One of the Xbox One’s most-doted features was its environmental engagement. What the system’s initial reveal didn’t show is that the console will respond to changes within the Kinect’s view frame, such as people entering and exiting the room. Oddly enough, consumers weren’t fond of the idea of having a console stalk them. Germany’s federal data protection commissioner Peter Schaar today declared that the Xbox one is closer to a “monitoring device” than a console, which probably didn’t lessen fan anxiety.
In response to the wave of paranoia, a representative reached out to Kotaku to confirm that the system “is not always watching or always listening.” “Yes, you can turn the system completely off,” the rep continued, “This would use no power and turn everything off. We’ll share more details about how it all works later.” When not manually powered off, the Xbox One will enter a veritable hibernation mode, in which it will still respond to voice commands.
With the would-be privacy infringements laid to rest, Microsoft can at least cross undergoing government investigation off their task list. More details on the system’s functionalities are said to come to light at a later date, presumably at this year’s E3.
Source: Gamespot