Facebook to use Oculus VR Data for Ad Purposes

[LAwLz]

In a twist that will surprise nobody except naive and blind fanboys, Facebook and Oculus has now announced that they will use data harvested from their Oculus headsets for ad purposes.

It took a few years, but it has finally happened, what everyone was afraid would happen back in 2014 when Facebook first announced they would buy Oculus.

 

This change comes courtesy of a few feature for the Oculus, logging in to Oculus with your Facebook account.

If you choose to login to your Facebook account with your Oculus, you get access to a bunch of social features such as chat, send game invites to friends, schedule events for games, livestream to Facebook, and many more things. The drawback is that if you choose to sign in, you also agree to let Facebook access your Oculus data for, among other things, targeting ads.

 

Their current stance is that if you do not login to Facebook with your Oculus, only a limited amount of data is shared between Facebook and Oculus. Exactly what data isn't specified, but the justification is to "provide a consistent and safe experience across platforms". Their example is that if your account gets flagged as spam or abusive on Facebook, it will also get flagged on Oculus.

 

Source:

https://www.oculus.com/blog/introducing-new-features-from-facebook-to-help-people-connect-in-vr-and-an-update-to-our-privacy-policy/

 

 

This is just one of many news where a company which used to ensure users that they take privacy seriously change their mind afterwards. When Facebook bought Oculus everyone kept saying that the two would not combine data. That they would be separate. As we can see now, their plans either changed or they lied from the start to make people calm down.

I think Joel from ExtremeTech puts it well with this quote:

Quote

I’d like to hope the tech community can take a lesson from it. When a company claims that it’ll keep two different databases of information separate as a condition of a merger or legal settlement, it doesn’t mean “Forever.” It appears to mean something more like “4-5 years.”

As joel also points out, logging in to Facebook is not mandatory to use Oculus. However, we don't know if that will change in the future. VR is still in its infancy and it's hard to tell how things will look in another 5-10 years.

 

[williamcll]

How long until they put ads inside VR?

[Taf the Ghost]

19 minutes ago, williamcll said:

How long until they put ads inside VR?

Be really surprised if they weren't already in a few products, but since VR is still niche we don't hear about it.

[redbread123]

classic facebook.

[WereCat]

This is me right after I discovered that its possible to use the Oculus Rift IR sensors as a webcam. 

 

So have in mind that Facebook may actually look at you and hear you because the headset has a mic. 

 

[RejZoR]

And this is why I'll NEVER buy anything Oculus because Fecesbook stands behind it and I just knew they had to mine data with it. Besides, I think VR is a dead tech. Was dead 3 times before in the past and they just keep on bringing back this zombie and everyone keeps on raving how this time it's the "it". Bull manure it is. It's VR, not Jesus. And even his resurrection was questionable...

[WereCat]

Why are people so salty over VR?

[steelo]

I really don't know why this is news...devices like google home, alexa, your smartphone and smart TV are already 'spying' on you...

 

Hey, if they want to listen in on me...probably the most boring person in the world, have at it. LOL

[derr12]

I just bought a rift-s  the facebook option was the quicker method of setup.  I actually unplug mine when im not using it since it's easier to store that way.  This has me minorly concerned anyways. 

 

And for those saying VR is a dead-end.  As a flat panel gamer, this is a whole other experience.  Playing thru robo recall right now and having tons of fun.  Immersion is unreal.  cant wait till 4-6 years from now.  Increase in resolution will allow you to desktop work on a massive screen.  Right now its almost too blurry to read text. 

 

so far on modest hardware its a rewarding experience (ryzen 1700, Vega64)

 

 

[Castdeath97]

Well it’s time to unlink my Facebook and probably disable it for good now rather than procrastinate.

 

https://www.reddit.com/r/oculus/comments/a34w2j/unlinking_facebook_from_oculus/

 

 

[Unixsystem]

2 hours ago, WereCat said:

Why are people so salty over VR?

Probably because half the people got so invested in it that they pushed it as the absolute future of entertainment and it was going to be the greatest thing ever, and the other half of the people hated the concept of replacing their existing games and just latched onto the shortcomings with no regard for the positives. 

 

Meanwhile most of us with headsets just hang out and play fun games while the other two groups keep arguing about how incredible/awful it is. 

[jagdtigger]

3 hours ago, derr12 said:

  I actually unplug mine

It wont stop the service running on your PC....

 

/ON

And this is why oculus ended up on my blacklist as soon as FB put their filthy hands on them.

[DragonTamer1]

I wonder if there is a way to block data being uploaded from the software without completely breaking it in the process...

[mr moose]

I wonder how this goes with consumer laws in the EU with GDPR and consumer laws in Australia.

 

I can't quite get my head around forcing users to share data for advertising to use product features on a paid for product. 

[Beskamir]

I'm sure this surprises nobody.

[Curufinwe_wins]

1 hour ago, mr moose said:

I wonder how this goes with consumer laws in the EU with GDPR and consumer laws in Australia.

 

I can't quite get my head around forcing users to share data for advertising to use product features on a paid for product. 

The same way as anywhere else? Phones (from both manufacturers) already act this way from their respective app stores.

[RejZoR]

9 hours ago, Waffles13 said:

Probably because half the people got so invested in it that they pushed it as the absolute future of entertainment and it was going to be the greatest thing ever, and the other half of the people hated the concept of replacing their existing games and just latched onto the shortcomings with no regard for the positives. 

 

Meanwhile most of us with headsets just hang out and play fun games while the other two groups keep arguing about how incredible/awful it is. 

No, it's because VR got resurrected several times like a god damn zombie and not once took off. And now isn't any different than 3 times before. It just doesn't work and devs should invest time they waste doing stupid VR games into doing good regularly played games. That's why we're "salty". Also shit like this discussed in this thread. If Facebook thinks this will convince us to go VR, then LMAO. It needs to die, along with Facebook.

