Xbone to sell user's biometric data to advertisers.

[McMullen]

You know it's funny, but if I were to share information like this about my students, I'd be fired, expelled, and possibly charged with a felony.

It seems like everything that you can do to most efficiently destroy yourself in academia is not only allowed but expected in business.

 

[Guitarmasterx7]

What Microsoft is doing with the kinect is freaky. Even if it isn't harmful, it's still an uncomfortable thought. Also what happens if this thing gets hacked. We've seen it happen before with the PSN. It seems like it would be a huge target for that kind of thing.

 

[Amakusa]

Hmmm another reason to avoid the Xbone more or less it seems.

 

[RyQ_TMC]

MICROSOFT: Our new console will have these unpleasant features.

GAMERS: Rageragerageragerage! Never giving you our money again!

MICROSOFT: ... Also, there will be a new Halo.

GAMERS: Squeeeeeeeeeeee!!

*thousands die as victims of Xbone pre-order rush*

CAPTCHA: spick and span

And spurbulate, Captcha. Never forget spurbulate.

 

[Grouchy Imp_v1legacy]

Last week, Xbox director of product planning Albert Penello said this kind of biometric data does not leave the local Xbox One console unless people allow it to and that Kinect was not designed with advertising in mind.

There we go.

Is it dodgy that Microsoft want to collect this data from us? Yes. Will this data be used without our consent? No.

End of story.

Oh, but you will give consent. Several people have already stated exactly how they will get your consent. And you won't even know you gave your consent. It will be in the EULA that you have to agree to in order to use the system. You know it. It's about 53 pages long and you haven't read one all the way through in your entire life. It's going to be buried in that. Probably about halfway, so that it won't be too easy for anyone to find.

Of course, you'll be free to not sign the EULA. But you will, at the minimum, lose a lot of the system's features. At the worst, the system will be a brick.

So, yes, you will have to give them permission. But, in all likelihood, you won't even know that you did. Best case scenario, you would have to find the option to not give them permission. Which means you would have to know they were going to do that in the first place and then find something that they probably won't make obvious.

I have no intention of giving consent what-so-ever. Knowing that the Kinect unit was used for this purpose, I was one of those who pushed for Microsoft to remove the mandatory Kinect in the first place, and as Microsoft have reduced the Kinect to a peripheral unit I fully intend to connect my Xbone without said unit - completely eliminating the sensor with which Microsoft intend to gather said data.

I view this 'development' in exactly the way I view Steam, which is to say both systems would like to garner info from me but both offer an 'opt-out' clause. At the end of the day, this story is ultimately about is re-assuring investors, not pacifying gamers.

Well, you could always buy the PS4. Thus you wouldn't be forced to pay for something you aren't going to use.

Also, I'm really not clear on whether Kinect is mandatory or not. And honestly, as I said in a previous post, I don't think Microsoft is either. They seem to contradict this point every other day.

If you really have to have a Xbone, why don't you wait on the purchase? I heard a rumor that they will have a version without the Kinect next year. Not sure if that is true or not. But, it would certainly be a better option for you, if true.

The Kinect used to be mandatory, and the Xbone would not work without a Kinect and a continuous Internet connection, but both of these 'features' (restrictions) have been removed. Also to be fair I am waiting on my purchase - the earliest I intend to buy an Xbone is March next year and even that's pushing it a bit.

Don't get me wrong, as an existing Xbox user I am full of concerns regarding the next Xbox generation, but I simply felt the need to pipe up in response to 'shock-jock' thread making that depicted entirely optional privacy settings as in some way mandatory.

For the record, unless there has been a change, you still need a Day One Patch to fix those... "missteps". That's something worth noting, I think. Especially if your internet connection is not good, reliable, or shuts off at certain points.

I know a friend who plans to wait at least a year before he considers buying a Xbox One. Just to ensure they don't pull a 360. And he'll probably get a PS4 sometime after it launches.

