Should Government Restrict Xbox One Kinect?

A new bill was introduced on the house floor today in Congress that could have huge implications for Microsoft's Xbox One. Citing privacy concerns, lawmakers are targeting devices with cameras.

[ApolloTheBoss]

I'll bet this was the government's idea to begin with.

[Fairchild Channel F]

Should they restrict it? Yep.

It's also ironic that congress has a problem with this type of intrusion/spying but seems to be completely ok knowing the National Security Agency was collecting data on hundreds of millions of Americans in a dragnet like collection of American citizens' phone records and Internet information.

[Belking]

Well where have you been? This has been going on since before you were born. It's not gonna stop nor should it. As long as you aren't a threat to national security then there is nothing to worry about. I hate to break it to ya but the U.S. is only one of many, many countries that do this. It's intrusive but it's necessary.

[DarkBlood]

No @Belking its only acceptable in public places i sure as hell dont want privacy invasion products in my own home since you know its damn private and what i or anyone else do in thier own place is none of the "goverment and anyone elses" business

so when someone buys something tech it better not have that kind of intrusive features because they dont need to have it there.

Though i have nothing to hide doesnt meant i like being monitered to that extent, protect your own freedom.

[RedHawkX]

this the same thing i was just about to say lol. govermet probably paying ms under the table to do this in the first place. its amazing that some people are still going to buy an xbox one to become slaves

[giovonni]

This is so blown out of proportion its ridiciulous now.Let me let you in on something Redhawk... You're already a slave. You have an identification number that tracks your every move... A physical form of currency that keeps you in debt, a system In place to keep you that way. Lets not forget there are electronics and services outside of the xboxone that pin point where you been, and let me let you in on another secret... They've been doing it since the 60s.

The government paying ms to monitor people? please! MS is nothing but a small fry in a big pound. Why would you pay a company... You control... To enslave people, that have already be enslave by the government using currency, religion, and military power? If you think choosing to own an xboxone is going to make people slaves than there is a lot to be learned. You should be more worried about the city of states and the world banks than an over blown out of proportion video game system. To make a log story short... We are all monitored, some more than others so go ahead and use MS as a scapegoat I something that has been going on for a very long time

[SilentNegotiator]

Between our executive branch keeping the Patriot Act alive and congress being distracted with gun violence over a few instances of people snapping (and "combating" it by wasting millions on studies that have already been done a million times on violent games and movies, trying to ban fancier semi-automatics, and hitting their heads against the wall), we'll have to put up with crap like this for a long time. Probably forever.

Basically 16 years of the Bush administration. So much for "change" on the issues people were the most up in arms over this last decade.

[mydyingparadiselost]

Except for the gun violence legislation being a 'distraction' ( although I agree that violent media studies are unnecessary at this point) I couldn't agree more. The Obama admin has just taken the Bush era policies and run with them instead of changing any of them for the better and the 'new more open gov' pledge he ran with is now tarnished by hiding the extent to which people can and have been monitored.

[iliimaster]

belking you are so off on this.... they can blackmail anyone with prisim look at the statistics porn is everywhere especially now.... and back just a few years not that many people had smart phones now everyone does so more data etc is being collected more than ever you wouldn't want someone snooping around your house with a checklist making sure theres nothing to get u in trouble with would you?

[Tyre]

Well Said! Finally someone who gets it too. What a bunch of morons still willingly defending this crap....unbelievable how people are brainwashed in trusting the ones that trust no-one & these people will get unprecedented power like we have NEVER seen in any state in history before! No government should ever have this overwhelming control over peoples lives. Finally the politicians are acting like they should in a modern western democracy 'working in the interest of the public & protecting ordinary people from an overpowered state'! We must restore a balance of power otherwise this WILL lead to a new totalitarian state. Power corrupts, the surveillance techniques WILL lead to immense suppression if abused by anti democratic minded people. Most surveillance is in the interest of protecting state property and not the public, wake up! Accepting a device capable of surveillance and that uses a mandatory CCTV/Biometric/Voice profiling/3D object IDTAG scanner in your house is a major violating of our freedoms. There should remain a difference between a prison and our ordinary lives.