[Man]

Man by nature is a social creature... And Zuckerberg is exploiting this inherit trait of our specie for financial gains. 

 

Personally, I consider it a crime against nature. 

 

Facebook is no better than the oil companies which are trying to boil us alive. The difference is that their resources are finite and they will disappear from the face of the Earth the moment their oil wells run dry whereas Facebook is like a parasitic leech. It will only die with the host i.e the mankind itself.  

 

Only a biblical plague or an apocalypse can wipe out Facebook. 

 

Sad!

[LAwLz]

3 hours ago, mr moose said:

I wonder how this goes with consumer laws in the EU with GDPR and consumer laws in Australia.

 

I can't quite get my head around forcing users to share data for advertising to use product features on a paid for product. 

It's like this with essentially everything these days, and barely anyone is getting fined for it. When someone do get fined, the fees are so low compared to the money they made that it's profitable to break the law even when caught. 

It's the same with Android phones and Windows 10 already. If you use it then you have no choice but to let them collect a ton of personal information about you which they can use pretty much however they want. 

[jagdtigger]

2 hours ago, RejZoR said:

That's why we're "salty".

Or you cant afford it and thats why.... BTW VR is not as bad as you want to describe it.

 

  

52 minutes ago, LAwLz said:

Android phones

You souldve wrote phones with google services. Android is open source, it does not include any tracking. Play services are the culprit in this regard.

Edited December 14, 2019 by jagdtigger

[mr moose]

3 hours ago, Curufinwe_wins said:

The same way as anywhere else? Phones (from both manufacturers) already act this way from their respective app stores.

That's true, although this one just felt like it was one more step in the worse direction.

 

1 hour ago, LAwLz said:

It's like this with essentially everything these days, and barely anyone is getting fined for it. When someone do get fined, the fees are so low compared to the money they made that it's profitable to break the law even when caught. 

It's the same with Android phones and Windows 10 already. If you use it then you have no choice but to let them collect a ton of personal information about you which they can use pretty much however they want. 

Whilst I understand the sentiment, google are being sued by the Aus government for collecting location data (and not allowing consumers to turn it off) and using it for advertising,  and they have their sites on much bigger targets.   The fines are not the goal, it's the ruling that says they must change their practice.  there are only so many times a company can be in contempt of court before the product is pulled from sales in Australia. 

 

https://www.ft.com/content/fb339c26-f9f6-11e9-a354-36acbbb0d9b6

 

 

[RejZoR]

36 minutes ago, jagdtigger said:

Or you cant afford it and thats why.... BTW VR is not as bad as you want to describe it.

 

  

You souldve wrote phones with google services. Android is open source, it does not include any tracking. Play services are the culprit in this regard.

Lol, I can buy all VR sets in existence this moment. I just see no point in wasting even 1€ on this pointless clumsy limited usability tech. I'll rather invest same kind of money into new graphic card and enjoy all games at stupid high framerate and details instead of this crap.

[Sakkura]

People don't seem to have noticed this is optional. Just... don't log in if you don't want to?

18 hours ago, williamcll said:

How long until they put ads inside VR?

HTC already did that long ago.

17 hours ago, huilun02 said:

VR is a flop

What Facebook is doing is a dumb move

Accessbility and free web services has always been what they are about

VR headsets are the flip opposite

And who would want to get the one that is known to take your data and serve you ads?

VR continues to grow, despite the continued opposition of luddites.

 

Facebook is about social connections, and VR is a way to greatly increase the social contact online. You can hang out with a buddy who's on another continent, but feel like you're right there in the same couch.

5 hours ago, mr moose said:

I wonder how this goes with consumer laws in the EU with GDPR and consumer laws in Australia.

 

I can't quite get my head around forcing users to share data for advertising to use product features on a paid for product. 

It's completely optional. So it wouldn't be any problem whatsoever.

2 hours ago, RejZoR said:

No, it's because VR got resurrected several times like a god damn zombie and not once took off. And now isn't any different than 3 times before. It just doesn't work and devs should invest time they waste doing stupid VR games into doing good regularly played games. That's why we're "salty". Also shit like this discussed in this thread. If Facebook thinks this will convince us to go VR, then LMAO. It needs to die, along with Facebook.

It's taking off this time. Millions of PSVR headsets sold even though that's a very basic implementation.

[mr moose]

3 minutes ago, Sakkura said:

It's completely optional. So it wouldn't be any problem whatsoever.

 

The problem is not that,  The problem is what if there is no other way to LFG or chat using the Oculus outside of Facebook link?    How would you appreciate playing wow, ESO or SC if the entire social side of the game required a facebook account.  It's O.K you can still play the game, you just can't message people or chat while using the oculus.

 

It may be a slippery slope argument but unlike most slippery slope arguments facebook tying chat and message functions to facebook is already a slope and not just a ledge we can't see past.   Only time will tell if there will be alternatives to this.  I certainly hope I am wrong.  VR was something I was hoping would actually become a thing,  but if this is the direction it goes then fuck it all.  I hate facebook enough as it is without them weeding their way into the games I play.

[RejZoR]

@Sakkura

It's really not. It's mostly people buying into the VR hype how "it's really taking off this time" and yet almost everyone who bought it have dust collecting on it most of the time. Or they hate the VR set they bought because it has some stupid limitation or problems. Or the games for them have stupid design like motion locked to teleporting only which is just horrible.

 

The only game I can see as breaking the ice is Valve's Half-Life: Alyx, but buying a 500€ VR headset for 1 game is a dumb investment. I'd rather invest that kind of money into new graphic card and then be able to use it in 100% of games and play them with jaw dropping visual quality and insane framerate.