US Government Wants to Hack Gaming Consoles
The US government, concerned that terrorists and pedophiles are using gaming consoles for illegitimate ends, are researching ways to hack into them.
You might wonder what information the government could be seeking by hacking into game systems. What could they possibly learn? Potentially a lot, since they intend the hacks to collect data for analysis by computer forensics. Even if you don’t reveal any personal details over Xbox Live or Sony Entertainment Network, the US government could offer information about how you use the console as evidence in court cases. Furthermore, connecting gaming accounts to other services such as Facebook can result in sensitive data being stored on your console without your knowledge. Between not knowing what your console might have on it and not knowing how the government can use your playing habits against you, this presents a huge privacy concern.
Microsoft, Sony, Nintendo, and the Electronic Software Association have made no comment on whether or not console makers will cooperate with government efforts.
Source: The Canberra Times
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#4 written by Lena LeRay 1 year ago
Let’s say the government hacks and watches the Xbox console in your house because your brother’s name is identical to that of a known drug dealer. They discover later that they have the wrong guy, but they’ve already built up a database of information about the gaming habits of everyone who logs into the console. So they have information on your gaming habits — what days you usually play, at what time, for how long. If you play every Friday from 6 PM to 9 PM because you’re part of an FPS clan for something, and you miss one day because you have a cold and can’t even see straight, that anomaly shows up on their records. If there’s a murder that day and you have no alibi because you’re at home alone sleeping off the cold, they can still present that anomaly in your gaming records in court as reasonable evidence.
Even with nothing to hide, it can be used against you.
Watch this — it’s a video about why you shouldn’t talk to cops (if you live in the USA and it’s legal, mind), but this idea about how cops can use the randomest things against you is covered in more detail than what I give above, by a lawyer and a cop: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8z7NC5sgik
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Yeah, but these are the times we live in now. Unless you’re 110% off the grid you’re already on their systems in so many other ways from net hounding, to call keyword detection. So long as you have nothing to hide, or aren’t overly paranoid you should be fine. Like I said, sadly these are the day we now live in.
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This will be an interesting story to follow Lena. I’m curious how the console manufactures react and whether or not they cave. Likely they will, because they almost always do.