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Sony may "monitor and record" all PSN activity on PlayStation 4

Updated Software Usage Terms say PlayStation maker can collect voice and text data to enforce Terms and to comply with law.

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Ahead of the PlayStation 4's launch this week, Sony has updated its Software Usage Terms (via Polygon) to explain that the company may "monitor and record" any or all PlayStation Network activity, including voice and text message data. The company can do so enforce the Terms and to comply with pertinent law, Sony said.

"We reserve the right in our sole discretion to monitor and record any or all of your PSN activity and to remove any of your UGM [user-generated media] at our sole discretion, without further notice to you."

The Terms of Usage apply to all authorized PlayStation systems, including PlayStation 2, PSP, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita, and PS4.

"Any information collected in this way, for example, your UGM, the content of your voice and text communications, video of your gameplay, the time and location of your activities, and your name, your PSN Online ID, and IP address, may be used by us or our affiliated companies to enforce these Terms and the SEN Terms of Service, to comply with the law, to protect our rights and those of our licensors and users, and to protect the personal safety of our employees and users," the document goes on.

This information can be handed over to the police or other appropriate authorities, Sony said. Accepting the Software Usage Terms means users consent to this.

Though Sony may monitor and record PSN activity, the company said users should not worry about the company having a permanent and exhaustive record of their online actions.

"We can't monitor all PSN activity and we make no commitment to do so," Sony said.

The updated Terms of Usage also points out that all PlayStation software is "licensed, not sold," meaning players acquire rights to use software, but do not own said software. As such, players are not permitted to resell disc-based games or downloads, Sony said, unless Sony grants permission. This policy has been in place since the original PlayStation, though Sony has never blocked the sale of secondhand games.

Sony confirmed at the 2013 Electronic Entertainment Expo in June that the secondhand market on PS4 will work just as it does currently on PS3. No restrictions for used games will be in place.

The PS4 launches this Friday, November 15 in North America.

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theKSMM

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I wonder if all the PlayStation fans in these comments still think those NSA jokes are funny now. Ha ha.

And frankly, if Sony has had these "rights" to restrict the resale of games, why are they just now piping up about it? That's what concerns me.

It would be like your girlfriend just randomly saying one day "You know that the lease is in my name, right?"

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DemocraticTroll

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I hate the NSA...and i hate 'Merica.

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nate1222

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The man is watchin' y'all... They be watchin' y'all, goddamn it!

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JimmeyBurrows

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Well good luck tracking that PS2 of mine that's never been connected to the internet... But in all seriousness, haven't they been doing this anyway?

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BradBurns

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<< LINK REMOVED >> Yeah pretty much. But this applies to everything that's connected, if you're online and you're doing something, someone's tracking it somewhere.

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philly215

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i better see the same NSA jokes that were lobbed at the xbox kinect fuckin hypocrites

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ArataWata

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@Luis Torres Get off Facebook.

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ArataWata

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@Lew Bricant Berl Yet.

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Sexycyber22

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Well if it gets rid of abusive idiots while playing games and clamps down on cheaters and other dubious activities then I'm all for it tbh. If your acting like a human being and not doing anything inappropriate then there won't be any problems.

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Henninger

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I don't have an issue with it except that if I want to use colorful language, they'll ban me for it? Isn't that a violation of 1st amendment rights? Isn't that called Freedom of speech? Try & ban someone for talking trash/shit. See if that will hold up in court. Now if they're hacking shit to infuence the game then yea, get them. But I shouldn't have to be babysat while playing the game. I say what I want to when I want to. If you want to monitor me blasting someone's face off than fine. But monitoring my activities on the store is bullshit. What are you checking for? To see if we put in a cheat code & get the game for free??? Oh yea, try & tell me I can't play your games after I bought it. I don't lease shit. My physical copy of the game I own. So eat shit Sony.

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wizaard88

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Don't you understand? It is a problem only when MS does it! How dare you say something like that about Sony!!

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Gelugon_baat

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<< LINK REMOVED >>

I think that sarcasm is a clichéd form of humour.

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wizaard88

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<< LINK REMOVED >> Unfortunately it is not a humor, it is just a sad fact.

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Gelugon_baat

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<< LINK REMOVED >>

Heh, Sony just happens to have better PR for now. This won't stay so indefinitely.

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Gelugon_baat

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This does not add value to the customer.

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MAL1C3_Inc

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WTF do I care? Don't be a deuche to other online gamers and you won't have anything to worry about. When some eight year old's mom tells sony that you called her child a colorful racial epitaph in a call of duty lobby, guess what, now they're probably going to have a recording of said mic chatter, and yer ass is getting permabanned, as you should be. That's what this is about. Not sony telling the NSA how you jerked it to your sisters WOW avitar.

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soulless4now

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That's nice.

