For a while, we were worried that the Xbox One’s always on Kinect would end up spying on us and invading our privacy, but it turns out that the Kinect was considered a surveillance device for a long while before that. Documents uncovered by everyone’s favorite blabbermouth, Edward Snowden, Britian’s Government Communications Headquarters pegged the Kinect as a possible surveillance tool as a part of its “Optic Nerve” program. The GCHQ has gathered user data from Xbox Live in the past, but there is no confirmation that the Kinect was ever used to collect data.
Microsoft claims that they had no idea that this program even existed. A representative said that they are concerned with “reports of governments surreptitiously collecting private customer data.” Of course, it’s just fine to collect customer data as long as you are up front about it. After all, documents were leaked last January that show Microsoft cooperated with the NSA to provide tons of user information.
It is unclear whether or not the CGHQ or the NSA is considering using the Xbox One Kinect for similar purposes. Until then, watch what you do in front of your Kinect, because Big Brother may be watching.
Source: The Guardian