SiriusXM

Is SiriusXM safe?

The SiriusXM app is safe to use for listening. It has no user uploads, no messaging and no known breach, and you can sign in with a passkeyPasskeyA way to sign in without a password. Your device holds a key tied to one website or app and unlocks it with your fingerprint, face or PIN.More in the glossary. We score it 55/100, below Pandora (58), which belongs to the same company, and Spotify (57).

The risks are to your wallet and your data. A New York court has found that SiriusXM made cancelling unlawfully hard, and its privacy policy allows data about your car and your precise location to go to advertising partners.

The cancellation case

New York's attorney general sued SiriusXM in December 2023 after hundreds of customers complained they could not cancel. The office's investigation found that agents followed a six-part script, pitched up to five retention offers and were trained not to take "no" for an answer. One chat log showed a customer kept for 40 minutes while asking to cancel, and still being charged afterwards.

In November 2024 Justice Lyle Frank of the New York Supreme Court ruled that this broke the federal Restore Online Shoppers' Confidence Act, which requires a simple way to cancel subscriptions sold online. He dismissed the other four claims, including those under New York law, and SiriusXM stresses that the court found no deception. On 6 November 2025 the Appellate Division affirmed the ruling on all counts, describing SiriusXM's "multi-tiered script, multiple save offers, and pressure tactics" as not simple, convenient or even straightforward.

On 1 April 2026 the court barred SiriusXM from using that kind of cancellation process for New York customers and ordered it to account for online subscribers from 2019 to November 2024, so restitution can be calculated. The attorney general has also won leave to take one question to New York's highest court: whether relief can cover customers outside the state.

SiriusXM says New Yorkers who buy online have been able to cancel online since 27 November 2024. Elsewhere, its customer agreement still says subscriptions bought directly are cancelled by phone or online chat, with an online option for app-only streaming plans.

Your car, your location and ads

The App Store label is fairly short. It lists identifiers and usage data as used to track you, and contact info, user content, search history, identifiers, usage data and diagnostics as linked to you.

The privacy policy, shared with Pandora and effective March 2026, is broader. In its list of data that may be sold or shared for targeted advertising, it includes vehicle data: your VIN, make, model and year, ignition times, odometer readings and data usage. Precise location, defined as within 1,750 feet, can also go to ad and analytics partners where state law allows. SiriusXM also builds inferences from your listening and demographics for marketing. Because the policy discloses far more than the label, we score privacy on the policy.

SiriusXM says it does not sell data "for profit", but accepts that some of its ad sharing may meet the legal definition of a sale. It does not sell or share data for targeted ads about users it knows are under 18. The connected-car safety services run by its affiliate SiriusXM Connect are not covered by this policy.

Sign-in and security

SiriusXM has moved away from passwords. Its help centre says you can sign in with a passkeyPasskeyA way to sign in without a password. Your device holds a key tied to one website or app and unlocks it with your fingerprint, face or PIN.More in the glossary, using your fingerprint, face or screen lock, or with a one-time code sent by email or text, and that a password is optional, though some connected devices still need one. A passkey cannot be phished the way a password can.

We found no SiriusXM breach in California's breach register or Have I Been Pwned, and no public bug bounty. One oddity: SiriusXM's Google Play listing says data is not encrypted in transit. That may be a form error, but it is SiriusXM's own declaration.

Content and age limits

Everything on SiriusXM is professionally produced: music channels, talk, sports, news and podcasts. Nobody can message you or post content in the app. Some talk and comedy channels are explicit, and the App Store rates the app 18+ for frequent profanity and infrequent sexual and drug-related content. That matches the customer agreement, which requires you to be 18 to buy a subscription.

How to use SiriusXM more safely

1. Set up a passkeyPasskeyA way to sign in without a password. Your device holds a key tied to one website or app and unlocks it with your fingerprint, face or PIN.More in the glossary instead of a password.
2. Opt out of the sale or sharing of your data through the Your Privacy Choices link in the siriusxm.com footer.
3. Turn off location access for the app in your phone settings.
4. Before a free trial in a new car ends, decide whether you want a paid plan, and cancel at least 24 hours before renewal if you do not.
5. Check your statement for the U.S. Music Royalty Fee, which is added to plans with music channels.

How we scored it

Scams and harmful content (80) is SiriusXM's strongest factor, as there are no user uploads or messages and the age rating matches the terms. Privacy (38) is the weakest, because the policy lets vehicle data and precise location go to ad partners. The regulatory record (55) reflects the New York court order over cancellations, upheld on appeal, with restitution still pending.