A new website called Panama Playlists has exposed the public music libraries of politicians and tech leaders, highlighting a significant Spotify privacy leak by scraping data that is public by default.
Exposing Public Music Tastes
The site’s anonymous creator launched Panama Playlists to reveal the hidden music tastes of public figures. The creator claims they located the real Spotify accounts of these individuals, many of whom use their real names on the platform.
“I found the real Spotify accounts of celebrities, politicians and journalists,” the creator stated. “With a little sleuthing, I could say with near-certainty: yep, this is them.” The site notes this data collection involved no hacking and used only publicly available information.
The project gathered data for over a year, beginning in the summer of 2024. “I’ve been scraping their playlists for over a year. Some individuals even have a setting enabled that displays their last played song,” the creator explained.
Panama Playlists Politician Music Revealed
The website details several specific findings, including Vice President JD Vance’s “Making Dinner” playlist which features “I Want It That Way” by the Backstreet Boys. Another of the Vice President’s playlists includes music from One Direction and Death Cab for Cutie.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt’s “Baby Shower” playlist, which included Beyoncé’s “Run the World (Girls),” corresponded with the timing of her actual baby shower.
Other revealed tastes include former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi’s appreciation for Nelly’s “Hot In Herre” and the Florida governor’s playlist featuring Johnny Cash and Billy Joel.
A Wider Issue of Music Taste Data Privacy
This incident underscores a broader issue with music taste data privacy, where personal information is often left public by default.
Small details like music choices can be combined with other open-source data to create comprehensive profiles of an individual’s habits and interests.
The creator framed the project as a playful demonstration of how much personal information is readily available. The leak occurred not from a security breach but because the platform’s settings leave user data doors “wide open.“
How to Make Spotify Playlists Private
Users concerned about their privacy should review their settings on services like Spotify, Apple Music, and YouTube Music.
It is important to note there is no global setting to make all playlists private simultaneously; each must be changed individually.
Experts advise turning off public defaults for playlists and revoking access for third-party apps that are no longer in use. Regularly checking privacy settings is recommended, as they can change over time.