[NumOnePS3FanBoy]

@ApolloTheBeast hahaha my thoughts exactly. This guy must be under a rock if he hasn't noticed what is happening in the user private data space that has been on the news for day. The government would sell their own grandma to have one of these in every home lol

[rainslacker]

To be fair, not everyone in congress or the house has knowledge or oversight of the CIA.

More on Topic:

Even if a bill like this got passed, it probably wouldn't stop things like PRISM from happening. The patriot act supersedes most laws. They'll just be more careful not to get caught.

It's nice that it's at least being drafted. It at least hold corporations who would be prone to use this technology to the law, and hopefully prevent abuse. I doubt it will do much for keeping clandestine government operations from following the law.

[Belking]

This is so stupid.

[evilhasitsway]

yes they should and who ever idea it was to have the thing watch and listen at all times needs to be fired some really stupid crap. this is were it starts watching with the x1 then next thing you know it will be the tv then your phone. so and so stop it now while we can.

[Belking]

If that's what you believe then you better get rid of every other device that can do it too. I got news for ya. you are being monitored right now on the internet. What can you do about that? Nothing I think...lol

[brich233]

what makes u think thier not spying on your cell phone?

[Fairchild Channel F]

@evilhasitsway

Already trying that.

http://www.nbcnews.com/tech...

[mydyingparadiselost]

Thanks for posting a link it was a good read, I had no idea that Kinect like hardware was being put in TVs. Troubling times indeed.

[rainslacker]

Even if one person thought of it, it's still up to a board of directors to decide if they want to use it. No doubt the money they showed they could make off such technology was enough to not have much discussion on it. Data mining is a very lucrative business with plenty of buyers.

[Soldierone]

Why? They'd love this. They could steal information and watch every little thing you do, and then turn around and say "oh we are just scanning rooms for wanted criminals."

I haven't been defending Microsoft, but in all honesty if the government wants them to "warn" people or "restrict" it, then they need to do the same thing to themselves.... Constantly stealing all our data, but don't worry its "not against the law....."

[rainslacker]

" and then turn around and say "oh we are just scanning rooms for wanted criminals."

I'm pretty sure that they would still need a warrant to do such a thing. This would be equivalent to the police just coming into your house. They can't really walk up to your door and say, "We're just looking for criminals." They need some sort of probable cause.

There is the issue of finding terrorists, and these kinds of laws don't affect the search for them. That kind of power got abused pretty bad, and it's worrisome that a major corporation now has the ability to possibly monitor your home for the government. It's also worrisome that it could be hacked and used for any number of deviant acts by people who just want to do things like that.

The fact people would want something like this in their home, even if they trust the corporations providing them is worrisome.

I guess what I'm saying is that the X1 is rather worrisome.

[Soldierone]

They used to need a warrant to hand to phone companies for all our private data too, and all the information off our hard drives. This wouldn't be any different. Its information through tech, therefore they can "legally" steal it if they force Microsoft to do it.

I don't see why they are attacking Microsoft anyways, they have been big supporters of this stupid data stealing

[Godmars290]

The government shouldn't have moved intelligence gathering to the private business sector.

All this crap, since MS is one of the companies which signed on, is an offshoot of those companies trying to justify their expenses and raise their profits.

And this crap has been going on since Bush because of 9/11.

[giovonni]

You mean since the FBI. They've tracked every mover Martin Luther king made. The same tactics that were used to break up the black panthers were used on two popular rappers that are now dead. Forget Bush, He's Ronald McDonald or a face of a power with someone pulling his strings. Same goes for Clinton, and Obama. Now whoever else lands in office will have the same faith.... O

[theWB27]

While your at it..take the cameras off of ATM's, out of grocery stores and banks. Take the cameras out of traffic stops (look at the Mont Blanc Tunnel) have cell phones with optional cameras. Laptops shouldn't come with built in cameras either. Apps on our phones are more intrusive than this(facebok and Google have access to all data on your phone, including phone calls) why aren't these being targeted for privacy?

