Home Gaming The Xbox One isn’t spying on you…promise!

The Xbox One isn’t spying on you…promise!

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EyeofSauron

Every single Xbox One sold will come bundled with a next-generation Kinect system, and it has people worried that it’ll usher in the world envisaged in George Orwell’s 1984; one where “the man” always has its eyes fixed on you. Microsoft would like to assure you that the next-generation Xbox and its next-generation Kinect aren’t next-generation surveillance systems set on destroying your privacy.

“Microsoft has very, very good policies around privacy. We’re a leader in the world of privacy, I think you’ll find,” former Sony guy and current Microsoft Games Studios vice president Phil Harrison told Eurogamer in an interview.

“We take it very seriously. We aren’t using Kinect to snoop on anybody at all. We listen for the word ‘Xbox on’ and then switch on the machine, but we don’t transmit personal data in any way, shape or form that could be personally identifiable to you, unless you explicitly opt into that.”

The thing is that it doesn’t matter whether or not they use the tech for nefarious purposes – because the potential is there – and that classes the Xbox One as a surveillance system in some territories, like Germany, Austria and Australia.

Tim Vines, director at Civil Liberties Australia told GameFix that the Xbox One meets the criteria of being a surveillance device.

"Microsoft’s new Xbox meets the definition of a surveillance device under some Australian laws, so they need to be upfront and tell customers whether anyone else can intercept their information or remotely access their device," Vines said.

Equally concerned is Berlin’s federal data protection commissioner, Peter Schaar who says the thing is more of monitoring device than it is a console.

"The Xbox One continuously records all sorts of personal information about me. My reaction rates, my learning or emotional states. These are then processed on an external server, and possibly even passed on to third parties."

"The fact that Microsoft could potentially spy on my living room is merely a twisted nightmare."

The same sort of fears surfaced with the original Kinect – but with the expanded technology in place for the next generation, it could get even worse.

Last Updated: May 27, 2013

97 Comments

  1. Admiral Chief Commander

    May 27, 2013 at 13:36

    i’ve just realised that my dayjob is looking soooo much better! imagine being the person on the other side of the onebox having to monitor and sift through the footage…

    good grief, the horror, the horror!

    Reply

    • Jim Lenoir (Banana Jim)

      May 27, 2013 at 13:40

      Some things can never be unseen…. 😮

      Reply

      • Admiral Chief Commander

        May 30, 2013 at 08:59

        agreed

        Reply

    • mancera

      May 27, 2013 at 13:40

      easy replacement for those wal-mart pic emails we always get…

      Reply

  2. Rince an repeat

    May 27, 2013 at 13:38

    Header WIN!

    Reply

  3. mancera

    May 27, 2013 at 13:40

    “we don’t transmit personal data in any way, shape or form that could be personally identifiable to you, unless you explicitly opt into that.”

    so it’s an option that you can opt into? who in their right minds????

    Reply

    • Jim Lenoir (Banana Jim)

      May 27, 2013 at 13:41

      Something tells me, the opt out clause is like Facebook’s and hidden amongst a labyrinth of garbage in the Options menu.

      Reply

      • mancera

        May 27, 2013 at 13:45

        or there isn’t one. once you opt in, there’s no opt out.

        Reply

    • Trevor Davies

      May 27, 2013 at 14:10

      so what he’s basically saying is, “We can because it’s built in, but we won’t, because TRUST US.”

      Reply

      • That Tall Twit

        May 27, 2013 at 14:46

        Yip

        Reply

  4. Umar 'No Shana' Bastra

    May 27, 2013 at 13:40

    My god is MS DOF???? surely they can’t be unaware of these type of things…so when they were developing this did the thought of a hacker taking over someone’s kinect never occur to them…. FCK!!!, is it now just Okay to say we aren’t going to use this in any malicious way so it’s okay … DAFUQ is wrong with MS ……

    Reply

    • Jim Lenoir (Banana Jim)

      May 27, 2013 at 13:42

      Greed my friend. It blinds all… All they see now is the numbers. All the numbers are green. Green like ‘merican money!

