New Xbox by NSA partner Microsoft will watch you 24/7

Possible privacy violations by Microsoft’s upcoming Xbox One have come under new scrutiny since it was revealed Thursday that the tech giant was a crucial partner in an expansive Internet surveillance program conducted by the National Security Agency and involving Silicon Valley’s biggest players.

[ThatCanadianGuy514]

>Dat privacy invasion
http://oi43.tinypic.com/aw7...

^ Even the non gaming media are becoming aware of this insanity.

[xHeavYx]

I can think of a real time multiplayer game/TV series "run away from the Feds" where they give an Xbox One to dealers/criminals, then they try to run away connecting to the internet once every 24 hours.
I need to find a way to make this GIF my signature
https://i.chzbgr.com/maxW50...

[abzdine]

huge gif !! reflects reality quite well :D

[THamm]

XBOX DONE, I'm sick of any MS press, good or bad. The bad just outweigh the good.

[dcbronco]

THamm that's only if you listen to people that live in a box. The reality is NSA has been listening to phone call, copying fazes and copying activity on the Internet for years. Every once in a while people are reminded that this is happening and they lose their minds. The FBI does the same thing on the Internet. They copy every single thing done on the Internet. NSA admits it to a certain extent. When the head was Lt. Gen. Michael V. Hayden he decided to come clean about Echelon. But it is rumored that there is a far better system now in place. Hayden is now the head of the CIA.

The FBIs program was called Carnivore. They claimed it didn't exist. Then they said it couldn't do what the claims said. The claims were that it could copy everything done on the Internet. Then one day someone leaked classified e-mails of them talking about it being used to copy every action on the Internet for 3 months straight and the system didn't break a sweat. Congress told them to destroy it, but it was supposedly continued through a new system.

Echelon

http://www.washingtonpost.c...

http://abcnews.go.com/Techn...

Carnivore

http://en.wikipedia.org/wik...

http://www.howstuffworks.co...

http://www.g4tv.com/videos/...

http://www.pcworld.com/arti...

Trust me, Kinect is the least of your problems.

[S2Killinit]

@dcbronco
according to what you are saying, if they are already doing it, then there is no reason to fight it. First, I don't know how to tell you that that is not how you should look at it. Second, you realize that the kinect is embedded with information gathering technology the likes of which we have not dealt with before. It's like big brother's wet dream. On top of it all, this one is right in your living room. The home used to be the last bastion of personal space, it was sacred. This is a place where you could take shelter from the influences of the outside world. Today that sacred place is under attack. In the past you would not allow a Microsoft employee to come to your house and collect personal information about you, but as technology advances, companies seeking a higher profit look for new ways of gathering information that gives them an edge against the rest, its a free for all and our personal rights are being violated with our own permission.

[dcbronco]

@S2Killinit

No, what I'm saying is that gamers need to get their heads out of their a--es. The world doesn't revolve around them and everything isn't MS being evil. But worse of all is the Americans too stupid to understand their rights under the Constitution. If you are so uninformed about such a serious issue that has been around for almost twenty years, you don't deserve privacy. If a stupid belief that MS can openly violate US law is one you have, then you deserve no privacy. That person needs a 24hr nanny to make sure they don't hurt themselves. The Constitution is taught in elementary school. And gets refreshed until you graduate high school. If you somehow still missed it, your privacy is low down on the list of your problems.

Look at the links, look at the dates. None of it has anything to do with Kinect. The government has been watching you and recording your every move through every electronic device with WiFi you own. On every connection to the Internet you have. And they store it and organized it. They do profiles on communities so they know what to tell them to pimp them. But again, if Kinect was your introduction to all of this, you don't have time for gaming. Read a book, watch the news and go outside for a long, long time. Because you have been in a bubble and missed a ton.

MS can not invade your privacy by law. The government can't either. But MS will lose a suit if they are caught and the user agreement and other things makes that easy. But the government has done it again and again and have gotten caught and nothing has been done. But now Kinect is the motivation to care. Please. And the idiots in this country will still vote in the same people to congress because they also know nothing about politics. I guess we'll have to wait until MS performs a coup before anyone notices.

Scared place under attack. Pfftt! It hasn't been sacred in twenty years. Long before twenty years. The government will always do whatever it wants because Americans are stupid and uneducated. All of their interest reside in entertainment. As long as it doesn't involve Kim K or consoles, it didn't happen.

[Blackdeath_663]

i wonder if it may get banned in some countries because of this

[Godmars290]

I think Germany and Australasia have both voiced and are looking at privacy concerns. Neither have said if they'll block it on those grounds.

[Toon_Link]

Looks like Microsoft are looking to become the thought police from the book 1984. For people that haven't read it in 1984 everyone is monitored and anything you say or do can land you in a lot of trouble if big brother sees your actions as a problem.

