I think MicroSoft is just being what they are: A giant, clumsy and powerful corporation.
Kinect is 'alway on' and mandatory because
ADVERTISERS
I posted this some pages back, but I really believe this is their primary motivation: monetizing the Kinect tech.
http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2013/0...e-with-kinect/
Anything else regarding spying is just an externality for them.
I don't think MS cares about our privacy in any meaningful manner.
We need to (and are having ) a conversation about what our relationship is with our technology, and what are the acceptable boundaries for privacy vs. being very interconnected. This is part of that larger debate.
Once again MS are being craven and inelegant. Given the general enthusiast reaction to their overall XBox One rollout strategy; shitty policies (DRM), hubris, really bad marketing/PR decisions, I guess I'm happy that they are being evil idiots, rather than evil geniuses. Losing marketshare and consumer trust is a simple and clear lesson for them going forward. I support everyone being pissed off at any corps dumb decisions. It's the only way they'll learn.
Let's see which side wins this November; 1 billion $ in MS marketing blitz to the masses, or an informed consumer. My popcorn is ready.