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PS5 and Privacy

AstronaughtE

AstronaughtE

Member
Nov 26, 2017
10,341
I'm surprised I'm not seeing a discussion around privacy and the built in microphone of the Dual Sense 5 controller. I'm curious why that is.

I remember there was a healthy skepticism around the kinect at the launch of xbox One. The kinect ultimately was rendered unnecessary and could be disconnected entirely. The same can't be said about the actual controller.

There have been a number of assistance devices that are essentially microphones which have had somewhat shady revelations. And although they are seemingly popular, they were still met with skepticism. Why isn't there the same concern with the PS5?

Is it the lack of camera? (Even though they have a camera for sale too)

Is there simply more trust given to Sony? Are you confident that the mic will stay off or that you'll see a clear notification when it's active?

Is it that we just accept the fact that our homes have already been loaded with various microphones including our smart phones?
 

Deleted member 5491

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
5,249
The same with everything.
It's a common thing now in Phones and TVs, so people just don't care anymore, like they don't care about MTX in 60$ games, while they are still as shitty or even shittier than many years ago.
 
Misterhbk

Misterhbk

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,315
You want this forum to complain more? There's plenty of that going on in regards to these new systems.

But ultimately I'm assuming most people will turn it off? Or that that will be an option. That and that a lot of users also play with a mic anyway?
 
DGxO

DGxO

Member
Oct 21, 2018
432
I'm just worried about the mic quality itself, does it sound like ass? how much background noise does it pick up? i dont want to play some multiplayer game and have the whole lobby be a feedback loop of the mic picking up sound from the TV. also is it a physical switch to turn it off or something software based? what's the default when i get a PS5, is the mic on or off out the box? i have so many questions
 
YukiroCTX

YukiroCTX

Prophet of Regret
Member
Oct 30, 2017
3,023
The idea was dumb at the time given how prevalent mics are everywhere but you completely ignored the climate in which this happened at the time for which there was a massive leak when it came to Prism surveillance program literally days before Microsoft's E3 for which Microsoft was named. It was just more fuel to the fire which was that Kinect was completely unappealing as while as additional a costs and among the other things MS did wrong that day. And yeah, camera has a different feeling than a mic as well.
 
Eeyore

Eeyore

User requested ban
Banned
Dec 13, 2019
9,029
Komo said:
That's different you can unplug the headset but you're forced to use the controller.
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If you're not able to turn off the mic on the PS5 controller then it's a problem. Otherwise I don't see the big deal.

Komo said:
Is it muted tho? Can just say it is there's no way of actually knowing this.
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If you have this level of distrust in something like this, then I suggest you don't buy any electronics with a microphone in it.
 
mordecaii83

mordecaii83

Avenger
Oct 28, 2017
6,878
I mean if you're really worried about this OP, I hope you don't own a smart phone or one of those smart home hubs.
 
Milennia

Milennia

Prophet of Truth - Community Resetter
Member
Oct 25, 2017
18,297
I'm gonna keep my controller in the laundry room so google get's fucked
 
Lindsay

Lindsay

Member
Nov 4, 2017
3,145
Hopefully it can be disabled through software, and if not someone posts a simple ta follow video on how ta deal with it physically.
 
chrisPjelly

chrisPjelly

Avenger
Oct 29, 2017
10,521
There's mics everywhere nowadays. The general consumer gave up on that type of privacy long ago. That was just one among many bullet points people could pin on the Kinect because it was... the Kinect...
 
DoradoWinston

DoradoWinston

Member
Apr 9, 2019
6,337
MillionIII said:
Hmm, you have a point. Xbox also listened to people.
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I mean all that link shows is that it listens for the command which they told you upfront it was going to do and just like touchID and faceID mistakes happen less and less as time goes on so you get less accidental activations because the system thought you said "Xbox" (same thing on Windows 10 PC's that have Cortana on, they even tell you its being used to improve the service which the link also proves)

if people care, turn it off, if you got tinfoil hat ready to go then pop that sucker open and physically disconnect the mic, id be curious to hear what those people would do with their phones.
 
Ænima

Ænima

Member
Oct 27, 2017
3,513
Portugal
You are already being spyed by a shitload of devices, Sony can listen my farts, i dont talk much.

Controller also has a mute button.
 