I really recommend reading that book before you decide if its ok for a giant company like Microsoft to put an always online always listening camera in your house.

[Conzul]

Yeah, 1984 and Animal Farm.

A frog, slow boiled, will never jump from the pot.

[Gildarts]

Microsoft is not part of the NSA.

http://www.reuters.com/arti...

[Foxgod]

This is exactly why MS cancels pr shows.
Because of the immature journalism these days thats all based on false assumptions.

[ThatCanadianGuy514]

Yes, they are.Is this not Microsofts Logo with the rest of them? http://oi42.tinypic.com/30b...

When they're asked, they give it.Which means it's all stored.

[greenpowerz]

I agree with fox.

Media in the gaming industry these days are acting like media did in the last American election when republicans and Mitt Romney conditioned the American media to practice garbage journalism. Obama and team simply stopped exposing themselves to the gotcha journalism and went to the people.

[lastofgen]

@DayZ

you want to provide us with a link supporting Microsoft's current stance/position rather than a screenshot taken that could have been easily photoshopped??

[stuna1]

But tell me did you see the other article on the page you linked too? FBI & Microsoft take aim at global cyber crime ring, but yet their a software company.

[Godmars290]

@Foxgod:

All this really started because of the initial leak, then the Orth incident. In all that time MS made no effort to respond to rising criticisms and even posters such as yourself insisted that they didn't need. Then they went and confirmed all of them. Badly.

That things have only somehow gotten worse is their own fault.

[GribbleGrunger]

Don't be ridiculous, Fox, that's a reason to have MORE interviews.

[ShwankyShpanky]

Hm.... who to believe... Microsoft PR statement, or actual NSA documents? Gee, tough call.

"Microsoft made no mention of the PRISM program in a statement released after the Post report, and denied it was part of any voluntary data collection mechanism."

Instead of sidestepping the issue, maybe MS can just explain why their name is all over the PRISM documents.

Documents: U.S. mining data from 9 leading Internet firms; companies deny knowledge
http://www.washingtonpost.c...

The National Security Agency and the FBI are tapping directly into the central servers of nine leading U.S. Internet companies, extracting audio and video chats, photographs, e-mails, documents, and connection logs that enable analysts to track one target or trace a whole network of associates, according to a top-secret document obtained by The Washington Post.

Equally unusual is the way the NSA extracts what it wants, according to the document: “Collection directly from the servers of these U.S. Service Providers: Microsoft, Yahoo, Google, Facebook, PalTalk, AOL, Skype, YouTube, Apple.”

http://www.washingtonpost.c...

-

Microsoft – which is currently running an advertising campaign with the slogan "Your privacy is our priority" – was the first, with collection beginning in December 2007.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/w...

-

CIA Chief: We’ll Spy on You Through Your Dishwasher
http://www.wired.com/danger...
March 15, 2012

More and more personal and household devices are connecting to the internet, from your television to your car navigation systems to your light switches. CIA Director David Petraeus cannot wait to spy on you through them.

Earlier this month, Petraeus mused about the emergence of an “Internet of Things” — that is, wired devices — at a summit for In-Q-Tel, the CIA’s venture capital firm. “‘Transformational’ is an overused word, but I do believe it properly applies to these technologies,” Petraeus enthused, “particularly to their effect on clandestine tradecraft.”

All those new online devices are a treasure trove of data if you’re a “person of interest” to the spy community. Once upon a time, spies had to place a bug in your chandelier to hear your conversation. With the rise of the “smart home,” you’d be sending tagged, geolocated data that a spy agency can intercept in real time when you use the lighting app on your phone to adjust your living room’s ambiance.

“Items of interest will be located, identified, monitored, and remotely controlled through technologies such as radio-frequency identification, sensor networks, tiny embedded servers, and energy harvesters — all connected to the next-generation internet using abundant, low-cost, and high-power computing,” Petraeus said, “the latter now going to cloud computing, in many areas greater and greater supercomputing, and, ultimately, heading to quantum computing.”

Petraeus allowed that these household spy devices “change our notions of secrecy” and prompt a rethink of “our notions of identity and secrecy.” All of which is true — if convenient for a CIA director.

[sourav93]

@Lastofgen http://www.engadget.com/201...

There you go.

[duli14]

How much are they paying you?

[Gildarts]

No they're not.

Every big company is denying everything. It even pissed zuckerberg off.

http://mobile.theverge.com/...

[ABizzel1]

Boycott the Xbox 1 people, if you must buy it get the console used.

[S2Killinit]

This article doesn't say they aren't part of the NSA. Where did you pick that up? I read the whole thing. All it was was Microsoft's statement in its defense saying "they don't reveal information until there is a government order to do so."

