News EA denies Origin spies on Battlefield 3 PC players

Not really all that worried about Origin and my privacy personally as I keep the images of EA's CEO and I with the whipped cream, diving helmet and the pumpkin on my other PC. I know I should be, but I like the game too much so I put Origin in a sandbox and have at it.

That said, battlelog is awful; tired of having to disable my virus scanners web shield to play online, don't like the stupid limit of 150 servers in the browser, the rubbish filters (why would I want to look for empty or full servers? shouldn't I be looking for NOT empty or NOT full servers?), the way I can only get a multiplayer game via the quick match function which means I'll end up anywhere reducing my online experience to the same selection process as a console - if I search the other way, all the servers are already full or will be by the time I try them. Thank god I don't have my own server; I'd never find it.

Despite the privacy concerns, despite the fact I'm not usually in to "war" games (where are my lasers with robot sharks attached?) and despite battlelog turning out to be worse than I thought it would be, once I'm actually playing I don't care I just stick Origin in a Sandboxie Sandbox, you can create a batch file or a bookmark/favourite to run Battlelog from if you don't want to interact/see Origin after it's running in the background. So I'll hang my head with shame like runadumb and keep playing

 

Christ, didn't realise so many of you were 12.

"I WON'T BE BUYING THIS GAME BECAUSE BLAH BLAH AND BLAH."

Honestly, who cares? It's a fantastic game, and if origin (which I think is on a par with steam) wants to scan my hard drive so that I can have my games in one place then go for it. I have nothing to hide, and I delete any personal data as soon as I don't need it.

If you are going to deprive yourself of arguably the game of the year then good for you. But it's pointless whining about it, because the rest of us are too busy having fun.

 

1 - Pitches up Tin Foil Hat Stand outside EA HQ
2 - Shows EULA to potential BF3 players
3 - ?????
4 - Profit!!

 

If youre not interested in this matter then why are you on a blog regarding the subject?
An Im a 37 year old IT professional who worries whether some creepo data analyst at EA will be able to trawl through the pics of my kids that are stored on my pc or be able to access any of my bank data also on there. For me, its an important subject that needs to be clarified as I do want to actually play this game. Sorry if our concerns annoy you.

 

What exactly are you expecting? A specific list of the software that it'll look at?

And to be honest, given that there's no evidence that EA have actually spied on anyone and that this whole thing appears to be nothing more than a storm in a teacup how exactly has it caused your trust in EA to drop?

They won't. I'm not being funny but it's not that hard to keep track of what an application is doing on your PC. There's plenty of tools to allow you to do it. How long do you think it'd take to discover that Origin was in fact scanning files like that and uploading them to EA? And how much damage it'd do to the company if they were in fact doing that?

The problem is the concerns only exist due to ridiculous sensationalised news reports that were based on nothing more than some guy's interpretation of a EULA. A EULA which has since been changed to clarify that EA have no desire/interest in spying on you. There hasn't been anything to support the claim that Origin is doing anything more than what it's designed to do, i.e. be an online content delivery platform/DRM tool.

 

For me, yeah. Because Steam works and it is my digital distribution platform of choice. I don't expect you to agree and I know it will be different for everyone (some people prefer other DD sites, others only like to buy boxed retail copies), but for me, it's not something I'm not comfortable with.

To Origin thing alone probably isn't a dealbreaker though, but everything combined makes it a rather unattractive package.

 

EA will make vast profits from harvesting this data for marketing purposes. Dont really care about there spyware myself, it is no way going to affect the day to day running of life.

My only concern is this information is worth money, and I'm giving it to EA for free. They should have an opt in policy, for those willing to hand over there personal computing habits should have the game discounted. Those not should pay full retail and get a free tin foil hat.

 

Different sites are posting different stories Krazeh, and to be honest, its confusing the hell out of me as I dont know what to believe so the safest thing for me is to miss out on a great game and not install it for now.

 

What is "this data" exactly?

 

I recall reading on a PCGamer article thread that EA reserve the right to log 'non anonymous" data onto their systems if they discover anything they deem suspicious on your system, like cracks or pirated software. They also reserver the right to prosecute you for anything they find that violated the EULA or piracy laws.

Now, I for one don't want some legal troubles cause I have a noCD crack on old NFS games or for having torrented versions of ea games I own but have broken discs or they've been lost/stolen. I think I'll go uninstall origin now. Shame I downloaded but never got aroud to playing the BF3 beta. Doesnt look like I'll be buying anything that requires origin either.
Even if the paragraph above turns out to be false, I still don't trust EA even with standard EULA's when it comes to gathering any of my data. They don't have a good track record on not being pricks, and the less companies poking around my PC, the better.

Also, yes I have things to hide on my PC, but so do a lot of other people, so the "if you've got nothing to hide, then there's nothing to worry about" argument can GTFO.

 

Have any examples? Any of them actually backed up with proper proof showing Origin actually accessing the contents of files that have nothing to do with it and then uploading said content to EA? Or are they all based on interpretations of the EULA or people's misunderstanding of what tools like procmon are actually showing them?

 

I imagine it is the data they specify in the EULA

EA have become very diverse as of late in collecting user preferences and habits, especially since they make so much money of face book punting data for market research.

 

You mean the same sort of data that most companies tend to collect about their customers then?

 

The sad thing is Steam probably does more snooping than origin.

I don't think they can even do this.

 

Undoubtedly so, however savvy people by and large have many options available to them to prevent most companies getting any more than an email address or the odd phone number. I guess many people find this method a little too personal.

If i go to Tesco to get my weekly shop, but in doing so i have to agree that a Tesco employee comes into my home to take photos of the contents of my fridge, freezer and every room of my house. Would i be willing to shop at Tesco?, probably not. So why should it be any different for a PC?

 

And when exactly is something like that happening on your PC?

 

If you shop at Tesco's and use a club card, they already have a pretty good idea whats in your fridge/freezer/medication cabinet....

 

Well this particular thread for one is highlighting the typical concerns surrounding Origin.
Can you answer this question?
Why are EA intersted in having access to applications or any other data that is on my pc that has nothing to do with the game? Why put this in your Terms?

 

When EA force buyers into a position where they must allow

EA 'and partners' to "gather, use, store and transmit technical" on "IP addresses, usage data, software, equipment, software usage and existing hardware peripherals" for "marketing purposes".

Its really all down to personal choice as far as im concerned. The deal is, they make a game, i buy it, thats that, they make money, i have fun and every ones a winner.

But apparently not. I see that as a slight breach of trust here, as apparently im not just buying a game to enjoy, im being forced, and thats pretty much the problem, im being forced to adhere too something I probably would not be voluntarily part off.

Forcing being to be part of something they would not normaly be party too is always going to cause resent meant, no matter how inconsequential it is.

 

So bottomline is, some people can't afford having Origin scanning their harddrive. And for that, they're willing to forego playing Battlefield 3.

That's it.

Well, I say good for them. who am I to persuade them to give their data to Origin?

I'd rather play more rounds of BF3 than argue that