Xbox One could track everything you watch on TV

[steve2470]

http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/2270959/xbox-one-could-track-everything-you-watch-on-tv


GAMES CONSOLE MAKER Microsoft's Xbox One could track everything you watch on TV via the machine, a patent application has revealed.

Entitled "Awards and Achievements Across TV Ecosystem", the patent was filed by the Redmond firm in 2011 but has only just been published.

Interestingly, the patent refers to a system where users are assigned viewing goals which are then assessed using a variety of methods to make the viewing experience more interactive.

In basic terms, Microsoft would tease you with rewards by getting you to watch programming you don't actually want to but feel compelled by the fact you might receive a gift of sorts in return.

[datasuspect]

1. solution:

don't watch tv

[Auggie]

2. Or ...

don't buy Xbox

[datasuspect]

6. both solutions cancel each other out

PROBLEM SOLVED!!!

we make a good team!

and yes, IT REALLY IS THAT EASY.

tune in, turn on, OPT OUT.

[olddots]

22. true true

all those infra red remote sensors are cameras ---even if your electronics are unplugged the sensors are wireless and you are being watched and listened too .Have a TV in the bedroom ? , bathroom ?

Paranoid bullshit but it could happen ?????

[The Straight Story]

3. Cable companies already do that. Including where you pause, how long, when you fast forward, etc

Pretty much everything you do is recorded and stored.

[Renew Deal]

7. Yes, but you don't get any points, credits, prizes, etc to watch TV

They are taking the meritorious awards system of gaming and applying it to plain old TV viewing. It's a bit creepy.

[siligut]

11. How do you know this?

Can you direct me to the technical details of this?

[The Straight Story]

17. From Brighthouse networks

My x bro-in-law worked there and I applied for a job with them.

The guy doing the interview was showing me something akin to 'spyglass' and we were talking about SMB (server message blocks) and the like (I do programming and data base work mostly).

He pulled up a large tv screen and brought up a map of the city (Bakersfield). He zoomed in on a trailer park, then to a trailer that had their service. He brought up the details of all the shows the person (their name and address was displayed) had watched recently. They had a DVR - and he was able to click on each show they watched (a lot of porn btw) and display details like when they paused it, stopped watching it (like 10 min in on the one....), how often and when in the show they used fast forward, etc.

All of that information is available obviously because in order to have those functions you have to communicate with their systems.

Me, being a data base guy and programmer, was someone they were looking for to write and manage more code to help track down people using their service without paying for it (which came down to mapping out who had service that was paid for and then cross indexing that information with what shows were watched and such) as well as general data analysis and constructing reports on usage (raw data is nice, but when there is a wealth of it it is hard to draw out useful info).

I was offered the job but turned it down since I had applied 6 months before and had just started a new job two weeks before (I did the interview and might have taken the job had it paid enough more than the one I had already taken).

[siligut]

18. Thank you, I really dislike Comcast

I keep looking for adequate impetus to cut them out.

[loli phabay]

14. if they give out prizes for watching certain shows then i will just put them on

Whilst i do other stuff, i got no issue with this as netflix etc already track what i watch.

[Apophis]

4. Another reason (among many) not to buy the Xbox One.

[HappyMe]

5. Meh.

Smartphones track people. Cable company probably knows what you watch. Tivo knows what you like.

[Drale]

8. Look for a ton of stuff to be changed in the Xbox 1 come E3

and even more before its release. There's a huge uproar against alot of the stuff Microsoft wants to do, and in the end Microsoft can't make any money if they don't sell any systems or kill the council industry.

[Initech]

9. This is shaping up to be one gigantic turd of a console.

Way to go Microsoft, you've succeeded in doing literally everything that us gamers hate.

[hunter]

10. No cable, no satellite, no Xbox, a mediocre internet connection from a local provider...

... DVDs and VHS tapes I find in thrift stores and pay for with cash.

Sometimes I'm glad I don't live in the modern world.

[dixiegrrrrl]

12. As a semi luddite, I applaud you.

No cell phone, no tv thus no cable/satillite bills.
Just a rarely used landline and aDSL connection from the phone company, for a total of 70.00 a month.

Oh, and a Nook.
Only got that because of a very generous friend.
but I turned the Wi-fi off on it.

And Netflix....

that's it, that's our entertainment system.
Works for me.

[DainBramaged]

23. Internet, Netflix, no TV, XM radio for entertainment

DVD's on sale at Target if I buy them after Netflix, dropped cable over two years ago, NO consoles since the original Nintendo 64. My beautiful daughter, meh she has everything imaginable....

[dawg]

13. Nevermind what you watch on tv ....

The damn thing has you under physical surveillance with its camera and microphone every time you are in the room with it.

[loli phabay]

15. hence walking around naked with a cucumber and talking gibberish is the order of the day

[Javaman]

16. wasn't it's whole purpose?

oh right...games. yeah.

the only thing new and improved about this is the ways they spy on you.

[bemildred]

19. Let me guess, little trinkets for watching enough commercials. nt

[DainBramaged]

20. XBOX fail

sad sad attempt at consumer manipulation.

[Pragdem]

21. Why are people so afraid of others knowing things like this?

In the era of social media, we share that information freely.