      Reply

      • matthurstrsa

        May 27, 2013 at 13:46

        Green like the Xbox logo you mean… #conspiracy

        Reply

        • Jim Lenoir (Banana Jim)

          May 27, 2013 at 13:47

          #illuminati

          Reply

          • Umar 'No Shana' Bastra

            May 27, 2013 at 13:50

            NWO .. it’s beginning ! ……. Jay-Z is coming for us

          • Jim Lenoir (Banana Jim)

            May 27, 2013 at 13:53

            Jay-Z is watching your Masturbate… through Kinect

          • Umar 'No Shana' Bastra

            May 27, 2013 at 13:58

            Watching me with those huge lips … NOOOOOOOO, I refuse to fap for him

          • Jim Lenoir (Banana Jim)

            May 27, 2013 at 13:59

            Fap for Mario! FAP FOR MARIO!! #thisConversationHasTakenAShockingTUrn

          • Umar 'No Shana' Bastra

            May 27, 2013 at 14:04

            Chubby Italians will not see my junk! He will not have my love, not after what he did to Luigi #IDontKnowWhatImDoing

          • Guest

            May 27, 2013 at 13:52

            Watch out JIm…………………………..

          • Umar 'No Shana' Bastra

            May 27, 2013 at 13:53

            previous comment was from me lol … not a guest, weird disqus

      • Umar 'No Shana' Bastra

        May 27, 2013 at 13:51

        Gosh, what’s more scary is people themselves are too blind and ignorant to realize all these things, they will just happily buy this garbage

        Reply

    • Trevor Davies

      May 27, 2013 at 14:11

      MS-DOF – their new operating system trollol

      Reply

      • Admiral Chief Commander

        May 27, 2013 at 14:35

        hehe, i can already see the posters…

        Reply

  5. Slade Boender

    May 27, 2013 at 13:49

    cant get over that header, hope its a skin someday :p

    Reply

  6. Jim Lenoir (Banana Jim)

    May 27, 2013 at 13:52

    I think most of the kids don’t understand the repercussions. If you take facebook for instance, I’ve had to have strong chats with my younger cousins about their privacy settings (and -crucially- what they put online). They don’t realise that once it’s online, you can never get that stuff back, especially if your privacy settings allow every Tom, Dick and Harry to see your pictures. 10 years from now, when you’re applying to your first job, all of that could haunt you.

    It’s absolutely amazing. Similarly with Kinect, having your identity stored by a corporation who can easily sell it to a government, should really anger people. If you don’t understand what’s at stake, then you seriously need to educate yourself.

    Reply

  7. Martin du preez

    May 27, 2013 at 13:53

    The Illuminati strike again this time using the XBOX 1… we’re being watched and controlled

    But MS already hinted that with project IllumiRoom!

    Teh conspiracy theories

    Reply

  8. Tasty peas mixed with porridge

    May 27, 2013 at 13:56

    The XBone is not backwards compatible, It is just a backward DRM machine.

    Reply

  9. Tasty peas mixed with porridge

    May 27, 2013 at 13:59

    lol they are spying on us now. It may not be visual but how else do you think they are getting the current gens data capturing?

    It is and always will be a monitoring device. In some countries that is against the law.

    Reply

  10. HvR

    May 27, 2013 at 14:02

    Is it my imagination or is Geoff plagiarizing my comments for his articles.

    Reply

    • Exalted Overlord Geoffrey Tim

      May 27, 2013 at 14:08

      Where? What now?

      Reply

      • Jim Lenoir (Banana Jim)

        May 27, 2013 at 14:18

        HvR comes from the past. You better stop plagiarising his comments. 😛

        Reply

      • HvR

        May 27, 2013 at 14:21

        The little scally wag is using my comments for idea for his articles, on Friday I write a comment about Dew drinking chip munching CoD fans and today he uses it for his cube article and this morning i make a lot of 1984 comments and now this…. I’m watching you Geoff… like Ballmer is watching the CoD fanboys and touching himself I am watching you……

        Reply

  11. silverscorpio

    May 27, 2013 at 14:09

    Microsoft will look at the potential ad revenue and ignore the complaints. It is a big concern for me too. Microsoft did not think of the consequences of the Xbox One and I get the impression that it was a rush job with theories they had but not well researched. The way the console is now will be useless for the rest of the world other than America. They are only now talking to Sky about tv integration for England. Why was these things not started immediatly when it was decided that the console will incorporate those features. Now the thing will spy on me to see what underwear I use so that it may be used to better advertise American products that I cant buy anyway because who imports underwear (for example).

