For years, companies that place devices and hardware in the market often monitor users’ preferences for content consumption to shape business models according to the tastes of the people. At the same time, this has given rise to controversy because of the interference in the teams of the people and the doubts that are generated by the use of that information and how much it reveals. That’s why Sony, at least in Europe, has prevented some controversial situation with PS4 users.
According to a report by GameSpot, PS4 users from Europe who have already upgraded their consoles to version 5.53 received a notification from Sony informing them that the company could collect data and information from their systems for anonymous statistical purposes.
The message explains the use that would be given to this information in case they collect data from the console and, in the beginning, reveals that a data item is obtained, and it is necessary, to operate the online service. On the other hand, the company reports that it also registers “additional information” that includes data on navigation, use and configuration preferences.
At the same time, the message indicates that there is a third game that takes information about the device, in this case the PS4, to know the consumption preferences of applications and content. In this sense, the report states that obtaining information can be used to direct the type of ads that show the user only products or services according to their taste or even register the type of common movements that are usually made in online games to make the experience more fluid by anticipating actions.
Finally, the report mentions that it is possible to decline the request related to “additional information”, but once update 5.53 is installed, it is not possible to refuse to collect other items. Currently, the notification of Sony seems to be reduced to the European market as notices have been registered in consoles in America or Asia.
Obviously, this is not a new practice and less on the part of the companies responsible for manufacturing hardware, however, it seems that Sony is anticipating any sensitive situation taking into account the current controversial context in terms of collecting user data and their devices.
