News EA denies Origin spies on Battlefield 3 PC players

I worry to think what would happen if someone looked through the Windows 7 EULA. I'm pretty sure that's full of far worse things than the one for Origin!

I've not got BF3 yet (waiting for CPU upgrade), but I'm willing to give EA the benefit of the doubt until proven otherwise.

I mean really, what is the likelihood that they'll use Origin as a secret back door to scan all your personal files? Even though they stated that the data they may look for is non-idenfiable, and no EULA overides basic Data Protection and Privacy laws. I'm pretty sure at least in the UK if EA tried to do that, a few public bodies would get involved quite quickly.

 

Digging up this post from the shallow grave it was in: Yes, it's entirely legal.

Alpha, beta, release, pre-release, they're all just words. Would Origin somehow perform better if it was titled as release software rather than beta software? Not at all. They could easily say it's released right now without updating it. It's entirely EA's choice to call it a beta because they don't feel it's complete. The advantage of calling a product a beta is the freedom to change various aspects, nothing is set in stone. This helps lessen the blow when customers don't like a certain feature as EA can come back saying "well, this is a beta and we'll remove the feature".

If you're honestly worried about using "beta" software remember that Origin is just a modified EA Download Manager/EA Store/EA Link, not an entirely new application. All that's new and "beta", really, is the social features and pretty interface.

 

As Sloth points out, no EULA or 'Privacy Policy' can override national law. EA has a great many clever lawyers, they are highly unlikely to do anything that could make them liable for a class action (or equivalent) lawsuit.

 

US law offers little provision for privacy protection except in very specific areas (like health insurance, covered by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act). UK privacy law at the moment can be summarised as "it's legal as long as you get a box ticked" unless you are dealing with "personally sensitive" data.

So UK data protection law wouldn't stop EA from sharing information they collected about hardware/software setup or computer usage with all and sundry (you *did* click on "Accept" when shown their EULA, right?) with the possible exception of pr0n website usage, since that could arguably be "personally sensitive".

Yes, EA will have clever lawyers - and they'll most likely be advising on every weakness and loophole they can find in an already permissive system.

 

EA denies Origin spies on Battlefield 3 PC players Reply to Thread

Of course it's spyware - duh. EA should be brought to justice and people should sue them. Germany has very stringent laws in regards to this and EA should not be immune. Blizzard is just as guilty with installing spyware on your machines as well. Why is it permissible for companies to install spyware on your machines to "make sure you're not breaking their EULA" but if an ordingary person did that they would be arrested for hacking. And don't give me some c r a p that you agree to their EULA. This is tantamount to nothing more than corporate blackmail and invasion of privacy. Sure people will say, "if that bothers you, then you don't have to play their game." I say, why should I have to be exposed to these tactics to play something I enjoy and pay good money for??

 

It's pretty obnoxious to complain about a mandatory ORIGIN download and DRM control - and then further complain that it doesn't demand a mandatory STEAM download and DRM control ...

It's like two rival factions of the Borg duking it out. A pox on both their houses.

 

Some people prefer their (digital) handcuffs in matching pairs!