I always feel like someone is watching me... WoW and Xbox Live snooping (Updated)
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U got nothing more to say i guess ... and the point of the discussion was about wich could serve as the better spy tool ... naiveté and denial to the core 
Better spy tool is the platform more open to direct Internet where tons if spyware can be installed without consumers knowing which is any PC with camera; as I stated. Focusing on Kinect is a one trick pony on picking on MS. If you want to go the Kinect route then step up your game with the PS Camera which is on a veritable hacker paradise Called PSN. Kinect should be dead last in your targeting which just shows your uneducated bias.U got nothing more to say i guess ... and the point of the discussion was about wich could serve as the better spy tool ... naiveté and denial to the core
In my opinion, Playstation and Xbox are worst for camera spying than PC because you connect to their online services all the time. I think I only connect to Zune on PC, and even then, PC is WAY easier to monitor what your PC is doing by using Task Manager.
I think I already conceded that point to you. I do so again. You win that, no need to run up the score.
Now can you admit that it would be equally ridiculous for a government agency / corporation to attempt to get away with enabling Kinect and streaming video without you explicitly authorizing it? They'd be caught within a day by someone and they'd be crucified.
And that would never work. All the "snooping" that's going on is on traffic already going to the Internet. There is no way to think that they'd ever get away with streaming video/audio from Kinect - they'd be crucified once they got caught, which wouldn't take long.
If you think occasionally checking task manager makes your PC safe, you probably have tons of nasty malware on there. The real nasty stuff will never, ever show up anywhere you'd know to look.
I don't think you understand much about how PC works. Video streaming requires resources that can easily be detected, and there are tons of protective software available. If at any point your PC runs slow for any reason, you can immediately check which process is doing it. And to add on to all that most cameras are on laptops which remain closed when not in use.
20 years experience in IT as a programmer and sysadmin.
Good viruses will take over existing processes that you'd expect to see, or I've even seen them take over the network at a lower level which you'll never see.
Whaaa... You mean I won't notice when 1.2Mb/s of my connection is being sucked up and 50% CPU power is being drawn? Norton doesn't protect me? Microsoft has poor security? Having some random perv watch me is worse than Microsoft sharing with terrorist-seeking NSA baddies? Laptops don'tt remain closed when not in use? I'm not seeing how PC is as bad as Cbox and Playstation with the video sharing in the slightest. And I've never had such a virus on PC like that ever. Nor do I think a random hacker has the resources to do mass spying like Microsoft can.20 years experience in IT as a programmer and sysadmin.
Good viruses will take over existing processes that you'd expect to see, or I've even seen them take over the network at a lower level which you'll never see.
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True. Gawd I can only imagine how doomed my life would be if the government could monitor my heartbeat.Can ur Smartphone monitor ur heartbeat or biometric or whatever they call it? and do you spend 4-5 hours in a row looking @ ur smartphone?
You assume live stream. You can get a stream with enough data at a fraction of the frame rate and video size without you ever knowing that you are sending that information. Malware is malware, and thousands of times more likely to exist on thrive on your PC than a closed box system such as a console (well at least some consoles more than others).
But please, continue thinking that you have control of your situation via task manager and once a week monitoring your internet packets and even understanding what it means.
That's just the poorly written stuff that only idiots get. Trust me, there's stuff out there that is much more nasty and will run silently (yes, even with your antivirus software running). I've seen PCs that look perfectly clean and pass all virus and malware scans still sending out network packets to outside locations.
I've never heard one report of one console virus on either system. Now, of course that doesn't mean it could never happen, but the closed nature of console operating systems probably makes it not worth people's time.
Everyone is an expert when they really aren't. You know how it goes.
Oh and not a dig at you. My wife is a security specialist for government agencies; fun stuff I learn daily.
What does viruses on consoles have to do with of this? I thought we were talking about big brother Microsoft themselves, not a virus, video spying on us and random hackers video spying on our closed laptops with viruses. And instead of "trusting your word," how about a link or source?
I posted a link last page about how MS is encrypting all personal data to protect our privacy. Obviously you just have a bad case of MS-hate. It is common around here and unfortunately there is no cure. Even facts are worthless against it.
You can turn it off. You can unplug it. You can put duct tape over it. You can set your privacy and power settings however you want. You can put it in a rocket and launch it at the sun. Yet, that's still not enough for people to act like it is the only device on the planet capable of being misused.