@lastofgen
Just do your own search. Read Forbes, I'm sure you consider them legit source. Its not a big secret, instead of arguing here, go read it up and you will see that Microsoft is, in fact, part of the PRISM program. That's the end of it.

[LackTrue4K]

Lol!!! That reminds of years back!!!
I was playing Burnout Paradise city, and another player had the PlayStation eye hooked up,...and well. In that game, there was settings for the camera to take a picture of you when you get taken down from another player.
After the game I went threw the list....! I could not believe my eyes!!!

"One picture had a guy playing in his shorts, with her wife Brest feeding her baby!!!!"

Lol....I even send the picture to the guy, and never got a respond.

[TK421]

I wonder which posters in this thread work for Microsoft?

If only there was some way to tell hmmm...

[RedHawkX]

I agree they already taking your cell phone records and listening to your convos but now they taking it to a new level with being able to see you in kinect and you facial expressions and all other sorts of personal stuff.

[wellard]

@dcbronco

Thats great information but did either of those 2 systems put an HD camera and microphone in your living room and/or kids bedrooms?

My concern is having a camera that we as parents have no control over, what so ever, pointed at our children, in their bedrooms.

Yeah yeah we hear all this schmuckus about MS will never farm data and if they did it would be kept totally private, yadda yadda yadda.

Didn't google just get handed papers by a federal judge stating that the FBI must be given whatever info it wants on Google accounts without the issue of a warrant?

Do any of us actually think for a second that the US government would pass indefinitely on an opportunity
to exploit a system like kinect?

These aren't fanboy concerns, these are genuine concerns about the privacy of my family and myself in my own home. While MS maintain this need to have a camera plugged in and switched on 24/7 i simply cannot and will not purchase this system no matter how much i would like to continue supporting the Xbox brand. (im an avid (or rather was) fan of xbox) so dont judge this comment based on what system you have under your television.

[sAVAge_bEaST]

and this
http://i1.wp.com/topinfopos...

[indysurfn]

I have been saying this for years, but now I think people will listen. I know that Microsoft knew they could not compete with Japanese on turn based RPG's. So they have been having people review turn based RPG's, and pay them to dog it out for being a turn based RPG. And to trick people into thinking that turn based rpg's as obsolete, and we have moved on to action rpg's. when in fact the first RPG's (after pen and paper) where ACTION rpg's THEN later came turn based. And people have fallen for it. Even Square enix resigned president admitted they lost there way when resigning, for moving away from what people wanted. (yes I'm ranting)
now square has promised to return to their roots. (it takes awhile) meanwhile other companies have taken japans rpg market, with turn based rpg's not action. About 15 years ago 10 percent of games in japans top 50 where jrpgs. NOW every week at LEAST 40% of the most wanted, and 50% of total sales in Japan of the top 50 charts are rpg's not western rpg's but jrpgs! Microsoft has no effect on the minds of the Japanese (whew!). I hope people start to realize that real JRPGs are addictive.

when Microsoft talks cerebral and twitch. they are really talking turn based and thinking(cerebral), and action(twitch). Everything does not need to be a reflex action!

[M-M]

With the NSA and PRISM leak, their intentions with this system are becoming more apparent.

[aviator189]

Microsoft, along with other tech companies including google, have already denied participation in this program, which has been going on for years. Isn't this article just blatantly misrepresenting the facts?

http://www.neowin.net/news/...

[AngelicIceDiamond]

Yep, just hit seeking.

[ThatCanadianGuy514]

Are you serious? That link just CONFIRMS it.
Only instead of a steady stream of everyones info being sent, they only give the info they're asked to give.

Which me it's all being stored for when they're asked.

300K servers indeed.

[aviator189]

The link I provided only confirms probably what all tech companies are required to provide if the government has legal justification on individual accounts. Companies are powerless in that regard.

And the link also confirms ms's non-involvement in this nsa program, which is a broad-based information collection program not dependent on individual inquiries. This article is implying that ms is participating in this program, which isn't the case at all.

[lastofgen]

@DayZ

I don't think you read both articles correctly. They're not the same thing..

I'd say more, but I think aviator explains it pretty well in his or her reply to you.

[ShwankyShpanky]

Right... they're not participating... and the 24-hour check-in is "just a possible scenario."

[aviator189]

nope, not a scenario. it's been confirmed.
and yes, ms are not participating with nsa in the prism program.

[Xwow2008]

Illuminati box ;)

[FrigidDARKNESS]

Article is lame and nothing but hearsy. Website is suspect never heard of it.

[marinelife9]

@ Frigid Darkness. You've never heard of it because it's a political website not a gaming site.

[Foxgod]

Not possible if you set kinect to be turned off when the console is down.
Did you people know that every friggin medium in the world gathers your data, ever heard of cookies?

