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0 pointsuptown12y ago0 comments

"The biometric info isn't stored in the cloud (applies to both the Xbox and iPhone), so that helps reduce the risk."

I'd bet they store their version of "meta-data" in the cloud. That way they can target ads to specific users based on attributes derived from people's physical attributes and characteristics. I also expect to see Microsoft (and others) explore the concept of 'pay-per-view' where an increase in viewers for media content results in an increased viewing fee using facial-detection to establish the cost.

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chc12y ago· 1 in thread

This is going to sound flip, but I really don't know the answer: So what? Am I meant to get het up that advertisers will know that (in a very generous information-sharing scheme) a skinny guy five feet nine inches tall exists somewhere in America?

uptownOP12y ago

Maybe it's anonymized .... maybe it's not anonymized enough ... or maybe they change their policies to share this information more-liberally. Take OnStar ... one day they decided they were going to start sharing information about vehicles equipped with their technology even when the owner wasn't an OnStar subscriber. These consumers had no agreement with OnStar so they had no agreement that was being violated. Only when the public outcry and government investigations ramped up, did they backtrack.

Personally, I believe that meta-data collection is an interim-step towards more-aggressive sharing of this information. What does that mean? It means that your FitBit, Withings Scale, Nike Fuel, and Kinect Exercise regimen will one-day be sold to your health-care provider. Initially it'll be opt-in ... consumers can choose to reduce their rates if they share such data with an insurer --- but eventually it'll be mandatory. The XBOX One's early press boasted that the new Kinect sensor is so amazing it can detect your pulse. What would that data be worth to insurers?

Same goes for autos. OnStar opened the door showing that there's value in the data they collect. Progressive has a product called "Snapshot" ( http://www.progressive.com/auto/snapshot/ ) that feeds driving-data to the insurance company in order to inform how they adjust the policy rates they offer to you. Automatic ( http://www.automatic.com/ ) has their dongle that collect similar info. Cars will all be connected one-day, and it won't require extra hardware to collect and transmit this information. All of this data will be sold to insurers. First, it'll be opt-in ... but eventually it'll be required.

Is any of this paranoid? Sure - but the past 6 months of revelations about the level of data-collection taking-place wherever and whenever possible confirms that wherever there is data - it will be collected and sold to anyone that's buying. Just look at the $10 million+ that AT&T makes selling data to the NSA.

So yeah - I am concerned that information is being shared and sold on my behalf for no apparent personal gain.