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moesuir

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@Erick Liu "then they get you in the rear".......Sonyfans don't mind, they like it

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moesuir

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WTF!!? Report your online activities to enforcement agents!! Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha

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Unfallen_Satan

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I don't mind Sony's, or anybody's, keeping a record of my activities on their network. That's what I expect whenever I interact with another entity on any network. However, there should never be a situation where this kind of agreement leads to a situation where I log in to PSN to browse the PS Store for a game, and PSN instructs my console to upload a record of all my console activities since my last login to PSN.

There was a great deal of concern over whether EA's Origin was gearing up to monitor all EA's games as well as other information that may be related to an EA game in some way, whether or not a user gives explicit permission or even uses Origin for any relevant purpose. Any such development must be hounded and nipped in the bud.

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bigmikeOK

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It's unfortunate Sony has taken this stance but I guess spying is the way of the world now. I expect Sony fans to stick up for them but I won't and I'm a PC gamer, I hate both consoles equally.

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nirmalbalaji

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NSA everywhere !!

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Gblazer01

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@Erick Liu your Xboner is showing.

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crazeeavery

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@Joel Cameronit’s

It's a the reality you’ve been living with on the PlayStation 3, Vita, 360, Xbox One, and pretty much everything else that uses the internet. Take a look back at the user agreement for both the Vita and the PS3 and you'll see they all detail Sony’s right to monitor messages on PSN, and that’s continuing with the PS4. If you're planning on playing a next-gen console, you're going to have to get used to it. Here’s Xbox One’s eerily similar to the statement on the service: “You should not expect any level of privacy concerning your use of the live communication features (for example, voice chat, video and communications in live-hosted gameplay sessions) offered through the Xbox Live/Games for Windows-Live service.” Both are acknowledging the realities of 2013, a time when governments (or companies) can do basically whatever they want in the name of security.

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Klikandclick

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eh, it's their system and they make the rules for it, don't go out of your way to be a dumbass and you'll have no problem

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Danny_KickAzz

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<< LINK REMOVED >> Now if microsoft confirmed this like Sony it would everything you say but the opposite.

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DemocraticTroll

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<< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >>

Sony= monitoring their system like your goddamn head master at school when he monitors everything .

MS = collecting your data to SELL it for ads and stuff...oh yeah watching you rubbing your belly as well.

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finalmessiah

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<< LINK REMOVED >> Your'e right, Sony didn't come out and say that, they don't have to because all they need to do is put it in the small print which most people don't read.

I am not saying that MS are any better because they are not, if the roles had been reversed back in April then MS would have acted the same way Sony are at the moment.

My advice would be, if you are that worried by it then don't connect your console or any machine to any network unless you can run it through a VPN.

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DemocraticTroll

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<< LINK REMOVED >> Did they say that?, nope, but MS did say that.

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finalmessiah

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@DemocraticTroll

Of course Sony are going to use it for marketing purposes, their intentions are no different than any company, they all do it and have done it for a while now.

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Snakepond1

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Sony Defence Force unite.

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DemocraticTroll

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F*** those idiots, both of them trying to spy on us?!...i got my PS4 5 days ago ( no, idk why i got it early) and imma destroy it now!...naaah who am i kidding, and are they like gonna ban me or something if they found out that i got my PS4 early?.

And those Xbots must be REALLY happy with this.

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alkrmr18

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Gotta love how this is a pretty straightforward article on a touchy subject, but if this read MS instead of Sony the author would of tore it apart

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Gblazer01

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<< LINK REMOVED >> Don't whine ;)

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iambateman

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I thought I owned a fair few games, but it turns out I only have the rights to use them :(

Also laughing again at the silly fanboys on all sides below, that's the best thing about these sections, it's not the article but the comments coming up with conspiracy theories against Gamespot and the people defending consoles to the death and accusing other consoles of being near-satanic that makes these pages funny, like your own personal feedbackula, just have to imagine the guys using the accents for the comments now

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jokertax

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commercials are not that big of deal, if you know how tro wrap it, look at facebook, and there as useful as long as they are not annoying, and always bring some type of benefit to watchers, better shows, free stuff, discounts, whats wrong with that, this way they bring you product that you "really need" on discount, again if they know how to wrap it.

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tightwad34

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I just hope it helps to weed out the assholes. That's gotta be the best reason to do this, I would hope.

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PSYCHOV3N0M

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"Spyware Awaits"

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moesuir

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<< LINK REMOVED >> "Jail time Awaits"

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KimCheeWarriorX

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i love how sonyponies come up with a million and one reasons why its ok for sony to invade your privacy but its not ok for ms to invade our privacy, lol. un-friggin-believeable. *facepalm*

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tightwad34

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<< LINK REMOVED >> Xbox fanboys do the same. This is just another example in a long list of things. Just shows we are all really the same no matter how much we don't want to admit it.

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KimCheeWarriorX

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@tightwad34 @KimCheeWarriorX still doesnt make it right, whether "xbots" or "sonyponies" do it.

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tightwad34

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<< LINK REMOVED >> I wish very much they would all stop. It would be a small step in the right direction as far as my faith in humanity is concerned. It's really one of the stupidest things I have ever witnessed.

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TwinStripeUK

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<< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >> Nice perspective on it - got a 'Like' from me!

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