ultrazilla
Gold Member
Why I'll never buy an Xbox One. As long as Kinect is required to be plugged in, NO DEAL.
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MS + NSA reveal. Wil this affect the Kinect?
- Thread starter Majmun
- Start date
Why I'll never buy an Xbox One. As long as Kinect is required to be plugged in, NO DEAL.
AppleSmack
Banned
Haha I love the mentality that if someone wants their privacy to be respected they are somehow up to something.
Woo-Fu
Banned
It is yesterday's news, in and of itself. When you notice that the competitor's console isn't an NSA information gathering device and costs $100 less maybe it is a bit more meaningful news?
This is just another bullet point in the "reasons to not buy an xbox one" list. Microsoft needs to do what it can to make that list shorter instead of longer between now and release.
Treemonkeys
Member
Take all this data + more advanced version of google + video/voice recognition + whatever keywords/actions they want to monitor = AI watching you're shit and flagging whatever for human review.
NavyPharaoh
Member
This.
better turn off your house phone or mobile/cel phone as they can track and listen to your convo's now.
Its not like they hire people to sit and constantly watch you 24/7, im sure it will run through a computer system that just randomly waits for key words or phrases that may have been said then it may go to the next level. - maybe someone can clarify this?
another xboxone news blown out of proportion
Its not like they hire people to sit and constantly watch you 24/7, im sure it will run through a computer system that just randomly waits for key words or phrases that may have been said then it may go to the next level. - maybe someone can clarify this?
another xboxone news blown out of proportion
Its just what they want you to think.
Treemonkeys
Member
What is illegal can change over night.
This level of power and infrastructure WILL be abused, weather it's next year or 20 years from now.
Lord Panda
The Sea is Always Right
Love how MS are trying to promote the xbone as a video conferencing system for small businesses ...
Pai Pai Master
Banned
better turn off your house phone or mobile/cel phone as they can track and listen to your convo's now.
Its not like they hire people to sit and constantly watch you 24/7, im sure it will run through a computer system that just randomly waits for key words or phrases that may have been said then it may go to the next level. - maybe someone can clarify this?
another xboxone news blown out of proportion
everyone else does this shitty thing so i shouldn't care about this company doing this shitty thing to me
Flatline
Banned
This is the exact same argument people were using a few months ago when it was revealed that Microsoft centralized Skype's servers.
C'mon now Cliffy, do not be like that.
Push back? After their DRM scandal that answer would be "I welcome you with open arms".
Penguins&PolarBears
Member
Hilarious reality is most people complaining are running Microsoft Windows on their PC with a camera/mic facing them all the time.
Xbox is basically just another PC running Windows. If MS or the government wanted to get access to any Windows machine I'm sure they could accomplish it very easily. I don't know anyone with a modern computer that doesn't have an exposed camera/mic facing them most of the day.
Saying you won't buy the Xbox because of this is absolute BS. If you are really that paranoid crazy then put a cover over the camera or disconnect the Xbox from the Internet when not using it. Same for your PC.
Xbox is basically just another PC running Windows. If MS or the government wanted to get access to any Windows machine I'm sure they could accomplish it very easily. I don't know anyone with a modern computer that doesn't have an exposed camera/mic facing them most of the day.
Saying you won't buy the Xbox because of this is absolute BS. If you are really that paranoid crazy then put a cover over the camera or disconnect the Xbox from the Internet when not using it. Same for your PC.
killer rin
Member
Yes, but even if its paused, its still plugged in and will probably pop up with a "This game uses kinect. Press A to temporarily enable".
The Kinect, like on the 360 Slim uses a proprietary connector which pulls the power from the console. It doesn't use an adapter.
It's funny that all this can be solved with a blanket or piece of electrical tape... A friend of mine still pays his bills in person at the bank because he's paranoid the government is watching him and can track his purchases.
Sigh...
Freeza Under The Shower
Member
yeah, and it already had a problem trying to fend off that imagine.
