14 DAY TRIAL // The entire NSA spying scandal has been bad news for tech companies and the US government alike. Now, Microsoft is trying to save some of the image it has lost over the issue and claims it will fight the government if it ever tries to compel them to give access to Kinect user data.
“Absent a new law, we don’t believe the government has the legal authority to compel us or any other company that makes products with cameras and microphones to start collecting voice and video data. We’d aggressively challenge in court any attempts to try and force us to do so,” a Microsoft spokesperson said, Eurogamer reports.
The information also comes in light of the privacy concerns regarding the launch of the new, always-active Kinect expecting the vocal command to be switched on.
However, Microsoft states once more that the device will retain an activity light so you know when it’s recording.
Now that people have at least gotten used to the idea that the new Kinect is always on, fears of how the device could be used to spy on users have risen instead.
Since Microsoft and Skype were listed as two of the companies that have helped the NSA, the users’ concerns aren’t that farfetched.
“We only respond to requests for specific accounts and identifiers. There is no blanket or indiscriminate access to Microsoft’s customer data,” the company has said numerous times over the past two months since the PRISM scandal came to light.
Recently, the company has joined numerous other big names in the tech industry and asked the US Attorney General to permit it to share more information on what data it gives to government security agencies, such as the number of security requests it has received.
If such a thing happens remains to be seen.