Chalk this up to conspiracy theory turned real scandal, but I find this fairly concerning.

In light of the recent Associated Press info scandal (in which the US government seized confidential records from AP that were meant to protect free speech) a lot of additional information about the problem has come to light. Media informants and reporters from any network have learned that you're never completely safe if there is a device that can transmit voice or image (i.e. phone, tablet device or computer) due to the FBI's ability to literally tap anything. This has brought up serious questions about privacy and first-amendment rights, but most importantly the fact that an awful lot of media sources refuse to talk via anything other than private meetings free of technology or dropping off untraceable paper documents in public locations has made Xbox One's required Kinect sensor a point of concern. For most people it won't be a big deal or make any difference in life, but the fact that you can never be certain how that information is being used because legally the government can gather all personal information gathered from such technologies makes me hesitant to use any such tech.

I'm not sure how that will pan out, and I guess the existence of webcams and integrated cameras on mobile devices makes this kind of a moot point, but it still is worth some discussion. Sort of like Jeff was saying on the latest podcast, it's a little disconcerting to see a lot of "tin-foil hat conspiracies" turning out to be completely valid.

If the Man wants to watch me jerk it on the couch, he can be my guest

I just want to know why people are not asking Microsoft "WHY?"

If you truly can turn off Kinect for the Xbone then WHY is it necessary to keep it plugged in the system.

Doesn't that seem strange to anyone, that they made it mandatory even if you don't want to use it?

@mikewarrior: yes!

They're being so sneaky!

Classic man classic

I found a post about Microsoft's intensions with Kinect and WHY it's mandatory that it stays connected with the Xbone...

Originally Posted by user RickNash of Sherdog

For those of you who don't like to read, and who do not want to familiarize yourself with exactly what the problems are with XBOX One, don't read this post.

First, you should all become familiar with the free and immaterial labour theses (there's a bit on these throughout). They're very much at play here.

I've explained this in several posts, but the amount of controls placed on the consumer who purchases and uses the XBOX One is unprecedented for a gaming console. People who scoff at the Kinect and suggest that you "put a towel over it" are dodging the issue at hand. How ridiculous is it that you have to do that in the first place? Isn't placing the towel over it an admission that something is wrong? For some reason they don't want to admit it, and I don't know why. If Sony proposed something similar, I would be on their ass about it, too. This isn't about Microsoft vs. Sony (though they would love for you to keep the conversation about that, just like arguments about who's better between Democrats vs. Republicans when there are issues beyond ideological partisanship). It's far more political and much more far-reaching than just that. It's about the relationship between corporations who produce media technologies (or any technology, really) and the consumer, and who holds the power. What's being proposed by Microsoft with the Xbox One is an example of an insane shift in power where the producers of technology have an inordinate amount of control over how their products are being used, for their benefit only, through the control and exploitation of the consumer.

I'm going to make myself very clear here: I own an XBOX 360 and have loved the console for as long as I've had it. I'm not a fanboy of either Sony or Microsoft, though I'm more familiar with Microsoft products and most often always enjoy them. If I am a fanboy of one company over the other, then I'm a fanboy of Microsoft. My critical stance stems from having studied new media academically for quite a long while now. What Microsoft is proposing would be the realization of, quite literally, a kind of doomsday prophesied over the past two decades by new media scholars worried about the amount of power imbedded within new technologies, and their ability to exploit consumers who are unaware that they're being exploited. I did not purchase a PS3, and, prior to what Microsoft released in their reveal, I was ready to purchase their next gen. gaming console. That's not what they're releasing, though.

It should be made clear here, then, that the XBOX One is not a gaming console. What Microsoft is trying to do is what most every media company who produces hardware and software has been trying to do for the past several decades: create a convergent media technology wherein a user can gain access to all of the different forms of media. The XBOX One is, quite literally, everything you want media related in one box (thus, the name!). That's not the problem, though.

The problem is that they've fitted this technology with additional hardware and software that monitors your media consumption, your consumption of products (drinks, food, your use of second screens, your clothes, any other commercial product that's in view, and so on) while engaging with media, your heart rate, your emotional state. Do you know why they've increased the amount of servers used to service the XBOX One? Because they will need them to process data collected about you and anyone else who uses the product. They're collecting information about you and other users to sell to advertisers, but they're doing it in a way that's more invasive than any other form of data collection previously employed, including the recording of audience ratings for television stations (in doing this, television networks translate your viewing into advertising dollars for them, literally transforming your leisure time into a form of free labour that they profit off of), the tracking, storing, and selling of your search behaviours, or other behaviours, when using Google or Facebook, all of which is sold to advertisers for a profit. These aren't nearly as bad as what Microsoft is doing, though.

Unlike Google and Facebook, services provided for "free" to the consumer, you have to pay for Xbox One, and all ancillary software (I'll include in my definition of "software" any and all apps that give you access to additional media sources, including the Internet, television, music, and so on). You're literally paying Microsoft to mine you for information that is of interest advertisers, all so that they can sell this information and make an absolute shitload of money, which you pay Microsoft to do for the financial benefit of Microsoft and Microsoft only (other related corporations are probably involved, too, especially those who have offered to give Microsoft exclusive access to their content). Think of how ridiculous that is.

That you need to be connected to the Internet to play games, and to do anything on the XBOX One tells you all you need to know about the intentions of Microsoft and their want to have an always-on consumer base producing valuable information, constantly feeding it through the pipeline. The Kinect needs to be connected for the system to work. The used game market will be severely transformed, and not in a way that benefits the consumer. There is more, but I think the point is clear: Microsoft is controlling and monitoring the way in which you use their product far more than any other company has dared to do in the past. That's problematic, especially because of the ways they're proposing to issue control over your behaviour.

It strikes me as odd that anyone would give Microsoft the benefit of the doubt here, and would preach apathy toward the Kinect and any other piece of invasive software or hardware that comes with the Xbox One. Think of the differences between the Xbox One and the Xbox 360. What has Microsoft really added to this entertainment system, and whose bottom line do these additions benefit the most?

This is one of the more aggressive attempts made by a technology company to exploit their consumer base, and sets a ridiculous cultural precedent for the future relationship between consumer and corporation.

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Just wanted to share this. I really believe NO ONE who cares about their rights as a consumer, and even as a respected and free human being, should support this console.

Peace.

I don't get how Microsoft doesn't understand that monitoring my heart rate/pulse, or watching to see if I'm smiling isn't creepy or invasive. They are really taking this webcam is watching me fear to a whole new level for people who are concerned about such things. And in reality, quite a few people feel uncomfortable when a webcam is pointing towards them.

My laptop, iPhone, iPad and Kinect already have cameras. There are cameras everywhere outside. It's no big deal, people always just freak out over nothing. People are going to whine just as much when Google Glass spreads, but in the end people will get used to it.

Are all those cameras hooked up to 300,000 Azure server system that's controlled by Microsoft? Do they have infrared sensors reading everything about you even at night without any light? Do they also record your voice and store everything about you on those servers? Are they always pointed at you just sitting there like a big huge brick on top of your HDTV?

Not even the same. the Xbox One's Kinect is really made to see/know everything. Big ad revenue for Microsoft. So big I bet games are the last thing they really care about.