I wonder how long it will be before law enforcement has to 'listen' for comments on certain people, and by people I mean corporations that for some bizarro world reason have been given that position, and take action on those. :\
dammit, I should have tweeted that.
lol
NullPointer
Member
*waves*
I have no need for a webcam, so I don't have one on any of my machines.
Microsoft has said that the data the Kinect gathers will not leave your home if you set it up so it doesn't in the options.
Even if you didn't, a prompt will come up asking if you want the data to be transferred.
I personally don't care. I have nothing to hide. Besides, if I did have something to hide, it wouldn't be in my bedroom/living room. Who puts their meth lab at their bedside, anyways?
Even if you didn't, a prompt will come up asking if you want the data to be transferred.
I personally don't care. I have nothing to hide. Besides, if I did have something to hide, it wouldn't be in my bedroom/living room. Who puts their meth lab at their bedside, anyways?
statham
Member
If they are going to listen in it'll be through email or phone calls not Kinect.
Flatline
Banned
From reddit (goes into detail further down):
I wouldn't put that shit in my house even if Microsoft paid me.
http://www.reddit.com/r/technology/...ow_microsoft_handed_the_nsa_access_to/cb0o0tz
I wouldn't put that shit in my house even if Microsoft paid me.
you should, its crap that it happens, im just saying its not like MS are the 1st to do it and it seems everywhere we are, either home or out and about big brother is watching
ebullientprism
Member
Comparing this to laptop webcams and Phones must be the new "But but its just like Steam" argument.
Except its not, again. Nothing like it at all.
Except its not, again. Nothing like it at all.
I don't have a webcam either and I use a dumb phone with no camera. It's not because I'm paranoid or anything it's just that I don't need them. Just like I don't need a camera in my living room. I like Halo and all but I'll wait for a Kinect free X1 before I even consider it.
Flatline
Banned
And because they're not the first to do it, it somehow lessens their accountability and involvement? What are all you guys trying to say here by repeating that others do it too?
Great quotes.
I know it's not the popular opinion but I agree with you.
Unless I'm understanding it wrong, isn't it basically your shit won't be looked at unless you're accused of something?
I call bs on this accountbetter turn off your house phone or mobile/cel phone as they can track and listen to your convo's now.
Its not like they hire people to sit and constantly watch you 24/7, im sure it will run through a computer system that just randomly waits for key words or phrases that may have been said then it may go to the next level. - maybe someone can clarify this?
another xboxone news blown out of proportion
Seems a little too shifty a comment for a consumer to make
Ooo paranoia.
Flatline
Banned
So remember folks, don't participate in any "potential" terrorist group like Occupy (or any activist group really) not to be accused. Stay silent and obedient to keep your privacy.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/23/fbi-occupy-wall-street_n_2355883.html
Barkley's Justice
Member
I was too busy working to participate in occupy.
But in all seriousness, if someone gets thrown into a terrorist prison because he held a sign at an occupy movement and they found him though his kinect I will literally eat a piece of shit and videotape it for you.
For sure they have people in all of these companies.
Flatline
Banned
Strawman argument. So the fact that activists lose their privacy rights isn't enough for you?
HallucinatingElvis
Banned
why not
* Secret courts that rubber stamp pretty much everything.
** Secret courts that make their own rules.
Yeah, cool beans.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jun/20/fisa-court-nsa-without-warrant
http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20...t-approves-all-requests-second-year-row.shtml
http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20...ying-to-hide-secret-interpretations-law.shtml
Yep about the cell phone.
How anyone thinks a cell phone is necessary when electricity in the form we use it in, isn't.
mr teaspoon
Member
Uh, well, at the moment it seems like carrying the sign might be OK. But you can be sure as shit that if you're in any way involved with the Occupy movement, you're almost certainly being surveilled.
