Apple Music

Is Apple Music safe?

Yes. Apple Music is a paid, ad-free catalogue of licensed music behind an Apple Account, and that combination removes most of what goes wrong in other streaming apps. Apple's App Store label shows no data used to track you across other companies' apps, the Android version shares no data with third parties, and we found no breach. We score it 78/100, well above Spotify (57) and a little below Apple's own Shazam (82).

The points against it are smaller ones: Apple keeps a detailed record of your listening for its own marketing, keeps it for up to two years after you cancel, and makes social profiles public by default.

What Apple collects when you listen

Apple's Apple Music privacy page is unusually specific. Each time you play a song, Apple notes the account, IP address, device or car interface, where in the app you started it, the time and how long you listened. It uses this for recommendations, city charts and search results, to pay royalties, to catch fraud and to send emails and notifications about new releases. Your listening history, library, playlists and searches are kept while you subscribe and "for up to two years following account cancellation".

The App Store label matches that. There is no "Data Used to Track You" section. Data linked to you includes purchases, payment info, coarse location, contact details, photos and audio you add, search history, identifiers and usage data. Purchase history, email, user and device IDs, product interaction and advertising data are listed for "Developer's Advertising or Marketing", meaning Apple's promotion of its own services, not third-party ads.

Two flows go outside Apple. Record labels, publishers and artists receive aggregated data, including age group and gender that Apple may infer from your name and salutation. And chart compilers and music marketing platforms receive aggregated listening activity. When you subscribe through a mobile network, Apple shares limited personal data with that carrier.

One more detail is easy to miss: when you buy something, Apple computes a "device trust score" from how you use your phone, including the approximate number of calls and emails you send and receive. Apple says the calculation is designed so it cannot see the real values.

Profiles and sharing

Apple Music's social features are opt-in, but once you create a profile the defaults lean open. Your handle, display name, photo, followers and the people you follow are visible to everyone. You can restrict who sees your playlists and listening, block a user from their profile page, and turn off "Allow Finding by Apple Account" so people with your email or number in their contacts cannot find you.

For friend suggestions, Apple says only shortened, encrypted hashes of your contacts' numbers and emails leave the phone, and the matching happens on the device. Collaborative playlists and SharePlay show participants' names and photos to everyone in the playlist or session, so think before you approve a link-join from someone you do not know.

Accounts and security

Apple Music uses your Apple Account. Two-factor authenticationTwo-factor authenticationSigning in with a second proof of identity on top of your password, such as a code from an app, a security key or a passkey.More in the glossary is the default security method for most Apple Accounts, so a stolen password alone is not enough to get in. Apple runs one of the larger bug bounties, with a headline maximum of $2 million. We found no breach of Apple Music data. Apple does not describe your cloud library or listening history as end-to-end encryptedEnd-to-end encryptionEncryption in which only the sender and the recipient can read a message. The company running the service cannot see its content.More in the glossary, which is normal for streaming services: Apple needs that data to recommend music and pay royalties.

Children and explicit content

The catalogue is licensed, so there are no uploads and no private chat for a stranger to exploit. The App Store rates the app 13+ because of lyrics. With Family Sharing and a child account, parents can set Content & Privacy Restrictions to limit music by rating, and Apple says sharing and posting in Apple Music are not available to child accounts.

The EU fine and the Texas inquiry

In March 2024 the European Commission fined Apple over €1.8 billion. It found that App Store rules banned Spotify and other music streaming apps from telling iPhone users about cheaper subscriptions outside the app, which likely led many users to pay more. Apple appealed to the EU General Court in May 2024. The decision is about the App Store's treatment of rival apps, and it does not name Apple Music as the infringing product, so we count it as context rather than a fine on this app.

In April 2026 the Texas Attorney General sent civil investigative demands to Apple Music, Spotify and three other services about possible undisclosed payments for playlist placement. That is an open inquiry with no finding, and no regulator has finished a review of Apple Music, so its regulatory record is 82: 85 with three points off for the inquiry.

How we scored it

Scams and harmful content (85) is the strongest factor, with licensed music and no messaging, followed by the regulatory record (82): no fine names the app, but the Texas inquiry is open. Security (80) reflects default two-factorTwo-factor authenticationSigning in with a second proof of identity on top of your password, such as a code from an app, a security key or a passkey.More in the glossary login and Apple's bounty. Privacy (74) is held back by detailed listening records used for Apple's own marketing and kept two years after you leave, and transparency and control (74) by profiles that are public by default.