14 DAY TRIAL // The always connected nature of most modern gaming experiences, regardless of the hardware platform used and of the publisher which sells the game, has lead to a lot of concerns about privacy and about how the gamer's personal data could be used inappropriately by the companies which have access to it.
The latest troubling news comes from a The Wall Street Journal published chart that shows how video games that are very popular, like Bejeweled 2 from PopCap and Angry Birds, which is a phenomenon on mobile devices, are serious offenders in terms of privacy, transmitting things like phone ID, location, age and contacts to the company, which can then share them with third parties.
The developer of Angry Birds has answered the allegations saying that all the data that it gathers from players is stripped of personal information and that it is only then used in order to gain insights into the gaming habits of its player base that can then be used to deliver better experiences.
Recently developer BioWare has also admitted that it is gathering data from those who played the Mass Effect 2 mix between role playing and action in order to see how they approach the game, which class they play, which choices they are most interested in and even the gender of their main character.
BioWare has reassured the community that all the data is anonymously gathered and that it is not stored after the company compiles statistics which allow it to create better future video games.
The main problem with what video game developers are doing is that they are not stating up front that some data will be gathered and do not adequately inform the players about how it will be used by the company.
It's unlikely that many gamers would drop their favorite titles because of privacy concerns and more openness could lead to better experiences for the player and better data for the companies.