http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-pn-nsa-telephone-surveillance-revelation-20130606,0,2415540.story

This whole fiasco is scary stuff. I don't think it is right for the government to be able to get any information on me no matter if it's "real data" or "metadata". Now I'm going to be very clear here. This isn't related to Microsoft in the slightest and the Kinect 2.0 isn't even out yet so at this point it is impossible for this to be a problem. However, this article seems to fit right in with the new technologies that will be required on the Xbone. It at least strengthens my worries that the data that the Kinect could collect isn't as secure and private as Microsoft would want us to believe.

Please keep this thread about privacy concerns and views as I don't want it to be about bashing the Xbone. I just think it is important to think about what allowing a monitoring device in our houses could mean.

Kinect 2.0 it will take over the world...until you put a sheet over it...And you all ready have those devices in your house. Got a laptop with a built in camera? Cellphone with GPS? Ipad?

And its not a good monitoring device if the same tactic that quiets down a caged bird would work on it.

Let me feed the SHEEP, don't worry about it.

Stop feeding

Considering how well current Kinect works, I'm not so worried about 2.0

Don't worry about what?

Just because there are other devices doing the same things, all with the ability to turn these functions off completely, doesn't make it right when someone else brings out a new technology that does it in a more detailed and advanced way.

I also think it's a poor argument to say that you can cover it up. That doesn't change the fact that most people wont cover it up and are then susceptible to everything it does. Also it is included in the box and required when the system is on. Offering something that the customer then has to protect themselves again and making it mandatory is baffling to me.

You know you sound like one of those crazy anti government people right? MS has said you can turn off the kinect.

Wear a tinfoil hat if you want, people are overreacting.

OH NO my laptop, iPad and iPhone are all watching me, what am I ever going to do?????

People put much more info on facebook and twitter. If someone wanted to spy on you they can just check your facebook page.

Alright, sorry I brought it up.

Microsoft said that you can turn off the Kinect but that it's required when the system is on. I'm just trying to open up a discourse here because I think this is important stuff. I'm sorry if you think I'm crazy.

I understand your concern. My advice is to vote with your wallet and refrain from purchasing devices that you think infringe on your privacy, or are anti-consumer.

@the_nubster: I will vote with my wallet. My wallet isn't anywhere near as powerful as billions of dollars of marketing though. I don't think that me standing up for my personal beliefs has any effect on a corporations ability to sway consumers. Now is the time to really dig into this stuff. I think technology is getting to a point where these issues need to be more clearly defined and a public forum like this could spark some good conversation.

lol, i like your thinking

Since when is it crazy to be skeptical of the government?

@sathingtonwaltz: When it gets in the way of video games apparently.

@kaiserreich: convenience in general

Vote with your wallet. Play X1 naked

You're crazy clearly. There's nothing wrong with being watched all the time unless you have something to hide.

We all know that if you have something to hide then you must be bad because no one ever hides something for their own safety or a sense of embarrassment.

You can just put a cloth over the damn thing and it'll work perfectly unless you want to do anything on the console.

It's not like these privacy concerns are insane and it doesn't paint Microsoft or the government as some cartoonish villains. Microsoft just wants better ad money and a better relationship with the entertainment industry. A result of that could be a loss of privacy, like many ad 'improvements', and it is completely on us as a society to notice if it's gone to far.

But sure because we already gave up our privacy to Facebook and Google we should really just give up on all of it and call anyone who has any concern about privacy an insane person. I'm sure I look like a paranoid person now. Great.

I'm with you. I don't think you're crazy.

This whole thing with Verizon having to give the government ALL phone records is just mind blowing to me. I can't believe it. It makes me wonder what other major companies are/were forced to give up customer information to the government. I am disgusted that my government would do this and think it was okay.

We're getting to a point where we need to start scaling things back because we're meddling with stuff we don't understand yet. Have you ever seen that scene from Scanners where the dudes head blows up?

What is the line?

I feel like making a device mandatory that has the ability to read your heart rate, emotions, and is connected to the internet is crossing that line. Not only is that too much information for the government, it is too much information for Microsoft to have. Imagine what that information could mean to advertisers too. It's too much in my opinion.

Vote with your wallet. Play games naked.

Frankly, i couldn't care less if the government wanted to watch me play X1 in my boxers. They see all of me every time I fly... I carry an iPhone in my pocket, and I use social networking sites, so if they really care that much about my basically boring life... fucking go for it.

Now, if you're up to illicit shit, I understand your paranoia... but if not, what's the fucking deal?

@spraynardtatum: I'm guessing you don't have a cell phone, laptop or even a computer if you're worried about this.

@the_laughing_man: Not super helpful but I'm glad you're having fun!

Hey sheep, Bahhh Baahhh, no worries, bahhh baahhh

they actually are.. google stellar wind please.
also, just because this stuff is happening doesnt mean its ok to freak out and run around screaming. its better to face the truth of whats going on than to run away from it. i wager people who go HEHAHEHA CONSPIRACY THEORISTS are doing it from a place of fear, nervous anxiety, disbelieving anything that gives them a bit of a spook, that tells them life isnt really just what they see and hear in their surface level existence.

@bigjeffrey: You're a gullible person who apparently instantly believes everything you read, and you're calling people "sheep" because they want a little more information? As if governments all over the world really wanted to watch all the fat neckbeards in the world playing video games naked in their basement for hours and hours.

