any online services, so preparing for that is just a pain. Opening up for Alexa and other voice command services is just one huge security risk, which I absolutely do not want.


It's understandable that you don't want to use online services and Alexa. I respect those who don't want to do that for security reasons. However, as mentioned already, asking for an account signin when you add a new speaker is for security reasons. The account itself is needed for onlines services yes, but that is not why the account is asked for when adding a speaker.


I expect my system to work offline and also to continue functioning in the future, regardless of whether Sonos changes their services, services become temporarily unavailable or Sonos goes bankrupt.


And that is mostly true. You do not have to upgrade and continue functioning as you are. However, Sonos doesn't support previous releases of their free software and doesn't allow you add new speakers without first upgrading to the current version.

(I don't think bankruptcy should be much of a concern. Sonos has enough market coverage that they surely would be bought out before bankruptcy)


I am NOT, I repeat: NOT, interested in the tie in that Sonos is now doing.

I will not be purchasing any more Sonos products and I will continue to dissuade any potential buyers I come across to warn them that this tie in will lock them in and there is a big risk that their equipment will become unusable in the future.


I get that you don't like how Sonos operates and your obviously free to dissuade whoever you want. I'm not seeing how Sonos locks in their customers. By asking you to setup an account? There are no contracts to sign, no requirement to make future purchases, and you can stop using or sell your speakers at any time.

As far as unusable in the future, there has been one Sonos device that is now unusable on the current version, and it had a rather long life. If you assume the same happens for all the other units, yes there is a risk that your speaker will be unusable 10+ year from now or greater. But it is networked computer equipment that comes with free software. Should there really expectation that you'll be able to pass the speakers down to generations to come?


There are countless examples of services that have been discontinued by their companies willingly or through bankrupcy that make the equipment unusable. This is NOT HOW YOU CREATE LOYAL CUSTOMERS.

Yes, there are. Which is why I think it's a good idea to avoid some of Sonos competitors that have yet to establish on strong track record, or lack the backing of a large company...at least without understanding the risk you're taking.

As far as creating loyal customers, it's pretty clear that Sonos has a ton of loyal customers given how long they've been in business, how many millions they've sold to, and how many of their customers are repeat customers. Sure, they won't continue to appeal to the customers that want nothing to change, no services, no accounts, nothing. However, I can't imagine they would stay in business if they did not change and grow.