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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

#271

Post by mlindner »

kube-system wrote: post #239
mlindner wrote: post #216

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I recently switched from using Chrome to Firefox. Next on my list is probably to try to wean myself off of using Google search. Getting my email off gmail is going to be harder and not sure what the best way to do that is.

Get a second email -- potentially at your own domain so you are never again locked to any particular service -- and use it in conjunction with gmail. Sign up any new accounts to your new email, and slowly migrate others as you see fit. After a year or two, your gmail will only receive spam, and anything important will be in your new account.

The "own domain" is the hard part here. I've never owned one and figuring that all out takes time. Even more so getting all the email server configuration figured out.

Re: Facebook account now required to login to Oculus devices

#272

Post by soulofmischief »

coldpie wrote: post #265
soulofmischief wrote: post #224

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Facebook is a private corporation. The first amendment has no bearing on how Facebook decides to operate their business.

We're talking about an open social platform which half the world's population uses, so it's effectively a public space and the fact that a simple political opinion could be enough to cancel my account means that when hundreds of dollars are on the line, my voice may be effectively silenced.

It's a huge problem and even if you don't realize it now, it is going to be a huge political issue in the future.

Re: Facebook account now required to login to Oculus devices

#273

Post by shazow »

nrp wrote: post #140
atarian wrote: post #13

Palmer Luckey, the original creator had this to say over on /r/oculus: I am already getting heat from users and media outlets who say this policy change proves I was lying when I consistently said this wouldn't happen, or at least that it was a guarantee I wasn't in a position to make. I want to make clear that those promises were approved by Facebook in that moment and on an ongoing basis, and I really believed it w…

Most of the folks on this thread are commenting from the perspective of 2020, but Facebook had pretty significantly different reputation in 2014, especially around M&A. They had recently brought in both Instagram and WhatsApp without meddling in either their product stacks or their leadership teams. It's easy to claim now that this was all naive, but at the time it was plausible that these organizations and brands wo…

Here's a blog post I wrote in response to the acquisition when it happened in 2014: https://medium.com/@shazow/re-facebook-acquires-oculus-f8589...

I was far from the only one who was saying this at the time. I don't believe Facebook had a significantly different reputation in 2014.

I also have a follow-up draft from 2016 that talks about how the things predicted in the blog post have already begun.

Re: Facebook account now required to login to Oculus devices

#274

Post by wizzwizz4 »

slim wrote: post #210
AlexandrB wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Exhibit n + 1 on why when you're acquired you're not in a position to promise anything to anyone despite any assurances from the acquirer. Or, from the consumer's side, why those promises should carry no weight.

unless you flex your cryptoanarchist power and enshrine strong encryption into your architecture. what WhatsApp did. make it costly for the new owner to change their minds.

They still managed, though. Facebook has the technical ability to just walk around all of your encryption.

Re: Facebook account now required to login to Oculus devices

#276

Post by entropicdrifter »

sneak wrote: post #71
AlexandrB wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Exhibit n + 1 on why when you're acquired you're not in a position to promise anything to anyone despite any assurances from the acquirer. Or, from the consumer's side, why those promises should carry no weight.

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…

The only truly private data practice is not keeping any.

The only winning move is not to play

Re: Facebook account now required to login to Oculus devices

#277

Post by AnIdiotOnTheNet »

AlexandrB wrote: post #146
sharken wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Good move, Valve are gamers at heart while Facebook is out to get your data and make as much money possible from it.

Valve is also private. Theoretically they have more leeway to make short-term unprofitable decisions without having to answer to public shareholders.

Theoretically, but their history suggests they won't. This is the company that made gaming on Linux viable, has a platform open to all VR hardware, and lets people sell keys on alternative stores without even taking a cut even though they are clearly in a very dominant market position.

They have their faults, but acting like a modern big tech company isn't one of them.

Re: Facebook account now required to login to Oculus devices

#278

Post by bencollier49 »

eugeniub wrote: post #22

Well this is horrifying. I bought a Quest for a relative. He loves it, but he doesn't have a Facebook account, and has no interest in signing up. I have a Facebook account, but I don't use it, and I certainly don't want to connect my Oculus account. I guess we'll both have to sell our Quests. That means we'll lose all of our game purchases. I came to Oculus with eyes wide open knowing it was a Facebook company, but t…

If you're in a country with half-decent consumer protections, you ought to be able to return the device, as it no longer functions as sold.

Re: Facebook account now required to login to Oculus devices

#279

Post by OkGoDoIt »

TedShiller wrote: post #194
atarian wrote: post #13

Palmer Luckey, the original creator had this to say over on /r/oculus: I am already getting heat from users and media outlets who say this policy change proves I was lying when I consistently said this wouldn't happen, or at least that it was a guarantee I wasn't in a position to make. I want to make clear that those promises were approved by Facebook in that moment and on an ongoing basis, and I really believed it w…

Just make a fake FB account exclusively for this purpose. If you're forced to use a FB account at least don't link it to your actual profile. I have a separate fake FB account for every service that requires FB.

This is great advice until Facebook blocks your secondary accounts, which might end up costing you access to any data/saves/content tied to your oculus or whatever linked services. Just look at how much destruction Google causes people and businesses by closing down all of their accounts for even accidental associations with flagged accounts.

Re: Facebook account now required to login to Oculus devices

#280

Post by xorcist »

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.

Are we talking about the same company?

The one whose business idea it is to lock up all the world's information?

The one that, together with Quora and Instagram, shove a login screen in your face when you haplessly click the wrong link? When all you really wanted some some local business opening hours or contact information?

The one that already owns your contact information, and aren't afraid to tell you so, because they tricked any one of your friends into letting their app suck their contact book dry?

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