Updated privacy policy outlines Xbox One Kinect data protections

[shamu726]

Company also says you "should not expect any level of privacy" in voice chat.

Microsoft has updated its privacy policy ahead of the Xbox One launch later this month, clarifying how the company handles data connected by the new Kinect as well as the Xbox One's online and game DVR functions.

The statement reiterates what Microsoft Director of Product Albert Penello told us in September regarding the Xbox One's use of facial recognition to automatically log in users. This data "does not leave the console" and can be deleted from the local console at any time. In addition, Microsoft says that the string of numbers used internally to represent your recognition model can't be deciphered and tied back to you in any way.

Any skeletal models generated by Kinect are destroyed after a given gameplay session, Microsoft says, including any models sent over the Internet during an online gameplay session. These skeletons are also not personally identifiable from the raw data, Microsoft says, nor is any facial expression data collected by Kinect.

In contrast, Microsoft says users "should not expect any level of privacy concerning your use of the live communication features such as voice chat, video, and communications in live-hosted gameplay sessions offered through the Services." The company may monitor these channels "to the extent permitted by law," though it says it "cannot monitor the entire Service and make no attempt to do so" and does not listen in on Skype calls at all. Online voice chat can be recorded or broadcast by others as well, Microsoft notes.

Microsoft also says it collects sample voice control commands from the Kinect periodically "for product improvement," but it only does so with user consent. The company also stores exercise information collected during the play of Xbox Fitness, but it says it won't share that data on its own.

For the Xbox One's internal GameDVR, users can set the system to share recorded clips with no one, only with friends, or allow them to be viewable by everyone. Microsoft warns that your character in online matches can be easily recorded by others using the Xbox One's GameDVR feature but that any online voice chat won't be captured by the built-in features.

Elsewhere, the privacy statement also links to an opt-out page where users can disable targeted advertising and tracking by a number of third-party ad services. The company warns that third-party publishers may also collect personal information through the Xbox. Electronic Arts, Xseed Games, and Disney Interactive are named explicitly as companies that might do just that.

Source: Ars Technica

[nIGHT]

You already collected all from pc and now xbox, then why wouldn't you personally pick up and collect my garbage in my bin too!

That way I don't have to waste my time standing up and walking out of the house!

You make me real happy if you do this. :P