The camera can be turned off...I can't believe how sensationalist the gaming media has become. It's gone from it being about games to being misinformed articles trolling for the most ridiculous, rehashed story looking for hits. It as bad as the media saying FPS train us to be mass murderers...

Gamers think speaking out against this is the best thing that could happen...I look at it as this giving a leg to old farts who want to restrict what content and the amount of violence that comes with our games. You think if they get a victory against something gaming related that they'll feel satisfied? No, they get a victory against Micro and they'll really start going after the other parts..bit by bit.

[mydyingparadiselost]

OR this causes people to become significantly more aware of not only future possibilities of privacy infringement but also the current amount of data that is already being monitored through numerous means across multiple mediums. People are NOT happy about the Prism program and I have a feeling most people haven't really thought much about how their privacy can be infringed on by not just a camera but various other means.
Companies like Google, Yahoo and Facebook ARE being targeted for privacy concerns as well but since they aren't game companies and MS is coming out with a console that brings these issues to the forefront of gaming the gaming community is speaking out.

[rainslacker]

You know...I've seen this kind of argument a lot recently. The whole "20 wrongs make a right" thing. It's not really a sound argument when you just say, "Well they are doing it", or "Wait until this company does it". It's still wrong.

Since this is a gaming forum, and gaming, along with all things associated with it, is what we talk about, why would we bring up other devices when we have one that effects us in a way that we can relate to better?

If you want to talk about all those other companies doing it, N4G has sister sites which deal with other technology. You're just trying to redirect the issue, when what you should be doing, since you feel so strongly about it, is putting the focus on all the offenders.

[theWB27]

Because the gaming camera is being compared to a spy device, and talks of it being classified as such by the government. That has nothing to do with gaming, which makes me have the right to go off topic, as you think, to make the 20 wrongs make a right argument.

If you'd read what I wrote clearer, you'd see that I tied it together with gamers NOT complaining and speaking out like they are because it could invite old farts to go harder against our hobby when they know little about it. The media already claims that a game can train us to be killers. If they score a victory with this, again, it could lead them to go harder against other regulations.

I wasn't off topic and that paragraph belongs right here, cause it was about gaming. But thanks..

[rainslacker]

"Because the gaming camera is being compared to a spy device"

Right. And in reference to the point of my post, how is it alright for a gaming device camera to have the potential to collect data on it's owner unawares alright, just because all those other devices may do it?

That's the whole point of this bill, to inform the user that it is collecting data on them. Not to prevent the sale of the technology to the consumer. Something MS has already announced it camera will do, sans an onscreen reminder. This bill seems to fall 100% in line with the Kinect.

[LobbycastGeoff]

Easy fix. Software patch to default off and then users can turn it on if they choose.

[Belking]

You can already do that. All you have to do is go into the kinect settings and select disable, just like you can do on the present Kinect.

[ThatCanadianGuy514]

No belking.That is not how it works.It goes into a low power mode but it's still listening for it's key trigger words.You can not fully disable the kinect or your xbone won't work.

I'm actually amazed you know next to nothing about this console, judging from your comments, because all you do is call people stupid who discuss the issues.

[theWB27]

@Dayz
Maybe you should do a little more research yourself. But I doubt even this will deter you from what you already think.

http://www.examiner.com/art...

http://www.xbox.com/en-US/k...

http://forums.forzamotorspo...

What more do you need Dayz??

[ThatCanadianGuy514]

None of those links you so diligently supplied disprove anything.In fact, they prove my point.Thanks, i guess?

** If you don’t want the Kinect sensor on while playing games or enjoying your entertainment, you can pause Kinect. To turn off your Xbox One, just say “Xbox Off.” When the system is off, it’s only listening for the single voice command

[MasterCornholio]

Theres an even easier solution thats completely fool proof.

Just allow people to unplug it from the system.

[deadfrag]

YES!I hope it gets slam by EU laws!

[ala_767]

Even Government hates xbox :D

[iliimaster]

i wonder what the incentives are for microsoft and everyone else hanging over all that information to them im sure they get somthing in return