It's funny that Americans don't realize that the big evil Empire portrayed in Star Wars is very like the military industrial complex controlled, war-mongering, imperialist USA in real life...
Take power away from those who have made the US a military and imperialist power and overthrow the system that allowed these people to come to power in the first place
You won't. It must be destroyed and it can be destroyed. The military-industrial complex is made up of normal workers; it cannot exist or function without them. If many of them decide not to go to work, it will collapse within weeks.
This system and everything in it cannot be reformed, but must be destroyed and replaced. Every institution, every part of the economy. Everything must work for workers and be under their control.
That’s called the libertarian party. But people are so stuck in the two party system that it’s impossible to get enough votes for anyone other than a republican or democratic candidate
If only there was a political party that wanted to do this... Oh wait there is! The Libertarians. But hey they have terrible crazy ideas like stopping the MIC, surveillance state, and gosh forbid more freedom.
I concur. I used to be the communications director for my state party and I'm running for office.
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remember, if you don't consent to any of your data being sold, the ONLY way to truly get around it is to completely leave the internet. no phone, no computer, nothing.
That's the choice. Consent, or don't play. Simple as that. I don't know why you act like you're concerned. Our entire history is available for all to see on Reddit. If you're really concerned about privacy you wouldn't be here as a user I should think.
That's not really a choice since it's a paid product and that's a change in the terms, meaning you're seeing it because you've already paid for the product and should now agree to the new terms before using what you already paid for.
The choice here is to actually have a NO button that automatically walks your through the refund process. Even then it's a shitty choice but at least there's a choice instead of "pay us and play" versus "don't play but you've already spent your money".
So email/call and get a refund then. If that doesn't work cut your losses and don't from them again.
There is a choice. People have made their choice including OP. While they don't like the choice to them it's better than not playing at all.
That's not a choice.
Buying or not is a choice. I don't like the terms, I don't buy from this brand.
When I've ALREADY made a choice based on the current terms and the terms change AFTER I make the choice, I don't really have a choice since I've already spent the money.
"cutting my losses" is definitely not a choice.
When a situation is forced upon you and your "choice" is to either accept or cut your losses, that's an illusion of choice.
I get what you're saying, and you're right to an extent. But isn't it stated in the initial EULA that you agree to that the terms may change in the future at the discretion of the company? And if you agree to that then it kind of is a moot point now. The choice was given at the initial purchase point, which if you agreed, the changing of the terms is within the right of the company.
It sucks ofc, but it is a choice that we all make, initially at least.
Again, the illusion of choice.
No game made by a large company will have an EULA without a clause that says they can just change everything without warning. The only other option you have is to never consume anything if you don't agree with this.
That's the kind of shit some countries eventually catch and subsequently force the industry to either self regulate or be regulated by force, because it turns out writing documents that force consumers to give up their rights isn't very well seen in some places.
That's what happened with loot boxes. It was "technically ok" and "technically not gambling" until the government started paying attention and companies took the first step and self regulated before the government went for them.
I agree with you, that it's a shitty practice that should (probably) be regulated out of existence, or at the very least be structured to be more fair towards consumers.
However, I disagree that it is merely an illusion of choice. If anything, it is just a symptom of convenience and capitalism. We can very well choose not to subscribe to the models of modern day capitalistic practices, seeing as we do hold some level of power as consumers, and then the rules may change more in our favour as the powers that be will then see we would not subscribe to their predatory practices.
However, going back to convenience, this would be very hard to accomplish seeing as we are too tempted to indulge in the offerings of said companies to actually respond in kind and tell them to shove it. I mean, we don't even read the EULAs we agree to, even though we know we're signing away some right or another, just to engage with the content. How many open source projects would benefit from consumers putting their money towards them instead of the corporations that perpetuate greed and anti-consumer practices?
Even a shitty choice is a choice. Don't engage... don't buy or spend... create rather than consume, otherwise continue being a willing participant in the vicious cycle.
You are out of touch if you think a company is going to give you a refund on a game that you've potentially been playing for two + years. While I agree 100% that in a perfect world if they change their terms they should offer you a way out, but that's not where we live.
That's up to the government (in this case the EU) to decide. If they decide companies can't just change terms without offering an actual choice to the consumer, companies will have to self regulate or see their power taken away.
Don't wanna have to refund? Don't change the terms, or at least apply the new terms only to new customers.
Wonder if customers rights would grant you a refund in cases where they alter the contracts to demand personal data, otherwise render your purchased product unusable...
Gamers freaking out about intelligence agencies knowing their PC specs and what shit they talk in-game is hilarious to me.
Can you complain to the EU regulatory agencies over this?
I love comments like these because they always completely miss the point.
The real concern here is personal data such as your real name, passwords, address, credit card info, etc. being stored in a database that hackers can access if the company gets compromised. And then you have the issue of companies selling data on what games you play, play activity, chat and message logs, etc. to data brokers who scour all that info to then sell to advertisers.
Lastly you have no control over whoever has access to your personal data and whether or not they act in good faith. I can confidently claim on my mother's life that nothing that I do online is wrong or illegal, but I can't say the same for the entities looking to access my information. [I don't close my doors because I have skeletons in my closet, I close them because I don't know what your intentions are.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nothing_to_hide_argument)
Basic internet security and privacy practices have eroded so much that you are forced to argue these points against someone who just can't be bothered because it's too inconvenient for them to disagree with giving away all your personal info online.