So, sorry, people don't get to make that argument anymore. You can either support the surveillance or condemn it, but you simply can't deny that it's there.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/dec/29/fbi-coordinated-crackdown-occupy
Skype video chat footage is provided to the NSA, which shows two things: The NSA wants video surveillance, and that MS are happy to provide it.
My view is that it's not that Kinect would be constantly sending full audio and video streams, but small packets of metadata around users. If you're registered with it, it will track when you're in the room, how many people you're with, what you're doing etc. This data will be used by MS for targeted ads.
The IT security part of me just looks at the fact you can't unplug Kinect. You can disable features in software, but that is in no way the same thing. If MS honestly wanted to protect user's privacy (from ad tracks, let alone government snooping), they'd allow Kinect to be disconnected, not just paused.
I don't doubt for a second that this information would be provided on request. MS and the NSA have been close bedfellows for years. But the point is, all this information and more is obtainable from mobile phones. MS, Google and Apple all signed up to PRISM, and your phone tracks everything about you. So singling out Kinect in light of what data is already available to all the main US tech firms seems foolish. If you care about privacy, don't use products and services from US tech firms, don't store things in the could, browse the internet with Tor, use DuckDuckGo for web searches, modify your laptops etc.
My view is that it's not that Kinect would be constantly sending full audio and video streams, but small packets of metadata around users. If you're registered with it, it will track when you're in the room, how many people you're with, what you're doing etc. This data will be used by MS for targeted ads.
The IT security part of me just looks at the fact you can't unplug Kinect. You can disable features in software, but that is in no way the same thing. If MS honestly wanted to protect user's privacy (from ad tracks, let alone government snooping), they'd allow Kinect to be disconnected, not just paused.
I don't doubt for a second that this information would be provided on request. MS and the NSA have been close bedfellows for years. But the point is, all this information and more is obtainable from mobile phones. MS, Google and Apple all signed up to PRISM, and your phone tracks everything about you. So singling out Kinect in light of what data is already available to all the main US tech firms seems foolish. If you care about privacy, don't use products and services from US tech firms, don't store things in the could, browse the internet with Tor, use DuckDuckGo for web searches, modify your laptops etc.
What if your not accused of something and someone wants to look anyway (and believe me this happens)? Is that right? No. The people that are collecting this and sorting through it dont even work for the government, theyre contracted out to private firms.
You are understanding it wrong.
The PRISM program, along with similar programs conducted by the UK, Australia, Canada and NZ, are not about gathering evidence for suspects. It's about the indiscriminate storing, logging and reporting of all internet usage.
The new NSA data centre in Utah isn't designed to just store data relating to a few hundred terrorists. It is designed to store the entire internet, multiple times over. It has a yottabyte of storage, which is mind boggling. All the data currently on the internet is suggested to be less than one zettabyte in size (1 yottabyte = 1000 zettabytes).
PRISM allows real time notification when individuals log into sites, search for specific key words, or anything else. You would be a 'suspect' for using a keyword, in a web search, e-mail, Facebook update, text, forum post etc. You could be a suspect for anything. Political affiliation (legal, and a core part of democracy), protesting (legal), religion (legal) and so on.
The old adage "if you've got nothing to hide, you have nothing to worry about" have never been true, and is always used to justify the removal of civil liberties. In the analogue world, the FBI and M15 infiltrated and snooped on completely legal entities. Political parties, unions, protest groups etc. Now they don't have to, they just let PRISM do it for them, with no judicial oversight. No due process. And no safeguards to protect all the personal data escaping out to other parties.
DeviantBoi
Member
NSA: We need access to everyone's data.
MS: Okay.
NSA: Otherwise the government will go against you for your monopolistic practices.
MS: We already said okay.
NSA: Oh, you did? Okay, then!
MS: Okay, then.
MS: Okay.
NSA: Otherwise the government will go against you for your monopolistic practices.
MS: We already said okay.
NSA: Oh, you did? Okay, then!
MS: Okay, then.