Microsoft Sends Mixed Messages on Xbox One Kinect Privacy

[exfileme]

Microsoft may or may not sell your personal data to third-party advertisers.

Microsoft Sends Mixed Messages on Xbox One Kinect Privacy : Read more

 

[clonazepam]

A couple guys sitting around at a NSA office... "heh that guy just farted, look at his face" (a second later) "oh damn his wife's leaving the room!"

 

[jhansonxi]

There is value in the data. Nielsen ratings are the currency of advertisers but they have many limitations:
http/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nielsen_ratings#Criticism_of_ratings_systems

I suspect that many Xbox One owners will simply cover Kinect up.

 

[irish_adam]

People need to stop trying to blow kinect up into a big privacy invasion. They wont be recording you which is what everyone seems to be trying to scare you into thinking. I mean can you imagin the bandwidth that would take up for starters? let alone storage of all that footage.

I mean even if the NSA did make themselves a back door so they could spy on xbox users, what would be the point? do you know the man power needed to spy on those millions of users? unless you're some kind of international arms dealer/terrorist what makes you think they give a shit about watching you wank off to tomb raider?

 

[ubercake]

Most people that complain about this will also rant on their facebook page about it while group texting their friends on the android phone (google). All of these are sources by which they voluntarily give out personal info. Even if you think it's private, Google or facebook is selling the info (you have to read the fine print). Google is an information collection engine. All of those free services (ie phone navi through Google maps) are at the expense of your information being sold.

It sounds like they will be selling certain information to third parties just as any game company does on a PC or console when you check the 'accept' button on install.

 

[clonazepam]

I'm not a buyer, but I imagined putting tape over the camera if it had to be plugged in. I still don't understand how any of them could think an always on camera in the living room isn't creepy.

 

[clonazepam]

I agree with everything you've said ubercake, I'm having fun with all the conspiracy.

 

[clonazepam]

I agree with everything you've said ubercake, I'm having fun with all the conspiracy.

 

[SteelCity1981]

there was no reason why the Kinect should be always plugged in unless it was for monitoring purposes. the fact that ms gave a reason for the Kinect always having to be plugged in at first was nothing more then a bunch of bull. So fo ms can actually that ms could come out with an xbox one model with no Kinect and drop the xbox one price by 100 dollars, because lets face it not every has the room to use the Kinect and furthermore only certain types of games work with the Kinect while others are much more suited for a controller.

 

[Ryan Klug]

There's no mixed message from Microsoft to XBox users: "Don't use Kinect"

 

[jkflipflop98]

It's amazing how bad Microsoft has handled the XBone from start to finish. It's like they designed it specifically to screw the consumer out of money first and foremost - oh and by the way, it plays games too!

 

[nikolajj]

I can't really see why people care at all. For both the reasons that ubercake commented, and because if for example the NSA have no reason to check up on you, why should they? And IF they did anyway, do you have something to hide, that would make them stay?

 

[kinggraves]

Of course it's going to spy on you. Of course they aren't going to admit it. They didn't tell you before they sold your skype info to the government either. They only need to secure the initial sale. What are you going to do if next year it updates to being always on, return it? Have fun with your $50 trade in at Gamestop. Privacy is something that many people overprotect, the government doesn't care if the average person picks their nose and if that info is sold to advertisers you'll only have more ads targeted to your nosepicking tastes. That doesn't mean that people who DO need to protect their security shouldn't approach these types of devices cautiously. People who are concerned with security are not just limited to "criminals and terrorists". The government decides who is a criminal and a terrorist, and those criminal offenses could include unpaid parking tickets or civil disobedience. Anyone who disagrees with society or the government can be classified a potential terrorist. The police cannot invade your home without a warrant for good reason, so why would you want to install Uncle Sam's eye in your living room?

 

[ubercake]

No one has a problem with their cell phone's camera staring them in the face all day either (oh yeah... and these also have microphones on them). No problems or complaints there even though this affects you almost everywhere and not just in your living room. The government can take any of the phone's data any time.

Additionally, has anyone seen a laptop these days sold without a built-in camera? Why is everyone not hating on laptops no matter what OS is involved? We hear stories of hackers taking control of these cameras and shooting pics and video without the indicator light even coming on. You don't think government agencies would take advantage of these hacks themselves if they needed info on you?

Further, I wonder when anyone has truly read a privacy agreement that goes along with one of the free games they play that they check the 'agree' button for full system control or even camera control? But oh golly... A camera in a living room that will be even less intrusive than the phone will be chastized. And again the same people complaining are posting their weekend party pics on Facebook or Tweeting about last night's bender.

At least Xbox will let you know whether it's doing this or not. Right now, it's speculation at best. We could say the same thing for Sony whose camera Eye you don't need because it truly offers little to no functionality other than for video chats.

Plus with Sony... Does anyone remember how many times Sony's customer DBs have been hacked where they tried to cover up the fact for days before being forced to let anyone know. Talk about your information being leaked not just to corporations, but leaked and sold all over the internet's black market. Does anyone remember how hackers basically continued to pummel Sony's databases and web sites because they were mad about so much information being leaked and because of the sheer amount of info leaked it drove the price of that information down on the black market? Or the PSN being down for days at a time because of the pummeling? I wouldn't put my trust in the PSN.

We can speculate all we want to here, but I'm going to say if you start reading agreements for all the free apps you use on your phone, tablet or PC, you're going to see you're giving out way more information than you even anticipated, though certain people will continue to have anti-MS agendas and do all they can to discredit everything they're doing. Don't get me wrong... I hate Windows 8 Metro interface on the PC as much as the next guy, but the Xbox One seems like it has a lot to offer from a console standpoint (including Kinect functionality) outside of a simple gaming graphics upgrade which seems to be the Sony PS4's only benefit.

 

[fykusfire]

Fuck you Microsoft, you are slime.