They even make you install two (2) browser plugins on your default browser.
I'm sure that's not because they want more datas at all.

I don't get why so few people are ready to accept the fact that they live in public now.

Copied from somewhere else that I post: "These kinds of stats do make your games better. Do I really feel any worse that EA knows my video card than I do knowing that google probably knows my social security number, my favorite food, most of my sexual preferences/fetishes, and how I'm feeling right now?"

Facebook and Google know far more intimate things about you than EA ever will even if they literally copied your entire hard drive.

edit: quote not entirely in context. I was talking about EA being able to collect stats similar to the Valve hardware survey when I said, "These kinds of stats do make your games better..."

They know allot more than your pc stats and installed software.
They have free reign over your pc, and you have to install 2 browser plugins to play bf3 which allows them to monitor your browsing habits.

EDIT:
I know, we are living in an increasingly public life.
But would you want your insurance dealer putting a camera in your car to make sure everything is in the up and up?
Would you want your landlord (if you rent) doing the same?

There are some places where you should have some privacy, in general principal, and I think these things are trying their hardest to take that away.

I don't get why so few people are ready to accept the fact that they live in public now. [...] EA knows my video card

Not the main point. Who cares about your video card or how much RAM you have.
The main concerns are that

1. you don't know what data they collect and what data they might decide to collect tomorrow
2. you don't konw who else can trivially collect the same data or any other data
3. you don't know what vulnerabilities are in their malware and who else will use these to access your computer
4. if there are vulnerabilities in the malware, there is usually no way you can protect yourself against them

Facebook and Google know far more intimate things about you than EA ever will even if they literally copied your entire hard drive.

Facebook does not know I even exist. If you choose to put your life on there, it's your decision, but then again, it's your own fault. I fail to see the need for Facebook, or Twitter, or what they're called. Who cares what movie I watched last night, whether my date showed up or not, and who wants to know that I just came back from the toilet. And whose business is it anyway...

Google certainly knows the contents of any of my non-work emails for what it's worth (since I use gmail). The most important thing you can learn from my email is what I ordered at Amazon last week. Go ahead, feel free. Regardless, they'd better not get caught using that data or passing it to a third party as long as they have a single subsidiary a EU country. The USA may be the Wild West, but in the EU, such thing is a serious crime, and you do not want to be caught violating telecommunication and privacy laws. Google also certainly knows what I (or possibly someone else on my subnet) have been searching for on the WWW during the last 10 years, but again there is not much harm in that (this is data which they may actually use and hand to a third party too, supposed they don't link it to my personality).

The important thing is, they don't run subversive software on my computer. They don't see what's on my hard drive, they don't know the password for my bank account, they can't read personal files such as my tax declaration or letters to my grandmother, they can't download my last holiday's photos. They don't know who I work for or how much I gain. They can't turn my computer into a botnet zombie by flipping a switch.

And that's the one big difference. The companies that install privilegued (or even rootkit) espionage software on your computer can do all that and enable others to do it, and you have to trust (or hope) that nobody will.

Finally, these are not the only companies to do it. Have you checked out the headers of your web browser? Among other things, many browsers send a list of many installed apps. Have an iPhone or Android device? The companies know what apps you have. Windows error reporting is the same thing. Crash reporters for many apps send a list. The list of companies that collect this kind of data is extensive.

"But Officer, other people are speeding too!"

The questions that are relevant are, what data is sent, and is this with or without your permission (by which I mean, something you can opt out of, not a TOS of something you've already bought)?

If they ask, or if it's trivial data, fair enough - it doesn't matter whether anyone else is doing it. But if it isn't, it's fair game to criticise it. And if other companies are doing that, I'll criticise them too. No, I don't have an IPhone or Android device, like many people I use something else (in my case, my lovely Nokia smartphone).

I don't get why so few people are ready to accept the fact that they live in public now.

We do? I don't. I don't understand this logic anyway - "our privacy is being eroded, therefore it's okay to keep eroding it further"?

Facebook and Google know far more intimate things about you than EA ever will even if they literally copied your entire hard drive.[/quote]Really? I doubt it. Facebook know a few trivial details. Google could track things via searches, but I'd oppose attempts to link searches to people's real names, too.

And the fact that the entire web is moving onto Facebook is another criticism in itself. The existence of other problematic things, doesn't excuse criticisms against other things.

Not the main point. Who cares about your video card or how much RAM you have.
The main concerns are that

1. you don't know what data they collect and what data they might decide to collect tomorrow
2. you don't konw who else can trivially collect the same data or any other data
3. you don't know what vulnerabilities are in their malware and who else will use these to access your computer
4. if there are vulnerabilities in the malware, there is usually no way you can protect yourself against them

1. Why are you any less concerned about google?
2-3 are all problems with any software. If you're really concerned about this you should shut down your computer now.

Your facebook rant seems generally ignorant of why I use facebook, as your complaints aren't any of the primary features I use facebook for. Those being simple communication with my friends and a simple interface for storing my contacts. It's already saved me from losing all my contacts to dead phones nearly 3 times.