I think the problem is that we don't know the details. And considering how frankly horrible they have been at communicating no one is trusting them anymore. It was only a few days ago, that Microsoft stated that they will not sell your data to advertisers. And that it was not created with that in mind. But today, on this very site, there is a story about how the Xbox One will change the face of advertising. They've contradicted themselves on every single point thus far. And only continue to do so. The most we get in terms of comfort is that we can supposedly disable that.
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/128462-Microsoft-Corporate-VP-Says-Xbox-One-Can-Reshape-Marketing

There's a problem when your customers can't trust you. There's a problem when you contradict yourself within a week. Honestly, Microsoft has gone from open contempt ("Deal with it") to outright incompetence. They can't stay on message. There doesn't even seem to be a message. They say there is no such thing as bad press. Those people weren't talking about selling game consoles.

Fair points. You are right - we as consumers don't know all the details and we can't really trust what Microsoft tells us. I think perhaps the problem at the moment for Microsoft is that their investors feel the same way as us.

 

[Brockyman]

Good to know people continue to be overly terrified over nothing. It's BS. They aren't spying on you. Honestly none of u are that important. Get over yourselves

its not that people feel they are so important the NSA, etc are going to have a team watching their every move its the simple fact that advertisers are already experts at manipulating people without them even realising it let alone giving them access to this data.

next time any of you walk into a super market or see a comercial for a product. look at the item, really look at it. every single aspect of that is designed to manipulate you from colour choice through to the photo of the person on the container through to, lighting through to music and the exact placement on a shelf and where in the store you will find it

Sorry, I was in a bad mood, and honestly just getting tired of everyone jumping on the Xbox one for past or imagined issues.

I see your point, however there is a difference between manipulation and marketing.

First, basically everything in life is marketing. Religion markets to get new followers by promising peace and/or salvation from damnation. You market yourself when your looking for a job or potential mate. Do you manipulate your future employer by wearing a suit to an interview when you'd normally be in your boxers eating Cheetos? Of course not.

I'd argue the stuff you mentioned about lighting and packaging is honestly more marketing.... Lots of research is done to see what most people like, dislike, want and not want. Sometimes they nail it and sometimes they're way off. People trying to sell you stuff aren't evil or manipulative (most of the time, their are some dicks out there), and tho have a choice to see what you want and make your own buying decisions.

Example: I remember learning how some bakeries in highly walked thru areas will actually blow air out so people can smell the bread or cookies. Is the bakery manipulating you by making you hungry or showing you .'hey, we have great items for sell, please try us for your baked goods. I guess it's in the eye of the beholder....unfortunately people have become so cynical, everything seems to have a negative connotation now.

Companies do gather some (benign, non personal, offered freely) data to direct ads. If you're male, chances are a tampon commercial would be wasted on you, ect. As long as they don't hack my bank account or steal from me, I'm ok with it

 

[Fox12]

This is really interesting. I mean, we all think about "Big Brother" forcing us to keep cameras in our living rooms so they can spy on us, but nobody ever thought that it would be the consumer goods we buy that spy on us. I mean, people can hack into your cell phone and record your conversations, and now Microsoft is selling a spy camera with the purpose of understanding "180 degrees" of a persons life. They've crossed a moral threshold for me that can't be undone. I'm finished with any company that tries this. Seriously, if Sony and the other companies were to try this nonsense then I'd be finished with gaming all together. I don't think they will, but you get the point.

This stuff reminds me a lot of the Telescreen in 1984, where he had to hide away from it in a corner to be able to write in his secret diary.

It even foretold of the coming of Kinect.


The main difference is that Orwell thought this would come to pass by the heavy hand of an oppressive government instead of people buying and putting it into their homes voluntarily like cattle due to marketing and hype.
That is the actual genius of undertakings like Facebook and the Xbox One, there is no direct coercion or pressure involved, it is making people believe that they want and need it and making them do all the work and give up their rights of their own free will.
If specific governments asked all the people around the world for all the data they are inputting into social networks and the likes every day they would likely not be as cooperative and tell them to fuck off, but since it is all disguised as "services" it's totally fine.
http://gawker.com/5636765/facebook-ceo-admits-to-calling-users-dumb-fucks

Within this very thread we have a few examples of that kind of thinking at work.

It reminds me of Fahrenheit 451, where the government didn't even have to do anything. The people basically just gave their rights away and all the government had to do was take advantage of the situation. It's kind of sad really, people got pissed at Nixon for spying on the democrats, but we find out the NSA has been spying on everyone in the country and everyone just shrugs and moves on with their life.