Hey been looking for a place to drop this tell me what ya think, government using ps3 move cams and xbox kinex for in home serveillance.
Do you ever read the terms of service agreements that come with software, hardware and firmware updates? I know I dont. Im
all too happy to scroll on to the end and click yes. One astute reader, liberty, took the time to read through the updated Xbox Live terms of service included with yesterdays Xbox system update and uncovered some pretty scary stuff.
Remember how we, via
Microsofts Phil Spencer, assured you that Kinect wasnt spying on you? It seems that might not be entirely factual; According to the terms of service, they can and will use Kinect to monitor players.
Sections 9 and 12 of the updated terms of service are particularly scary :
If you accept the agreement, you expressly authorize and consent to us accessing or disclosing information about you, including the content of your communications, in order to: (a) comply with the law or respond to lawful requests or legal process; (b) protect the rights or property of Microsoft, our partners, or our customers, including the enforcement of our agreements or policies governing your use of the Service; or (c) act on a good faith belief that such access or disclosure is necessary to protect the personal safety of Microsoft employees, customers, or the public.
Also scary? they reserve the right to monitor your voice and chat sessions using their new camera system. Personal privacy? Not so personal, not so private.
You should not expect any level of privacy concerning your use of the live communication features (for example, voice chat, video and communications in live-hosted gameplay sessions) offered through the Service. They obviously wont and cant monitor every single system at the same time, but they say that they have the right to do so to the maximum extent permitted by law.
Microsoft also reserves the right at all times to disclose any information as necessary to satisfy any applicable law, regulation, legal process or governmental request, or to edit, refuse to post or to remove any information or materials, in whole or in part, in Microsofts sole discretion. Break the law in front of your Kinect system? You could be up against the law.
Thinking of disabling or bypassing any of these monitoring systems? Well, thats
illegal. Of course,the TOS has always included sections that one might deem questionable if they favoured privacy but with the inclusion of camera, its edging ever closer to an Orwellian level of surveillance. It seems Big Brother really
is watching you.
Read over the new terms of service here :
Xbox.com