All I saw was an article on how Mucrosoft is encrypting data to protect our data, but the article completely assumed it was to protect us from the government over hackers and that Microsoft won't share the the data with exclusive partners. And I don't see how it is MS-hate to say Xbox Ine and PS4 are worse than Microsoft-made Windows OS. And you keep ignoring the fact that laptops are closed when not used while consoles can spy on the whole living room at all times.
And you can just as easily tape or unplug your PC camera, but I think that would render the camera device useless, no?
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And there is also a liquor called Pro-MS that some here get drunk on and there is unfortunately not a rehab for that either. We can be spyed on through our smartphones, laptops but nooooooooooooozzz not Kinect cause Microsoft would never ever ever do that nooooooooz.
You keep coming back to the "You're ignoring this counter-argument" so let me say this plainly: tell me how in the world you think MS or anyone is going to stream video data undetected from your home network when you don't explicitly authorize it and not get caught? There's plenty of reason to be concerned about party chat / skype / whatever else you do ONLINE, but to think they're going to broadcast the Kinect Show starring your penis is to ignore the realities of the world - they would be discovered, and they would be crucified.
My opinions include facts though... yet people in this thread are still pretending that you can't turn off Kinect and/or the X1. That's just plain wrong.
Kinect can be turned off. X1 can be turned off. How many times do I have to repeat it? You can't make stuff up to back up your opinion.
I was under the impression that "Xbox On" turns on the console while the console is off., meaning that Kinect is in standby and the console is also in a standby mode. And you can just as easily tape, turn off, or unplug your PC camera or Kinect or Eyetoy, but I think that would render the camera device useless, no? because I doubt anyone is talking about the vulnerabilities of being recorded by a device that is turned off and non-functional.
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The "Xbox on" feature is on by default but can easily be turned off in the settings. This is the problem with Kinect, there's so much outdated and incorrect information being thrown around by people with an agenda.
Outdated info aside, anyone can just as easily tape, turn off, or unplug their PC camera or Kinect or Eyetoy, but I think that would render the camera device useless, no? But I doubt that is the issue here. Because I doubt anyone is concerned about and/or talking about the vulnerabilities of being recorded by a device that is turned off and non-functional.
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You can unplug the Kinect. For most modern PC devices being used, you can only shut off the driver for the camera, and there are still ways to activate it as it is hardware that is 100% connected to the device. Same is true for a smartphone camera.
Of course you can physically drill the camera lens out.
That's what I said! Kinect is no worse off than any other device. A long time ago when they said that Kinect needed to be plugged in for the console to work then people had a legit gripe, but now that MS has totally changed that I have zero problems with the device and have plenty of options available to me.
I do know of a few people who block the camera but still use the voice functions as well.
Plus there is no way in heck that MS does anything to spy on you. You know that people would be all over them if they so much as hinted that data was being sent out.
There are many people that just want to believe MS as the source of evil intention. Funny that in this arena, they are not the ones that leveraged root kits on consumers nor make a network that has proven to be vulnerable over and over again, but yet that company is golden.
I'm not saying what you said. I'm saying that using Kinect is definitely worse than other devices. I'm not griping you can't just turn it off and never touch it again. But to say Kinect isn't a more dangerous device simply because you can cut the cord and throw it away in the dumpster just like any other device would be like saying guns aren't dangerous because you just flat out avoid them. I'm saying that Kinect, when plugged in, is very simply a more potentially dangerous remote video surveillance device than currently achievable with cellphones, PC, and laptops. Smart phones still have hardware limitations and are never in a decent enough situation to capture usable footage; PC has tons of good monitoring and protective software at your disposal and are also have trouble being in a good enough situation to capture usable footage; but Kinect could easily see the entire living room and monitor you.
And actually I wouldn't rule out Microsoft wanting to spy on us. I highly doubt they originally tried to force the Always-On Kinect (and that Always-On DRM too) for our sake.
And do what with it? If they try to start transmitting that stuff through your network, they'll get caught and the EU will end up owning MS once they're done with them, assuming the stock hasn't become worthless from the fallout over the privacy implications. Finding any company or agency that might be evil enough to consider something like that isn't impossible, but finding one that's got the special combination of evil and terminally stupid to pull this off? Yeah, not happening.
That's what I don't get. People just say it is part of the usual "console wars" but tell me that people don't hate on MS way more than people hate on Sony. I would never have the gall to tell someone who owned a PS4 what it did or didn't do... because I don't own one.
Sony actually lost customer data because of a simple hack that a 1st year comp sci student could have prevented, yet all we hear about is all the "potential" dangers of MS. All part of the console wars I guess...