Playstation 4 and your real name

[ace99]

Can't wait till google glasses come out.

 

[AlpsStranger]

Meh, I guess. It's not really going to do me any good to argue. We'll just have to see what the future is like I suppose. I don't think people will end up liking it as much as they predict.

 

[KMRblue1027]

As I literally just pointed out as soon as you bought a cell phone you already lost all privacy forever. It really makes no difference whether you have a PS4/Xbox 720 or not when one could easily tack your position down to a 5 meter radius anyway.

 

[AlpsStranger]

There's a difference in someone having to go out of their way, though, and your real name constantly being in big glowing letters whenever you play a game.

Yes, I'm aware that true privacy is already shot to hell, but I would still like some "casual privacy" while I play my Playstation games. That's all, really.

 

[ace99]

Don't do anything in private that you wouldn't be comfortable doing in the town square.

Ideally everyone should just live in a giant glass skyscraper so everyone can watch everyone else at all times and only strange degenerates would seek privacy.

 

[AlpsStranger]

Okay, I am completely sure you don't mean that because I've talked to you too much on here. It's fine to mess with me, but now I am quite sure that's what you're doing.

 

[ace99]

Making not-so subtle references to dystopian literature hoping someone would pick up on them.

Alas, cultural wasteland.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

It's almost like Alps doesn't want people watching him take a dump or watching hard core on the web. How odd.

 

[AlpsStranger]

I've only read 1984 and Brave New World, and it's been a while. Was that from either of those?

It's almost like Alps doesn't want people watching him take a dump or watching hard core on the web. How odd.

Heh, you joke, but I've argued with younger friends of mine and gotten strange reactions. If you're under twenty the idea that being data mined all the time is creepy just doesn't register at all in my experience.

 

[KMRblue1027]

But it won't be seen by random people, only people on your friends list or no one at all if you so choose.

Social features

"Social" was one of the five major principles discussed by Sony at the PlayStation 4 Meeting 2013.[41] Although the console will feature social functionality, the features are optional and can be disabled.[41]

The DualShock 4 controller includes a SHARE button.[12] Pressing this button allows the player to cycle through the last several minutes of gameplay to select a clip appropriate for sharing. Video can be uploaded directly from the console, either to websites or other PSN users.

Gamers will have the ability to use real names with friends, in addition to a moniker in other situations when anonymity is important.[46] They will also be able to stream video of their games live via services such as Ustream, allowing friends to view and comment on them.[12]

 

[hobbsyoyo]

But it won't be seen by random people, only people on your friends list or no one at all if you so choose.

...a bridge too far. Big brother gon' get you.

 

[AlpsStranger]

Okay, let's be clear. The initial implementation is fine ( if annoying ) except for the possibility that you won't be able to opt out of the "real name search." This basically means that, if you have a cyberstalker ( or even just frienemies you're avoiding, ) they will know your PSN name at will.

The second problem is that I don't trust them not to update the software and TOS to squeeze you into less strict privacy settings.

My solution is very practical: I'm just going to wait and see how it goes for a few years before I buy one. Simples.

 

[ace99]

I've only read 1984 and Brave New World, and it's been a while. Was that from either of those?

Heh, you joke, but I've argued with younger friends of mine and gotten strange reactions. If you're under twenty the idea that being data mined all the time is creepy just doesn't register at all in my experience.

We, which predates both. In which the desire from privacy is an aberration and illegal. Where everything is made out of glass so everyone can watch each other in collective voyeurism.

We is set in the future. D-503 lives in the One State,[2] an urban nation constructed almost entirely of glass, which allows the secret police/spies to inform on and supervise the public more easily.

Like all other citizens of the One State, D-503 lives in a glass apartment building and is carefully watched by the secret police, or Bureau of Guardians.

I-330 invites him to visit the Ancient House, notable for being the only opaque building in the One State, except for windows.

Now they didn't have such advanced technology back in 1905, so consider:

Google Glass is like one camera car for each of the thousands, possibly millions, of people who will wear the device - every single day, everywhere they go - on sidewalks, into restaurants, up elevators, around your office, into your home. From now on, starting today, anywhere you go within range of a Google Glass device, everything you do could be recorded and uploaded to Google’s cloud, and stored there for the rest of your life. You won’t know if you’re being recorded or not; and even if you do, you’ll have no way to stop it.

http://gothamist.com/2013/03/01/a_peek_at_google_glass_nightmare_dy.php

That is disturbing. In many ways.

 

[AlpsStranger]

That is disturbing. In many ways.

It's very disturbing, but since Google is Jesus-level cool you can't complain about it without losing serious face.