MillionIII

MillionIII

Banned
Sep 11, 2018
6,816
DoradoWinston said:
I mean all that link shows is that it listens for the command which they told you upfront it was going to do and just like touchID and faceID mistakes happen less and less as time goes on so you get less accidental activations because the system thought you said "Xbox" (same thing on Windows 10 PC's that have Cortana on, they even tell you its being used to improve the service which the link also proves)

if people care, turn it off, if you got tinfoil hat ready to go then pop that sucker open and physically disconnect the mic, id be curious to hear what those people would do with their phones.
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I think that the problem is that not a lot of people know that they are being recorded, even if it says so in the small user agreement text. According to them there were "accidental" slip ups or mistaken commands activation, thankfully I don't speak English in my house so I doubt that they have any use for my audio but if I did I'd consider putting a tape on the mic.
 
Illusion

Illusion

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
8,407
If people have that much of an issue they can just buy a cheap third party controller. Not to mention the general anxiety issues with cell phones listening on us, and AI devices being bought throughout the house.

Just accept the easedropping overlords and the dread and terror that they have to hear... Everything.
 
VanWinkle

VanWinkle

Member
Oct 25, 2017
16,101
I don't think there will be any privacy concerns until we know if it's an always-listening device like Kinect, Alexa, Google Home, etc.
 
BradGrenz

BradGrenz

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
1,507
The Xbox One required a Camera and could not be disconnected from the internet. That's a far greater privacy concern to most people than a mic in a controller than can be powered off and a console that can go offline if you want.
 
RivalGT

RivalGT

Member
Dec 13, 2017
6,440
Maybe you cat patch the mic so nobody can hear you, or maybe there is a setting for it in the game menu. The PS4 camera allowed you to mute it in the settings. Also you can open up the controller and just kill the mic if for some reason you feel like you have to, or buy a 3rd party controller with no built in mic.
 
Uhyve

Uhyve

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,170
I assume you can disable it. So who cares?

I work in a field where we have to constantly care about GDPR, so people being like "but my phone is totally listening to me" is laughable. It's the one tinfoil hat conspiracy theory that is allowed here. But it's at least a good barometer of who is just a total moron. Like, we can see what a device uploads, electronics aren't magic, they don't just beam data directly to Google. Just stop and think for a moment... you can see what data you upload, it's not difficult to do.

But for some reason, nobody has ever managed to capture any of these packets going back to Google, weird. I guess billions of peoples data must just not be an interesting thing to look into.
 
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RestEerie

RestEerie

Banned
Aug 20, 2018
13,618
Komo said:
Is it muted tho? Can just say it is there's no way of actually knowing this.
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How do u know your phone is muted when you mute it?

source.gif
 
OP
OP
AstronaughtE

AstronaughtE

Member
Nov 26, 2017
10,341
MillionIII said:
Hmm, you have a point. Xbox also listened to people.
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Like I said I'm mostly just curious what changed. It seems that most of my hunches were correct to varying degrees. It seems its mostly the general acceptance of the fact that mics are everywhere and indifference towards another set of ears possibly listening in.

This line from the article is another think I was thinking about.
The former contractor said most of the voices they heard were of children.
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When you have an Alexa, a smart phone, or a headset, or a kinect you generally know what it is. The controller doesn't look like a microphone. So some parents might not even know their kid could be mic'd.

I'm sure everything will be fine though. I'm sure there will be parental controls, and I'm sure settings won't be reverted without people's knowledge and a muted mic stays muted. It's just something that I've been thinking about since controller was announced.
 
freakybj

freakybj

Member
Oct 26, 2017
1,429
I'm not worried about it. It seems like it won't always be listening for commands like an Alexa device. I don't see any difference between this and the old fashioned headsets that you plug into the controller.
 
gebler

gebler

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,276
We'll see how it's implemented, but the fact that there's a dedicated physical mute button on the controller makes me somewhat optimistic. Hopefully, the mute button cuts off the mic locally with no way for the console-side software to override it.
 
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JoeNut

JoeNut

Member
Oct 27, 2017
3,483
UK
We've already had a thread about this with a poll about if you'd turn off the alexa type capabilities day one.
I don't think I'll use it but I doubt I'll disable it either
 
Augemitbutter

Augemitbutter

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,290
gebler said:
We'll see how it's implemented, but the fact that there's a dedicated physical mute button on the controller make me somewhat optimistic. Hopefully, the mute button cuts off the mic locally with no way for the console-side software to override it.
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yea, i hope this is the case. If not people will find out soon.
 
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