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EA's 'Invasion of Privacy' Policy

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the quite-a-sack dept.

Justus writes "Gamers with Jobs has posted an article covering EA's privacy policy for Xbox Live users. In a nutshell, by using an EA game over Xbox Live, you are automatically creating an 'EA Online' account and granting Electronic Arts the ability to collect your name, address, and credit card information, as well as a variety of demographic information about how you use their products. Not only that, they explicitly say that they may tie these demographics to your personal information — no anonymous aggregation here! When Gamers with Jobs asked EA and Microsoft about these issues, they were met with stony silence, a fact they attribute to the pending release of the new Madden game next week. Without an official comment from the companies involved, it certainly looks like EA has the most invasive privacy policy they could come up with."

12 of 98 comments (clear)

  1. It's stories like this one... by c0l0 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    ...that should make it to the front page, to enable the really important stuff to spread more quickly - it's more than about time to let the big corps know we're giving up neither on our privacy, nor our freedom.

    Vote with your wallet - do _not_ buy products that fuck with your inalienable rights so badly.

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    :%s/Open Source/Free Software/g

    YTARY!
    1. Re:It's stories like this one... by Anonymous+Brave+Guy · · Score: 3, Insightful

      You make a good point about voting with a wallet. What a shame you dressed it up in so much hyperbole that an average punter would probably classify you as a whacko and ignore you.

      How can it be an "inalienable right" if it's being taken away from you?

      And in what way is this an assault on our "freedom"? Privacy, sure, but are they locking you up if you don't play enough or something?

      IMHO, if you have a good point to make, you can generally make it much more effectively by writing about it in a calm and reasoned fashion.

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      If you disagree, post your argument. (-1, Overrated) isn't your personal censorship tool for views you don't like.
    2. Re:It's stories like this one... by TheRaven64 · · Score: 4, Insightful
      How can it be an "inalienable right" if it's being taken away from you?

      Inalienable does not mean it can't be taken away from you, it means it is inherent; an inalienable right is a right which is absolute, not one which is granted. I could shoot you in the face with a gun, for example, removing your inalienable right to life. It's quite a fluffy concept, one that has kept philosophers happy for quite a while. As always Wikipedia has more coverage.

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      I am TheRaven on Soylent News
    3. Re:It's stories like this one... by TopShelf · · Score: 4, Insightful

      You're absolutely right about encouraging people not to deal with companies like this if they really care that much about the issue. Bottom line is, most people don't.

      It's insightful to remember the Scott McNealy quote: "You have zero privacy. Get over it."

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      Stop by my site where I write about ERP systems & more
  2. Easy solution by mustafap · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Dont buy their games

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    Open Source Drum Kit, LPLC deve board - mjhdesigns.com
    1. Re:Easy solution by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

      They wouldn't be able to get the information without Microsoft's "co-branding", so maybe it's MS you should boycott for "sharing" the information in the first place.

    2. Re:Easy solution by SharpFang · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I bet no amount of white hat education will help. What we need is a nice black-hat break-in, stealing all the collected data from EA and publishing it somewhere online. Users would learn it sucks, and EA would learn privacy violation lawsuits are costly.

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      45 5F E1 04 22 CA 29 C4 93 3F 95 05 2B 79 2A B2
    3. Re:Easy solution by ajs318 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Unfortunately, that probably won't help the cause. The media will conveniently forget that that information should never have been collected in the first place, and spin it as "evil hackers steal identities", not as "company commits egregious invasion of privacy". (If you do want to steal someone's identity, BTW, you can do worse than look here for inspiration.)

      As always, the best way to protect yourself is to lie through your teeth when asked for personal information and never, ever be even vaguely consistent across different requests. For instance, if you pretended to be an Albanian nun to get a NYT login, pretend to be a Portuguese sausage-maker with hobbies of sword-fighting and watch repair to get an IMDB login -- but don't mention anything ecclesiastical or Albanian.

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      Je fume. Tu fumes. Nous fûmes!
    4. Re:Easy solution by Wilson_6500 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      It's kinda hard to lie about your credit info, which these services seem to be collecting.

  3. Should be fully expaned on the frontpage by Ceriel+Nosforit · · Score: 4, Insightful

    This article should be fully expanded on the frontpage. Why? Because it's obiously exactly what EA and MS do not want. And therefore it should be done. Just out of spite.

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    All rites reversed 2010
  4. Looking forward to... by krell · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Looking forward to the industry that springs up when someone finds out that in the games, you can farm for other players' personal information along with weapons and magic-items.

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    Where were you when the voynix came?
  5. Re:Most invasive? by kextyn · · Score: 3, Insightful

    There's a key difference here. You can shop at Safeway without using a card. It is totally optional. And I'm pretty sure you get something in black and white to read through before you sign your name on it. You're comparing apples and oranges.