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Facebook account now required to login to Oculus devices

oculus.com

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Re: Facebook account now required to login to Oculus devices

#221

Post by hapless »

jacquesm wrote: post #185
sneak wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I mean, this is really a condemnation of any data privacy practices whatsoever claimed by any company, as they may at any point in the future sell the entire company and databases with it. The only privacy claims one may wish to take seriously are those that occur simultaneously with promises never to sell the company. I used to use a location tracking app called Moves, which was a neat 24/7 location tracking lifelog…

> I mean, this is really a condemnation of any data privacy practices whatsoever claimed by any company, as they may at any point in the future sell the entire company and databases with it. Yes! That's why you should be very very careful who you give your data because you are exactly one acquisition away from the same effect as a breach. Fortunately the GDPR affords some protection here, if the data was collected fo…

Good luck enforcing GDPR against any of the malign actors you should most wish to enforce GDPR against

Re: Facebook account now required to login to Oculus devices

#222

Post by Ace17 »

halfFact wrote: post #182
apazzolini wrote: post #29

I'm tired of saying fuck Facebook on HN threads, but man, fuck Facebook. If I ever move my racing sim rig to VR, it's definitely not going to be an Oculus.

This really is no surprise. So many threads on the front page shocked at the evils of Facebook and Apple. All were predicted given their past record. Don't buy from bad companies and this isn't an issue.

... except when the non-bad company you bought your DK-1 from gets bought by a bad company.

Re: Facebook account now required to login to Oculus devices

#224

Post by soulofmischief »

Keverw wrote: post #52

What happens if you were banned from Facebook (for example political censorship or other possible reasons I can't think of off the top of my head)? Is your Oculus device bricked and useless? I'm a fan of Oculus, but this is a bit of a turn off. But I guess if Apple makes their own VR headset, they probably require an Apple account but Apple isn't really a social network so feel less of a risk, same for Microsoft's Mi…

This creates a chilling effect which puts my first ammendment rights at risk as an American, and it should be (and probably is if anyone actually bothered to correctly interpret the law anymore) illegal.

Re: Facebook account now required to login to Oculus devices

#225

Post by chme »

gonehome wrote: post #96
daenz wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>In hindsight, the downvotes from people with more real-world experience than me were definitely justified. I don't want to assume bad intent, but I find it hard to believe that someone could be so naive about the project and the organization controlling it.

I think he was 17 (or close to that) when starting the original kickstarter. Carmack also wanted to sell because he had built businesses before and wanted to focus on the technology without having to deal with survival. It wouldn't surprise me if Luckey believed that would be the outcome. I think Zuck's strategy as CEO was also less clear then. Today it would be obvious, back then though, I'm not so sure.

> I think Zuck's strategy as CEO was also less clear then. Today it would be obvious, back then though, I'm not so sure.

I think Facebooks business strategy how to make money was pretty clear at that time as well. Just remember the [Facebook Home](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facebook_Home) Android launcher that allowed the company unprecedented access to the data on the device. https://gigaom.com/2013/04/04/why-facebook-home-bothers-me-i...

Re: Facebook account now required to login to Oculus devices

#226

Post by danShumway »

umvi wrote: post #172
danShumway wrote: post #116

A very brief history of Facebook's involvement with Oculus and how this has shaped up, just from quickly searching HN previous posts: - (2014) Facebook acquires Oculus: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7469115 , https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7469237 - (2016) Oculus's privacy policy sparks concern: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11410809 Oculus responds to privacy concerns about user tracking ( https:…

But did Facebook add any value (i.e. engineering money/hours) to improve the device? What you've listed are all negatives, but there have to be at least a few positives to come out of it.

I suppose.

But at the same time, for any new users who value their own privacy the device is now pretty useless, and for any existing users who value their privacy but also want to be up-to-date and get new features, they're also probably going to be locked out in future updates.

So you kind of have to excuse them for focusing on the negatives, because they don't get to enjoy the positives. It's kind of a moot point for them what Facebook brought to the table.

This is always the concern with these kinds of purchases, and I think this was a big part of the concern back in 2014. I was never worried that Facebook wouldn't invest in Oculus, as a consumer I was worried that it would ruin the Oculus ecosystem and shove dystopian adware onto the devices.

Re: Facebook account now required to login to Oculus devices

#227

Post by soulofmischief »

InitialLastName wrote: post #123
rement wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If that is the case it would be harder to get a FB account than to vote in some states...

It's almost like having access to a company's services is less essential than having a hand in your society's decision-making mechanism.

What happens when we privatize voting, too?

Re: Facebook account now required to login to Oculus devices

#228

Post by satyrnein »

jacquesm wrote: post #191
rboyd wrote: post #186

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think Brendan Iribe did most of the management and fundraising. I like Palmer, but my impression was he hacked together a series of prototypes in the garage and ended up with a device that showed enough promise to bring in Iribe and Carmack. (I think he really did believe at the time that Facebook wouldn't Facebook it up.)

Then he shouldn't have been CEO. Sorry, but that title comes with a bunch of responsibilities, both to your shareholders, your team and your customers/users.

He wasn't, at the time of the sale.

Re: Facebook account now required to login to Oculus devices

#229

Post by bogwog »

mlindner wrote: post #170
_trampeltier wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For me it's the reason, why I never started gaming again. I just wanna buy a game and play. I don't wanna have any spyware on my PC.

At least on Mac, Steam doesn't stick around when you close it. I never understood the PC love for when you close apps have them simply stay resident around in the lower right taskbar. Opening is an active choice.

Having to wait for Steam to open and log you in every time you want to launch a game sucks, plus keeping it open in the background lets you keep games up-to-date, lets you use the chatroom features, and some other stuff.

The good thing about Steam, which makes it good software in my opinion, is that you can easily customize it and turn features off, and nothing really gets forced down your throat. It's almost like Valve feels they actually have to make an effort to keep you as a customer. Compare that to anything from the tech giants.

Re: Facebook account now required to login to Oculus devices

#230

Post by e12e »

vmception wrote: post #78
tobrien6 wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just make a burner Facebook account. You can do so with a burner email. Annoying, but not horrifying.

When you make a facebook account disconnected from a social graph (new email, or unused phone number) facebook shuts down the account. Their position is clear. They’re fucking creeps masquerading any user experience they create as anti-spam.

Just rewatching "Person of Interest" and came across "Finch" casually remarking that he invented social networking in order to increase the quality of data gleaned from his totalitarian surveillance machine... (specifically to fill in the social graph data...).
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