Oculus, why do you need to record our every move? Al Franken asks A US Senator wants to know what the Facebook-owned Oculus is planning to do with all the user data it collects with its Rift virtual reality (VR) headset. In a letter addressed to Oculus CEO Brandon Iribe, Al Franken (D-MN) asks what use Oculus has for the information it collects, specifically collecting and recording user's …
Probably but Farcebook is a US company operating across many jurisdictions so not answerable to the laws of any jurisdiction unless compelled to release information secretly to the TLAs by the use of orders from secret courts that come with warnings not to tell the customer that their privacy has been compromised.
"...so not answerable to the laws of any jurisdiction"
I think not.
Just look at the mess Microsoft got into over the Samba affair. They didn't want to give out the information but had to in the end when ordered to by the EU. The plain fact is that if you do business anywhere you play by the rules in that location.
Just look at the excuses offered by all the tax dodging corporations "We are fully in compliance with the law in this jurisdiction." They don't say of course that they use the location with the lowest standards of accountability, but they do obey the law. Sometimes.
Sorry that last is a bit off topic but it cuts both ways, You play by the rules or you don't do business. Seeing as how the EU is hot on user's rights Oculus had better watch its step, it might come to regret the land-grab it's attempting.
Doesn't matter where a company is based. Sovereign nations such as the UK have this quaint idea that they are - well - sovereign... ...and therefore have the right to make and enforce their own laws. They can, will and regularly have take action against companies that step too far over the wrong line. The degree to which they may in practice be able to enforce their decisions may vary, but that's a rather different issue. True, UK courts may not be able to compel Facebook to a particular course of behaviour worldwide (although in my observation, minor annoyances such as a complete lack of jurisdiction have regularly failed to stop US courts trying to do precisely that in the past); but the reality is that, if Facebook wants to do business in the UK, it will certainly need to do so in accordance with UK laws, or face consequences.
" "When done appropriately, the collection, storage, and sharing of personal information may enhance consumers' virtual reality experience, but we must ensure that Americans' very sensitive information is protected," Franken says in his letter. "
Yep, copied straight off "get-free-boiler-plate-legal-bullshit.com" but means diddley squat until the first hack occurs.
> Real A: "advertising".
If adult materials are involved, and perhaps (who knows?) dildonic devices, then we might be looking at:
Real A: "blackmail".
Personally, I wouldn't touch an online, adult-themed 3D technology with yours.
Bloody sans-serif fonts - I always read it as "AI" (as in Artificial Intelligence), not "Al" (as in Albert, Alphonse, etc) first.
And before the part of my brain that is responsible for correcting things like that kicks in, other parts of my brain take off on wild tangents - in this case about artificial AI-based US senators build by a modern day Frankenstein.
Which would be a good plot for a B-movie. Or the premise of a documentary, looking at some of them.
I have to ask you to stop breathing like that, that rhythmic breathing has already been registered to the Facebook organisation and any copying or seeking to take advantage of any Facebook owned movements will be pursued in the virtual courts.
Please note to defend your self in the virtual court you will need to have a current Facebook account, approved VR headset, if you do not have these a charge of $3000 will be made for provision of same.
All actions, speech, movements and communications become the sole property of Facebook during the use of the VR and court and subsequently. No details of the court proceedings or outcomes may be shared on social or other forms of media.
Failure to comply with the above terms renders your dispute invalid and will result in legal action for defamation of the brave new VR world.
They are getting this in early to soften the reaction. Soon they will be tracking eye movements,which will allow them to monitor how you respond to profiling and advertising stimuli.
Down the line they will probably be adding electroencephalogram (EEG) hardware, which on face value will allow users to control things 'with their minds!... cool dude!' but on closer inspection will be providing Facebook with a large and very deep dataset that could not get more personal.
The value to purveyors of goods / politics / religion / etc.. will be vast, and IMHO very dangerous.
"Coming soon to a game (film, 'experience', whatever...) near you - *Interactive Real-Time Product Placement and Advertisements.* Your target audience can now be reached and influenced in their once-private VR worlds!"
All 'They' have to do, is get VR media generators to provide a structure within their content that can be used as a framework for displaying adverts, and away they go:- Another escape from reality ruined by corporate greed.
Imagine Nuka-Cola adverts in Fallout being changed on-the-fly to Coca-Cola or Pepsi-Cola.
Or how about you are walking through a pleasant and fascinating idyllic 3D environment, but then you pass by a virtual billboard and discover it is emblazoned with current and 'targeted' adverts - "Especially picked for you!" from your browser's history or some crud you once viewed out of morbid curiosity on Farcebook?
This is not going to be pleasant...
(EDIT: Oh, and don't forget - this is unlikely to happen immediately - Farcebook will want to sell a few million of the headsets before the onslaught will begin in earnest.
My prediction is that it will start as low-key 'enhancements', then the shafting will be epic...!)
That would not be intrusive enough, they'd have your opponent stop what he, or she is doing, freeze you, disarmed to spot you for 30 seconds while they tell you the advantages of taking out carpal tunnel insurance with the gamers insurance company.
That cow in the lovely scenery, follows you, starts talking, she is doing pre-election stuff today.
You know those adds on youtube that you can't skip because the PC owner has not installed any add block, think of that but really in your face, with your eyes wired open.
You can continue fragging in 29, 28, 27.....
For a while Sony was playing ads during the "loading" screens on some titles. I saw it myself in the game "Wipeout HD". See also: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wipeout_HD#In-game_advertising
Seems like Facebook's Mark Zuckerborg™ might be making the same mistake Google did when it included a spy camera in it's Google Glass, which we, the great unwashed masses, vociferously rejected. Had Go_ogle not included the spy camera I think Google Glass was a great idea and would have been a great seller. It will be interesting to see how well-received the Oculus Rift will be knowing that it will be tracking the user's every bob, wiggle, and gyration... and monitoring exactly what he/she is watching/playing/doing while gyrating.
Vote with your wallets brothers and sisters, just like I do.
That only happened because people who didn't buy Glass assumed people who did were filming everything they saw. It wasn't the buyers who objected, it was their friends and random public.
(Ignoring the fact that the wearers could be identified (and therefore avoided) whereas all the people using other concealed recording equipment were ignored ..)
Easy problem; easy solution--
(1) DO NOT BUY ANYTHING FROM OCULUS RIFT;
(2) LET OCULUS RIFT KNOW OF YOUR DECISION.
This technique worked beautifully when applied to Amazon, when it decided to drop encryption of its product.
Oh, and just as icing on the cake, one might also use the same technique with Facebook (use your imagination...)
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