I am just a private person. I don't think that being private is inherently a bad thing. Privacy isn't just something that criminals or deviants cherish. Look at Ron Swanson from Parks and Rec if you're familiar with the show. That guy doesn't like government snooping around or having his information on record and he isn't a crazy person.

I'm not saying that social media should go away or anything like that. That's insane. All I mean is privacy is not being held as an important aspect of life. There should be boundaries between when an advertiser can try to sell to you and when they need to piss off. That goes for the government to. If I don't want them in my house or on my phone I feel I have the right to deny them access.

Just like if some crack head was riffling through my mail.

I don't mean to defend the Xbox One, but don't all notebooks have webcams now? Couldn't those be used to monitor us? If so then Xbox One isn't really anything new.

@egg: The Kinect 2.0 is pretty darn similar, you're right. There are just some things that I've been able to gather that make it a different beast in my eyes. The fact that the camera must be on and connected when you are using the console and the fact that it can read your heart rate, emotion, how many people are in the room, and possibly where you're looking on the screen.

There are little distinctions that make it just a little scarier to me than the average web cam. I can turn the webcam off on my laptop for instance.

#1reasonwhy

Still not explained after the single link they put up about it. Is it private like Verizon is private? What stops the government from using the data that Microsoft is collecting here? All of our phones data call data is being collected and stored by the government. Why wouldn't this new camera from Microsoft have to do the exact same thing?

Even if you think your webcam on your laptop is off it can still be turned on without you know. And with the whole NSA / Verizon thing in the news today, it's not like "they" couldn't already be listening in on you. Why would they care about your heartrate, emotion or where you're looking? How is that private information? No one would even care. If you want a private life go live in the woods with no electronics.

Heck when people start wearing Google Glass everywhere are you going to wear a paper bag over your head?

What if it did, what difference does it make? You do realize that FBI / CIA, etc. listen in on Xbox Live conversations without people knowing already... Oh no, they heard me trash talking my privacy! my privacy!

Also read this quote from Washingtonpost.com

Separately, The Washington Post and The Guardian reported Thursday the existence of another program used by the NSA and FBI that scours the nation’s main Internet companies, extracting audio, video, photographs, emails, documents and connection logs to help analysts track a person’s movements and contacts. It was not clear whether the program, called PRISM, targets known suspects or broadly collects data from other Americans.

The companies include Microsoft, Yahoo, Google, Facebook, PalTalk, AOL, Skype, YouTube and Apple. The Post said PalTalk has had numerous posts about the Arab Spring and the Syrian civil war. It also said Dropbox would soon be included

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/technology/government-sweep-of-millions-of-citizens-phone-records-ignites-fresh-debate-over-surveillance/2013/06/06/4b1e0824-cf0c-11e2-8573-3baeea6a2647_story.html

Come on, that's weird right? Should I even be typing this right now? Please refrain from taking me prisoner NSA and FBI. I have done nothing wrong unless you consider me voicing my opinion is wrong.

@jdh5153: why are you attacking me?

You're just being irrational dude. If you're worried about your privacy you shouldn't even be typing on the internet, because like you pointed out, every single thing you type / view / etc. can and most likely has been tracked in some database. That's more information than what they'd get through looking into your living room....

@jdh5153: That's precisely why I SHOULD put it on the internet. That's why i SHOULD voice my opinion. Because if they can see it then they can see that I don't like it. That means something to me.

they don't care.

Then don't bother me while I do it. I'm not talking to you I'm talking directly to the government right now. I'm glad you're okay with all this. You're going to have a very easy life.

Just like their video said. To turn on your Xboxone make it so you have to be naked.

And One more. No pun intended.

Disclosure of the PRISM program follows a leak to the Guardian on Wednesday of a top-secret court order compelling telecoms provider Verizon to turn over the telephone records of millions of US customers.

The participation of the internet companies in PRISM will add to the debate, ignited by the Verizon revelation, about the scale of surveillance by the intelligence services. Unlike the collection of those call records, this surveillance can include the content of communications and not just the metadata.

Some of the world's largest internet brands are claimed to be part of the information-sharing program since its introduction in 2007. Microsoft – which is currently running an advertising campaign with the slogan "Yourprivacy is our priority" – was the first, with collection beginning in December 2007.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jun/06/us-tech-giants-nsa-data

"Your privacy is our priority." I'm actively not watching their games coverage at E3 now. There is no way that this console ends well for me or anyone who buys it. It's the stupidest purchase you can make in 2013.

How can they actually tell their customers that they will keep our data on the system (the Xbone) on the same day that all this information has come out about the US government and the NSA capturing data on every phone call since 2007 as well as PRISM. Can they even legally deny it from the government?

Ya you really do sound like a tin foil hat person. Do you really think the X1 is the only thing that could possibly monitor you in your house?

I hope that you're kidding. I find that extremely offensive you close minded bully.

@jdh5153: I just am dealing with the shock that the 4th Amendment of the US Constitution has been broken by my own government. I'm sorry if I'm a little too Howard Beale for you right now.

Do you have a card for discounts at the local store?

@sathingtonwaltz said:

It's not. It's just that we already know cell phones can be remotely activated, and those never leave our sides.

An immobile device in our living rooms, while not the least of our worries, falls well below any of the dozens of currently running and illegal government programs to monitor citizens.