    Dont get me wrong SOME of the features sound nice but it wont work for the South African market. Besides how do you really know the thing is not sying on you because Microsoft wont advertise that fact. Set the Germans and Australians loose and see what happens.

    Reply

    • Tasty peas mixed with porridge

      May 27, 2013 at 14:15

      They know what they are doing. They are sacrificing a third of their current market by making it DRM because they can make more money from a smaller casual base than a large hardcore base.

      77million 360s and 44million are on-line. They are fine with the 44million.

      THE REST CAN EAT CAKE ;P

      Reply

  12. Kromas

    May 27, 2013 at 14:19

    Cheap E-Toll gantry replacements when we burn them down I suppose.

    Reply

  13. Tasty peas mixed with porridge

    May 27, 2013 at 14:22

    If that Kinect 2 falls off the top of the TV you are fucked. No replacements and a bricked console.

    Reply

    • FoxOneZA - X-Therminator

      May 27, 2013 at 15:11

      Kinect 2 is going on sale next year for PC too.

      Reply

      • silverscorpio

        May 28, 2013 at 05:46

        At least I know the thing is off on the PC because it can be unplugged and I can monitor uploads with right software none of these can be done on Xbox one.

        Reply

  14. Umar 'No Shana' Bastra

    May 27, 2013 at 14:23

    Rah, rah, ah, ah, ah,Roma, roma, ma,Gaga, Xbox One,Want your bad PR

    Reply

    • Jim Lenoir (Banana Jim)

      May 27, 2013 at 14:24

      looolll

      Reply

  15. HvR

    May 27, 2013 at 14:28

    God is in the TV…..TVTVTV

    Reply

  16. Jim Lenoir (Banana Jim)

    May 27, 2013 at 14:32

    You guys know what’s going to happen, the bone is going to do Wii sales numbers, and we’re all going to stand on the sidelines with anger burning in our eyes. Gaming will leave us behind, and many of us will retreat to our man caves (or lady caves… uh wait…) and become retro gamers.

    Reply

    • HvR

      May 27, 2013 at 14:41

      Join the rebellion, become a true gamer…

      Reply

      • Jim Lenoir (Banana Jim)

        May 27, 2013 at 14:44

        Monopoly and scrabble?

        Reply

      • Admiral Chief Commander

        May 30, 2013 at 08:57

        lulz

        Reply

  17. Khulani Ndlovu

    May 27, 2013 at 14:42

    Well if the always online feature was still implimented on Xbox One i would definitely be worried about that, 😉

    Reply

    • silverscorpio

      May 28, 2013 at 05:50

      That once a day log on will report all information that you did that day to Microsoft. Does not have to be always online to spy and report.

      Reply

      • Khulani Ndlovu

        May 28, 2013 at 08:58

        Well you right, why do we even need to log online every each day just to use the console, its really crap, 😉

        Reply

  18. TiMsTeR1033

    May 27, 2013 at 14:42

    Seriously ps4 better save the day, microsoft has lost the plot
    completely, you wanna watch tv get freaking cable or netflix. But wait
    this is america “the land of opportunity” where you can get an achieve for being the fastest wanker in the west when watching playboy tv. Mark my words this is gonna kill microsoft in many parts of the world, even if it didnt have used game issues the internet speed to use all those features isnt here at affordable rates, nor in many other parts of the world, plus we need uncapped! like a 10 mpbs uncapped line for decent speeds, i mean imagine the demo sizes for xbox 1 games like 40 gigs! and downloading full games its just beyond me, 100 gig games or something. PS4 make a game console not a tv decoder with games as a bonus.

    Reply

    • FoxOneZA - X-Therminator

      May 27, 2013 at 15:13

      WOW! MS said wait till E3 for the games. Judgmental much?