The important thing is, they don't run subversive software on my computer. They don't see what's on my hard drive, they don't know the password for my bank account, they can't read personal files such as my tax declaration or letters to my grandmother, they can't download my last holiday's photos. They don't know who I work for or how much I gain. They can't turn my computer into a botnet zombie by flipping a switch.[/quote]
I'm fairly certain that most of those cases didn't even apply to the original EULA, but I don't think any of them apply to the current EULA. In fact there are quite a few parts of the new EULA that specifically say that they will not do some of those things.

Yes, all these evil companies are trying to hijack the information from your computer so they can... um... what?

Maybe EA is trying to steal your credit card number and bank accounts? They wouldn't do it directly, of course, instead preferring a monthly subscription to The Old Republic.

Maybe EA is trying to read your email so they can, um... ... ??? ... profit.


Maybe EA is trying to watch your porn surfing habits so they can include it in the next version of The Sims? You know, it is market research for the expansion pack, "The Sims Do Dallas".


Maybe EA is trying to find your demographics so they can market to you exactly what you are most likely to buy? Because they know you probably play lots of games.



Yes, they collect data. So do many of the other apps from many other applications that you use daily. Yet most of us still have cookies enabled, will enter email addresses into web forms, enter credit card and shipping info when making purchases without reading the full ToS, and will gladly give all kinds of information both directly and indirectly to companies without a thought. I can't even order a pizza online without giving it submitting information directly (my username/email, address, credit card information) and indirectly (the time of the order, they items ordered, the frequency of orders, and more). If you want to get the reduced price at the supermarket most require the little ID cards so they can track your every purchase.

What SPECIFIC concerns do you have, other than "my privacy is being eroded and my box is getting stolen!" ?

snip

Also to be noted is the fact that half of the "privacy violations" of origin were never even in the EULA.

I fail to see the need for Facebook, or Twitter, or what they're called. Who cares what movie I watched last night, whether my date showed up or not, and who wants to know that I just came back from the toilet. And whose business is it anyway...

While I wholeheartedly support the idea of not being an online social prostitute, I'd like to note that the topic here isn't nearly as black-and-white as it would seem.

I purposedly quoted three sentences instead of just the first one, because the second one really represents one of the primary types of mis/abuse of any social network and IMO should and does not belong in the repertoire of any serious online person or entity. In short: you're living in 2007 if you or any of your friends are still using social outlets for such purposes.

As for the first sentence, I think most social networks (with major emphasis on FB and Twitter) are merely tools. Ultimately you can and should use them for information exchange and control, not shun them because they allow information to be exchanged and controlled. If you have nothing to say, don't maintain a Twitter feed. If you don't have 300+ people you want to roughly keep tabs on or what you do does not require marketing in such an environment, don't register on Facebook.

Conversely, if you don't want EA to scan your computer, don't play Battlefield 3.

Yes, all these evil companies are trying to hijack the information from your computer so they can... um... what?

Maybe EA is trying to steal your credit card number and bank accounts? They wouldn't do it directly, of course, instead preferring a monthly subscription to The Old Republic.

Maybe EA is trying to read your email so they can, um... ... ??? ... profit.


Maybe EA is trying to watch your porn surfing habits so they can include it in the next version of The Sims? You know, it is market research for the expansion pack, "The Sims Do Dallas".


Maybe EA is trying to find your demographics so they can market to you exactly what you are most likely to buy? Because they know you probably play lots of games.



Yes, they collect data. So do many of the other apps from many other applications that you use daily. Yet most of us still have cookies enabled, will enter email addresses into web forms, enter credit card and shipping info when making purchases without reading the full ToS, and will gladly give all kinds of information both directly and indirectly to companies without a thought. I can't even order a pizza online without giving it submitting information directly (my username/email, address, credit card information) and indirectly (the time of the order, they items ordered, the frequency of orders, and more). If you want to get the reduced price at the supermarket most require the little ID cards so they can track your every purchase.

What SPECIFIC concerns do you have, other than "my privacy is being eroded and my box is getting stolen!" ?

I could say the same thing about cameras in your house.
Also, they intend to sell the information they gather. So they are gonna gather quite allot.

want your datas.I'm sure that EA is gonna be less nice about it tho...
they intend to sell the information they gather. So they are gonna gather quite allot.

Do you have ANY actual evidence AT ALL of these claims?

I cannot tell if you are trolling, or having fits of "ZOMG evil corporations are evil".

About the most solid of your claims is that you are asked to install a browser plugin, but I would hardly call that forced, and (as many people have mentioned and linked to) you don't even need to do that although it makes life easier as a player.





If you are trolling, +10 internets to you. You did well. We fed the troll rather nicely.


It is one thing to suggest that problems may happen and to watch out for it. Caution is good. Feel free to record it over the wire, figure it out, study it, and report about actual findings of fact. That is good.

It is quite another issue to unequivocally state these things as fact. That quickly crosses the line.