Easy. I have had a Playstation Eye camera for years. No issues whatsoever. I have also used web cams, again no issues. I have my cellphone on all the time and many apps could be running in the background, along with some GPS apps (that I trust and turn off after to consume battery life).
Wait, so since you didn't have any personal issues with it, it is just alright? That Skype video call? Recorded. Your location of your cellphone? Recorded.
And no, 'turning off GPS' doesn't help. As long as they youhave coverage, they know where you are.
I don't get it. Why would you want to sacrifice your privacy? For the 'war on terror'? Come on, your local McDonalds employee is a bigger threat to you than some guy in the Middle-East. I bet you haven't ever even been to the Middle-East.
And if you have, bravo: than you know how civilized lots of people in the Middle-East are.
Your argument comes down to: I have nothing to hide and it doesn't cause me any trouble, so please, record everything I do.
No, Kinect is not going to actively record what you are doing. But as soon as you use it, as soon as you say "Xbox on" - the microphone is listening. It's listening for new commands, and "to improve the service" it's probably going to use the cloud. Which means it is going to Microsof't's servers and it is going to be recorded and stored - not only by Microsoft, but also by intelligence agencies.
No, Kinect won't be actively watching you, but as soon as you are going to use the camera (that can be for a game, Skype, etc.) than the video feed will be intercepted and recorded by intelligence agencies.
You may not have a problem with it, but it is clear that lots of people
do have a problem with it. Simply being able to unplug Kinect would already help a lot.
Trust Microsoft? Why would I? Microsoft (along with other companies) have not only helped intelligence agencies to get access to people's personal e-mails, phone calls, internet data, etc. but they even implemented backdoors to make it easier. And when people found out, they lied. They said: "What? We sharing data? Noooo.... haha... why would you think that? We are nice."
You can't stop intelligence agencies from collecting data, but it doesn't help that a company - in this case Microsoft -
actively helps those intelligence agencies and that they then lie about it.
So, please, forgive me when I am so skeptical, but Microsoft right now is very unreliable.
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And Microsoft could do a lot to improve their image. For instance, they can say: well, okay, Kinect doesn't need to be plugged in. They can clear-up some shit too:
- Voice commands? Does it use the cloud and an internet connection? (If yes: reason to worry, if no: another problem solved).
- Actively helping to spy on its customers? If yes: reason to worry, if no: another problem solved.
These are just three issues which they can clear-up
before tomorrow. But they don't. They constantly lie and are not clear about certain questions customer are asking.
Again, you can't stop an intelligence agency from gathering data. They can wiretap you, they can literally follow you, they can place equipment in your house, etc. Microsoft can't do anything about that.
We are, however, talking about an
entirely different scenario when Microsoft actually helps them gathering information, than there is a problem. When they don't fix security bugs just to help intelligence agencies, than there is a problem. When they build backdoors for intelligence agencies, than there is a problem.