So if your worried about kinect, better get worried about the stuff you already use.

[DarkZane]

Yet, cookies on computers can't see a person masturbating watching porn.

[Foxgod]

They can see whatever you visit, including porn.
And btw, did you know you can disable kinect, or set up your router to limit your bandwith on the xbox, or...... pull the power plug....

Besides, nobody wants to see you jack off.

[Gildarts]

You masturbate in front of your PS3?

[ShwankyShpanky]

Some of us actually manage our "cookie intake," via browser management, proxy servers, VPNs, etc.

And to suggest that a cookie that tracks browsing habits is comparable to a web-connected facial-recognition camera and microphone in your home (that was built with significant input from Israeli intelligence operatives)... well... that's just god damn retarded.

BTW... I'd have an issue with it were developed by Chinese or Canadian or US intelligence operatives as well. But as it stands, here are a few of the folks from Kinect sensor developer & MS partner, PrimeSense:

Aviad Maizels: President & Founder & Member Of The Board Of Directors
http://www.crunchbase.com/p...
Prior to founding Prime Sense, Aviad served in an elite intelligence unit in the IDF as Head Of A Technological R&D Section

Yossi Sela: Board of Directors
http://www.ey-events.co.il/...
Yossi spent 10 years in an elite intelligence unit of the Israel Defense Forces, reaching the rank of Major.

Jonathan Saacks: Board of Directors
http://www.genesispartners....
Previously Jonny served in the Intelligence Corps of the Israeli Defense Forces commanding large operational teams in technology-related projects, and holds the rank of Lieutenant colonel.

Inon Beracha: CEO
http://www.primesense.com/t...
served as VP of the Electronic R&D Department of the Israeli Ministry of Defense

Alexander Shpunt: Chief Technology Officer & Co-Founder
http://www.primesense.com/t...
served in an Air Force R&D unit and later in the Israeli DARPA

(out of bubbles... enjoy)

[extermin8or]

Oh I didn't like the privacy or rather lack of it implications of the box one but since the PRISM -NSA documents leaked courtesy of The Guardian laughed at "the us goverment is watching you" posts-turns out they actually were... Even if the companies were telling the truth and they aren't signed up to anything and don't know-it's still bad news especially when companies want to put cameras that always watch and listen attached to always on devices and now- how can you even trust any of the companies on that list if they say "oh the camera can be turned off" yeah and you said you weren't sharing my data if i cliked this box, and anything you shared would be anonymous ANYWAY-LIES! Hell I'm not even a USA resedient they've got even less right to be getting hold of my details...

[supraking951]

Yay Sony wins, that is all.

[brianunfried]

The world is becoming more Orwellian every day. Everybody already has a tracking device on them, its called a smart phone.

[BattleTorn]

All of the things to be upset at Microsoft in recent days, this is not one of them...

Don't get me wrong, as an Xbox fan, I feel abandoned -- I am going PS4 now.

But, can't we quit with the "always watching" BS, it's been confirmed to be untrue.

Microsoft says you can turn Kinect off, and disallow any, or all, information being uploaded to the cloud.

How about we keep the hysteria to a minimum?

[sAVAge_bEaST]

you can "pause" it/hahahaa , or turn it off by saying "xbox off" it still needs to connect, to kinect to work.. so you can't unplug it..

[mmj]

I'm not touching Xbone with a barge pole, Japanese PS4 for me all the way.

[Up_N_U]

well I guess developers are just gana waste there money on a console that's not even gana sale yet they call the wii u bullshit. well from what I can tell the wii u is about to force Microsoft into submission. red umm idk are they still doing red ring of death?

[Sorraxe]

That peace of skit will get banned in few Eu countries.

[sAVAge_bEaST]

This
http://i1.wp.com/topinfopos...

[headblackman]

whatever!!! next.

[YodaCracker]

Kinect will watch you 24/7? Nope! Must have missed the memo just the other day:

"You are in control of what Kinect can see and hear: By design, you will determine how responsive and personalized your Xbox One is to you and your family during setup. The system will navigate you through key privacy options, like automatic or manual sign in, privacy settings, and clear notifications about how data is used. When Xbox One is on and you’re simply having a conversation in your living room, your conversation is not being recorded or uploaded.

You are in control of when Kinect sensing is On, Off or Paused: 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 -- “Xbox On,” and you can even turn that feature off too. Some apps and games may require Kinect functionality to operate, so you’ll need to turn it back on for these experiences.

You are in control of your personal data: You can play games or enjoy applications that use data, such as videos, photos, facial expressions, heart rate and more, but this data will not leave your Xbox One without your explicit permission."

But keep on trolling! Now resorting to mistruths, too?