I really don't have a solution, either, but it doesn't mean I have to be super happy about it. I certainly don't want to ban this stuff ( you all know how I feel about that. ) I just hope social norms contain it, but I don't expect they will.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

Okay, let's be clear. The initial implementation is fine ( if annoying ) except for the possibility that you won't be able to opt out of the "real name search." This basically means that, if you have a cyberstalker ( or even just frienemies you're avoiding, ) they will know your PSN name at will.

The second problem is that I don't trust them not to update the software and TOS to squeeze you into less strict privacy settings.

My solution is very practical: I'm just going to wait and see how it goes for a few years before I buy one. Simples.

Personally, I though writing out a manifesto and mailing off pipe bombs is a more appropriate response to this infringement of privacy, but you obviously don't care about liberty.

 

[ace99]

There isn't one really. We have laws to protect privacy and illegal recording but really how would you know? It's hard enough to stop upskirt pics with smartphones even if you require them to have audible clicks when pictures are taken, people who know about that kind of stuff can easily jailbreak it. Same will go for google glasses even if some method is implemented to protect privacy.

We quickly are moving toward the sort of collective voyeurism depicted in some of the fine dystopian fiction.

On the upside it has brought incidents of police brutality, government and corporate abuse to light.

So you might as well set up a live stream in your bathroom so we can watch you poop.

 

[AlpsStranger]

Hobbs, come on. Don't be a dick to me man.

I'm not the f*cking unabomber just because I'm freaked out by all this. Just five or six years ago I felt like my life was mostly private and now I don't. Do I have to be full on crazy to find that disturbing?

EDIT: Ace99: See, that's what disturbs me. I suspect that the wealthy will have "surveillance free" gated communities and things like that. I do not believe the burden will fall equally. I think low and middle class people will be living in a goldfish bowl but the wealthy and powerful will be able to afford relief from the panopticon.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

lulz aside, I think this topic would be more interesting within a broader discussion of the kinds of changes society is going to have to go through with ever more rapidly advancing technology. This is a much bigger issue than PS4. But you're Alps and asking you to not fixate on gaming is like asking me not to fixate on a long slender rod of aluminum flying its way up into the sky; pushing aside the clouds that hang low like the wet hair running down a woman's back as she steps out of the shower and pressing on into the unknown void to offload its payload on the velvet carpet of eternity.

We are who we are.

Hobbs, come on. Don't be a dick to me man.

I'm not the f*cking unabomber just because I'm freaked out by all this. Just five or six years ago I felt like my life was mostly private and now I don't. Do I have to be full on crazy to find that disturbing?

EDIT: Ace99: See, that's what disturbs me. I suspect that the wealthy will have "surveillance free" gated communities and things like that. I do not believe the burden will fall equally. I think low and middle class people will be living in a goldfish bowl but the wealthy and powerful will be able to afford relief from the panopticon.

I thought my obvious troll was obvious.

 

[downtown]

You don't see the significant downsides, though?

Look, I'm just not up for it. If there's an option to game anonymously that always what I'll choose. I understand what you're saying, I just don't want my real identity tied to my gaming any more than absolutely necessary. It's not even so I can flame or something like that, it's a question of comfort for me and it's not negotiable.

EDIT: And Microsoft technically having access to your name and every person you've ever known in your entire life being able to easily know you spent 4 hours playing God of War on Saturday are not the same, downtown, and I think you'll have to concede that point.

I really don't see the downsides. Making my gamertag my real name won't show EVERYBODY I HAVE EVER MET that I played NBA2K13 for 3 hours yesterday, since only a tiny % of the people I know are Xboxlive subscribers, and an even smaller number would care enough to look that up.

It doesn't really change your viability towards marketers, since your gaming habits are already tracked by Xbox or Sony, so they can recommend other games or DLC packs for you. So long as they aren't being sold to outside firms, I don't see how this changes anything.

Yes, I suppose it could open you up to video game bullying, but the bullies would ALSO be using their real names, so they'd be running the risk of being publicly exposed for being an internet sociopath. I personally think that would be more be a net more likely to limit awful internet gaming experiences...and besides, can't you just block people who are bugging you anyway?

As long as you don't have to publicly post every single thing you do on facebook (which you obviously don't), the drawbacks seem outweighed by the potential positives.

 

[AlpsStranger]

Sorry, it's hard to tell. I've gotten some pretty extreme reactions from people I know ( usually people who are shocked I'm not on Facebook ) when I've questioned this kind of stuff. Sorry if I misunderstood.

Yes, the discussion is endlessly fascinating. I don't believe we can just completely give up all privacy and anonymity, but I also don't have a realistic solution. I'm firmly convinced that the ultimate consequences of having absolutely no privacy won't be positive.

EDIT: Downtown: I'm absolutely not interested in having my real name exposed when I game online. Perhaps online gaming would simply be better off without "my kind" then, I'm not sure. For me, for many reasons, this is not negotiable. If a platform/game requires my real name to be exposed I simply won't use it.