Xbox One’s Kinect may violate a new bill representatives from Massachusetts and North Carolina have submitted to the House.
According to the bill drafted by Mike Capuano (D-MA) and Walter Jones (R-NC) called the “We Are Watching You Act” the bill could make certain tech, like Kinect 2.0, warn users with alterns letting them “know” they are being watched and that their data is being stored by the device.
“This may sound preposterous but it is neither a joke nor an exaggeration,” said congressman Capuano in a House of Representatives press release. “These DVRs would essentially observe consumers as they watch television as a way to super-target ads. It is an incredible invasion of privacy. Given what we have recently learned about the access that the government has to the phone numbers we call, the emails we send and the websites we visit, it is important for consumers to decide for themselves whether they want this technology.
“Think about what you do in the privacy of your own home and then think about how you would feel sharing that information with your cable company, their advertisers and your government.”
“Allowing this type of technology to be installed in the homes of individuals without their consent would be an egregious invasion of privacy,” said Congressman Jones. “When the government has an unfortunate history of secretly collecting private citizens’ information from technology providers, we must ensure that safeguards are in place to protect Americans’ rights.”
If passed, the bill would make sure the warnings were flashed before the customer used device, or “allowing for screen prompts indicating when data or users are being monitored, recorded or watched is always helpful,” reports Cinema Blend.
At present, the bill is taking issue with telecommunications companies using DVRs, but the bill would encompass anything targeting user generated data taken from the privacy of one’s home.
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