Hi @whatever111
Welcome to the Sonos Community!
Location permissions are required in order to gain access to nearby WiFi names and devices. We do not use or store the location, but we do use and store WiFi access point SSIDs (Service Set IDentifier). These SSIDs are stored on the phone itself in the app’s own data store, and nowhere else. So, we are not collecting the location in terms of latitude and longitude, but we are using the permission in order for our products to function correctly, or indeed at all.
I hope this helps.
That’s not a good enough answer. You could just let people select/enter the wifi network name manually. In this day and age it is invasive to ask for precise location when it can be easily avoided.
That’s not a good enough answer. You could just let people select/enter the wifi network name manually. In this day and age it is invasive to ask for precise location when it can be easily avoided.
It is the operating system that enforces this when an app makes certain Wifi-related API calls, Sonos don’t have a choice.
If you are going to blame anyone, blame Google, they were the first to correlate wifi networks to location data, years ago.
what a lame excuse , precise location to collect ssid ? seriously? what about local network access? i am entering my wifi name and password. what else do you need? are you sharing ssid with any third parties?
the last app update just ruined my whole sonos experience and it cannot find my devices anymore even if i enable local network access. what a freaking joke! what a waste of money!
When Sonos says “We do not use or store the location” how could they share it? If you do not trust this, why did you buy Sonos?
Your location is used to detect your nearby speakers for setup and/or to auto-populate your geographic location for deciding which radio stations are local and which music services you are eligible for. As stated, precise location is not stored nor shared, it is simply part of the OS request. The requirement has been in place for years and must’ve been agreed to in the past or you could not have setup/updated Sonos.
If one would bother to read Sonos’ privacy policy instead of going full tin-foil-hat, one would be able to see this. Truly much ado about nothing.
https://support.sonos.com/en-us/article/sonos-app-permissions
https://www.sonos.com/en-us/legal/privacy
Your location is used to detect your nearby speakers for setup and/or to auto-populate your geographic location for deciding which radio stations are local and which music services you are eligible for. As stated, precise location is not stored nor shared, it is simply part of the OS request. The requirement has been in place for years and must’ve been agreed to in the past or you could not have setup/updated Sonos.
If one would bother to read Sonos’ privacy policy instead of going full tin-foil-hat, one would be able to see this. Truly much ado about nothing.
https://support.sonos.com/en-us/article/sonos-app-permissions
https://www.sonos.com/en-us/legal/privacy
just to be clear, we are on the same page and are talking about not general location, but very precise, gps based location, +/- 10-15 feet. not sure about android, but ios distinguishes between ‘location’ and ‘precise location’. i am ok with ‘location’, i am not ok with ‘precise location.’
let’s assume, i am setting up my first sonos , why to search for any other speakers? how the precise geo location is useful?
let’s assume this is my second sonos, isn’t what ‘add speaker or component’ supposed to do? to add a new sonos to the current setup, to the speakers that have already been found and are working?
radio stations, yeah, for that you do need an exact home address, with precision of 10-15 feet, not just general location. where i live, every neighborhood runs its own radio station, accessible via sonos.
privacy terms. i really don’t know what to say how much i trust every word corporations put in their privacy terms. you can google the most recent privacy f’ups. on the other hand, i don’t know if we should trust google too.
i sensed some criticism in your response why i am even raising this concern but that’s ok. you are doing excellent job helping other users on this forum. peace.
When Sonos says “We do not use or store the location” how could they share it? If you do not trust this, why did you buy Sonos?
We collect: your name, phone number, email address, location data, language preference, Product serial number, your password and IP address. Please note, your password is stored using one-way hash, which means that it cannot be recovered (or disclosed) by anyone, including Sonos.
Registration Data. This data includes your email address, location, language preference, Product serial number, IP address, and Sonos account login information (as described above).
Why we collect Functional Data: We collect this information to help ensure that your Sonos Products are working properly, to provide you with customer support and to honor your audio commands and preferences which is necessary for the performance of the contract we have with you. We also collect this information to guide product improvement and customer support decisions which is our legitimate interest.
https://www.sonos.com/en-us/legal/privacy#legal-privacy-2024-types-info-container
Hi @whatever111
Welcome to the Sonos Community!
Location permissions are required in order to gain access to nearby WiFi names and devices. We do not use or store the location, but we do use and store WiFi access point SSIDs (Service Set IDentifier). These SSIDs are stored on the phone itself in the app’s own data store, and nowhere else. So, we are not collecting the location in terms of latitude and longitude, but we are using the permission in order for our products to function correctly, or indeed at all.
I hope this helps.
your privacy policy literally says you collect location data.
Your location is used to detect your nearby speakers for setup and/or to auto-populate your geographic location for deciding which radio stations are local and which music services you are eligible for. As stated, precise location is not stored nor shared, it is simply part of the OS request. The requirement has been in place for years and must’ve been agreed to in the past or you could not have setup/updated Sonos.
If one would bother to read Sonos’ privacy policy instead of going full tin-foil-hat, one would be able to see this. Truly much ado about nothing.
https://support.sonos.com/en-us/article/sonos-app-permissions
https://www.sonos.com/en-us/legal/privacy
just to be clear, we are on the same page and are talking about not general location, but very precise, gps based location, +/- 10-15 feet. not sure about android, but ios distinguishes between ‘location’ and ‘precise location’. i am ok with ‘location’, i am not ok with ‘precise location.’
let’s assume, i am setting up my first sonos , why to search for any other speakers? how the precise geo location is useful?
let’s assume this is my second sonos, isn’t what ‘add speaker or component’ supposed to do? to add a new sonos to the current setup, to the speakers that have already been found and are working?
radio stations, yeah, for that you do need an exact home address, with precision of 10-15 feet, not just general location. where i live, every neighborhood runs its own radio station, accessible via sonos.
privacy terms. i really don’t know what to say how much i trust every word corporations put in their privacy terms. you can google the most recent privacy f’ups. on the other hand, i don’t know if we should trust google too.
i sensed some criticism in your response why i am even raising this concern but that’s ok. you are doing excellent job helping other users on this forum. peace.
I think you are making this into far, far more than it deserves. Maybe stick to apps that record your every move or listen in on conversations and never disclose they are doing it, rather than a company that explicitly states what data it collects and what they do with it. But you do you.
your privacy policy literally says you collect location data.
Collecting != saving.
Let’s be honest here. Yes, you are quoting the 2024 privacy policy. However, the 2023 policy was quite different. Regarding location, it said:
“your general geographic location as indicated by your IP address”
You can read the whole thing here: https://web.archive.org/web/20230320191328mp_/https://www.sonos.com/en-us/legal/privacy#legal-privacy-types-info-container
I get your frustration! The reason for asking for precise location is usually to optimize performance and troubleshoot issues, like network interference. It’s a bit much to ask for your exact house number, though. If you’re not comfortable, contact Sonos support to see if there's an option to skip that step or opt out. You should have control over your privacy!
I get your frustration! The reason for asking for precise location is usually to optimize performance and troubleshoot issues, like network interference. It’s a bit much to ask for your exact house number, though. If you’re not comfortable, contact Sonos support to see if there's an option to skip that step or opt out. You should have control over your privacy!
As far as I know, it doesn’t ask for your house number. The process is all automatic, and it uses location services within the mobile OS to determine location, which can be used to get exact location if Sonos so desired (which by their own admission, they do not, otherwise they would be storing it).
