Terms of Service, user agreements, UELAs, etc...they all have some crazy stuff in there if you actually take the time to read through them. Who does that though? Crazy (or smart) people, that's who! I'd honestly say that less than 5% of people actually do that (that's a scientific number). Well, the coolest, most interesting, or newest item out there is the Oculus Rift, also known as Oculus VR.
Embedded deep in the devices terms of service you will find several interesting things (though one or two of them are things people assumed were coming anyway).
1. Collecting, and Retaining, Information About You
Nothing new, but still irksome, OR can/will be keeping data on you. This includes cookies from browser sessions, services and games you access, and even your location from things like your IP or your mobile device's GPS.
2. Oculus/Facebook Owns Your Content
Let me clarify, if you created content with the Rift and deploy it through their service, or one they own, they have the right to do anything with that content that they want to.
3. They Want To Market Directly To You
Again, nothing new as we get that with Google or Microsoft all the time. However, the issue here is not only will be they collecting data on you (potentially) from a social networking standpoint but now from anything you do with the Rift. That section of the ToS reads as follows:
We use the information we collect to send you promotional messages and content and otherwise market to you on and off our Services. We also use this information to measure how users respond to our marketing efforts.
4. The OR, Much Like My 3.5 Month Old, Is Always On
One of the complaints/worries people had with the Microsoft Kinest was the fact the device was always on and could, potentially, be used to get audio and video when it shouldn't. Even though this is an unlikely scenario, its still one people are worried about and now the OR has the same issues (though no one seems to know about it or simply no one is talking about it. The service that installs when you install the Facebook/OR software constantly sends updates and data back to FB/OR servers so its getting some kind of data.
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I was already pretty down on the OR (and kind of VR in general), but I had a hope for PS VR. After watching Giant Bomb's excelling coverage earlier this week I went from excitedly curious to "No thanks" pretty quickly. This stuff only makes me want to get it even less, though there's no word if the PS VR or HTC Vive come with the same caveats. Do you have any worries about VR and what you could potentially be signing up for other than just an attachment? I remember with stuff like the Kinect even Jeff put a piece of black tape over the cameras when it wasn't in use.
Below are some links for your perusal, including the original story I got this information from at Gizmodo.
http://gizmodo.com/there-are-some-super-shady-things-in-oculus-rifts-terms-1768678169
https://www.oculus.com/en-us/legal/terms-of-service/
http://uploadvr.com/facebook-oculus-privacy/
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