Oculus VR T&C's Allowing Facebook to Collect Movement Information
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When it comes to anything owned by Facebook, we kind of expect them to be taking information about what we do. They've been doing it for years and they use it to drive targeted ads. Most of the time it even makes sense as at least it means we're seeing things we might be interested in. However, most people didn't think when they switch their VR headset on, or how they move in it, would count as necessary information to be shared.
Data harvesting is generally a common thing now and companies can collect your data from anywhere. If you sign up to something or tick the wrong box then you could be receiving emails and phone calls from people your data has been sold to for years. It's a definite issue but one we just have to get smart about. Because of this you don't get too annoyed about some of the data harvesting because it's not affecting you outside of that one product or service. Facebook might collect data from every site you look at if you have a Facebook account logged in on your phone but it still only affects what you see on Facebook. In terms of ads, using Google is worse because you'll receive ads for things you've searched on Google on every other website, but again that's not too bad. So what's the problem with this Oculus data collection?
Looking into how you move isn't the same as looking into what you're searching for one thing. You're not freely giving up the data of every movement you make and if you struggle with something because of some sort of disability then this could be embarrassing for some. Admittedly this data could be useful for releasing better games but it's understandable why the idea makes some people uncomfortable. However the data is still be used essentially for advertisements as they want to use it to send you promotional messages and content across all of Facebook's services. Basically if you have an Oculus Rift, start expecting to see adverts for products across your WhatsApp and Facebook accounts as well.
Fortunately this information hasn't been released in a leak but in the Oculus Rift's terms and conditions. This means that Facebook are being honest about this and that's a good thing. If some people want to avoid buying one of their VR sets because of this then great, at least it would have been because they know the facts. But that doesn't change the fact that many potential users are upset.
"We collect information about your physical movements." Really, #OculusRift? You really want to go there? #GamerGate pic.twitter.com/xmQGeKJgJV— Lunar Archivist (@LunarArchivist) April 4, 2016
In the long run this data collection might not be too bad but users will have to wait and see how they feel about considering so many of the headsets are also late.
Rosina is a Songbird rookie with a degree in Creative Writing. She's trying to focus on her novel on the side but is hoping that Content Writing will turn out to be a good career choice in the mean time! Follow her @Songbird_Rosina
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Oculus VR T&C's Allowing Facebook to Collect Movement Information
Reviewed by Unknown
on
Wednesday, April 06, 2016
Rating:
Reviewed by Unknown
on
Wednesday, April 06, 2016
Rating:
Unknown
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