      Reply

      • TiMsTeR1033

        May 27, 2013 at 15:31

        I am a loyal fan to the 360, I am just seriously annoyed that tv seems to be of more concern to Ms. I mean Its like saying to 360 fans we dont give a crap if you dont have always on internet. Plus apparently the xbone is 50 % underpowered compared to ps4, talk about add insult to injury. Games wont matter if you cant even use the console. Even in a perfect world where we all could afford new games and uncapped top of the line speeds what if internet went out then your stuck and have a giant paper weight.

        Reply

  19. Eeko Eight-Seven

    May 27, 2013 at 15:30

    Guys, I know we’ve all been on about DRM in games with the Xbone, but there’s a patent for DRM in viewing TV too. Microsoft filed for it last year. Like as in for example if you only paid for two people to watch a football match (the Pay-per-view type thing), and Kinect detects there’s 5 people in the room, it will force you to upgrade your license. That’s some crazy and scary ass shit. http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/gaming/news/a484593/xbox-one-to-monitor-tv-viewing-content-watched-number-of-viewers.html

    Reply

    • TiMsTeR1033

      May 27, 2013 at 15:33

      See my point exactly.

      Reply

    • Exalted Overlord Geoffrey Tim

      May 27, 2013 at 15:39

      We covered that back in November last year. Same patent – just being brought back up for hits,.

      http://www.lazygamer.co/xbox-360/microsoft-scary-licencing-patent/

      Reply

      • Eeko Eight-Seven

        May 27, 2013 at 15:49

        Must have missed that article. Lazygamer, on top of things, as usual. What’s sad is there are people in the States who will go out and buy this thing without so much as blinking an eye. Seems like Microsoft pushing it’s Volume Licensing scheme on television too. My mind is so boggled right now. You won’t understand. Paying to watch something on my tv, per person??

        Reply

  20. oleg86

    May 27, 2013 at 16:26

    Well, that’s questionable. After they’ve learned how to wiretap VoIP, Skype became the only tool for private conversations. Now, check the news on Skype, Microsoft messes with private correspondence. So, now Microsoft is the new corporation of evil?

    Reply

  21. Stephen Ynwa Blythe

    May 27, 2013 at 16:34

    Oh no my Xbox is going to see me play games watch movies eat food and scratch myself my world is under threat….give me a break who cares…if your doing something wrong in front of your computer I think you have bigger problems than someone watching you do it…hence all the pervs put your pants back on lol

    Reply

  22. Kyle Farmer

    May 28, 2013 at 08:09

    Once you let them through the door it’s too late… I don’t care what they say about privacy this or privacy that… I will NOT be buying a new Xbox, my 360 will have to live on. PC all the way. I’m really starting to think that this “next” gen is the “last” gen…

    Reply

  23. DBL_ZA

    May 28, 2013 at 08:55

    Personally I’d go round doing all kinds of weird things whenever Kinect was(“n’t”) watching. Bouncing on my head, screaming like a madman (more than usual anyway) etc etc. And every day just before bed I’d go right up to the Kinect and shout, “This is what Microsoft has done to me!!!” with a crazed look on my face

    Reply

  24. Angrybeaverchick

    June 11, 2013 at 07:21

    Microsoft has very, very good policies around privacy. We’re a leader in the world of privacy, I think you’ll find. no you wont in fact you’d find just the opposite, no other company has failed so much at keeping the their shit secure. and they own skype which is notorious for its “privacy”

    Reply

  25. Angrybeaverchick

    June 11, 2013 at 07:21

    Microsoft has very, very good policies around privacy. We’re a leader in the world of privacy, I think you’ll find. no you wont in fact you’d find just the opposite, no other company has failed so much at keeping the their shit secure. and they own skype which is notorious for its “privacy”

    Reply

  26. Angrybeaverchick

    June 11, 2013 at 07:21

    Microsoft has very, very good policies around privacy. We’re a leader in the world of privacy, I think you’ll find. no you wont in fact you’d find just the opposite, no other company has failed so much at keeping the their shit secure. and they own skype which is notorious for its “privacy”

    Reply

  27. Angrybeaverchick

    June 11, 2013 at 07:21

    Microsoft has very, very good policies around privacy. We’re a leader in the world of privacy, I think you’ll find. no you wont in fact you’d find just the opposite, no other company has failed so much at keeping the their shit secure. and they own skype which is notorious for its “privacy”

    Reply

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