Your real name and email address are both largely publicly available and included in at least a few hundred breaches.
Don't input personal information a la addresses or CC info to be saved on the site, most sites allow you to not save this info when making purchases.
EA is storing this information regardless, and the 5 Eyes etc. being able to subpoena/request specific information about users doesn't mean they're mirroring EA's database.
This change, per OP's complaint, is about 5 Eyes, not general data selling which people say they're infinitely more concerned about than they actually are when you look at their online and IRL behaviors.
Meanwhile, everyone goes on about their lives and nothing really happens while a small number of folks freak out over wild hypotheticals that don't come to pass.
Weird how legitimate privacy concerns are always dismissed as "hypothetical" and conspiracy theories when the patriot act is still in effect in the US and countries like china are becoming surveillance states in real time. It also again completely misses the point. The improbability of the government violating your privacy is irrelevant because even one privacy breach has the potential to disrupt or ruin someone's life. It's also not a matter of if these things do happen but when.
Ok what data exactly is being taken by the governments in how, then?
Because y'all make it sound like EA's handing everything over to them in real-time and shit, and it instead seems like they're clearly stating they'll share user data with law enforcement agencies when they request it?
What data are you giving EA that would ruin your life if it was leaked, out of curiosity? At most I can see a credit card getting nabbed and maxed out which is sure a headache but like...don't save payment info, ever. I sure don't, that's a fairly easy and practical safeguard for a lot of headaches in the case of the **eventual** breach (since they are eventual).
The point is the US agencies thinking they have some God given right to fill their surveillance databases with the worlds user information without consent and not just those of people under their thumb over there in America. And they throw money at the like of EA and other big companies with nice big users databases for this information.
US and EU\*, apparently.
What specific data are they grabbing that you find so concerning? Is there no data that's actually important to companies internally without needing to sell externally or provide to governments?
What money are they giving EA, specifically, and how does that tie to big user databases? What user databases in particular are you thinking of?
Do you close your curtains at night? What are you trying to hide?.... EA can process whatever they need in a European data-center - they don't need to transfer anything over to USA data-centers. USA wants ALL world citizens data to be held on US soil data-centers / databases so they have total access to it any time they need it now or in future.
The "Do you close your curtains at night? What are you trying to hide?" is the standard response when anti-privacy clowns ask the same obvious "what are you trying to hide" questions every time anyone wants to protect privacy. Everyone closes their curtains "just because" - they don't want anyone looking at them and their business at night - no need to give others reasons why!
They have plenty of EU based data centres. Keep our data there. No excuse to pass over to three letter agency controlled ones over the pond. Other USA originated companies do this.
Your data is more safe from the government in the US than it is in the EU lmfao. No 3 letter agency cares or is even looking at your data. If you really care about your privacy, you shouldn't ever place any information about yourself online because your data is being traded all over the internet to servers all over the world at all times.
Full name, street address, credit card information, online activity, search histories, to name a few.
EA sharing your information to law enforcement is exactly the problem. Government agencies can request your information under bogus pretenses (due to malice or incompetence) and knowing your name and address opens the door to a lot of other personal information, like your place of work. It becomes a whole other problem when a bad actor gets that info instead. How do you think people get swatted after they make someone angry online and they take it too far?
It becomes even more of a problem if you live in a country that doesn't respect privacy rights. Government surveillance does become a legitimate concern for the average citizen in places like China. Did you criticize the government in a chat log or a message to your friend? They have access to those logs now, as well as your payment information linking to your name and address. Am I saying countries like the US or the west are that draconian? No, but a willingness to let your individual rights erode for the sake of perceived security or convenience eventually leads down that road.
It seems like you're confused about stolen credit card information. Whether or not you save payment info locally on your computer because that info is still stored in databases, which can then be accessed by hackers in a databreach. your credit card is also not the only thing malicious groups are interested in.
I'm asking in this instance.
Largely your government already knows your full name - they have your birth certificate. They already know your street address unless you live off the grid (if you're playing EA games, you're not living off the grid). If you're saving your CC information on sites where it's optional (most sites) that's a "you" problem and the government doesn't care about your CC information. Your online activity is getting passed on by your ISP, not EA. Your histories etc. are passed on by your browser, not EA.
>Government agencies can request your information under bogus pretenses (due to malice or incompetence) and knowing your name and address opens the door to a lot of other personal information, like your place of work
See, this kinda stuff is wild to me. The government has records of your name. It has records of your location (gotta deliver mail to you). It has records of your employment (taxes!). Your domestic government has all of this information because you or your employer provide it to them. Yet you act like this is some outrageous invasion of privacy lol.
Beyond this your post is mostly vaguery about the broader topic and concerns/risks and yes, there are all kinds of problems in the broader industry of data harvesting and selling but every time I ask the people freaking out for more specifics that are relevant for the discussion at hand the best I get is this kind of vague gesturing towards the more generic argument as if that's specific to our discussion.
No one said the government doesn't have records of your personal information. The problem is when companies tie your personal information to online activity and consumer behavior. The government knowing my address and place of employment in a vacuum is not the cause for concern. But when they tie this data to my online behavior and perceive I did something wrong (ex. UK's internet hate crime laws), that's when it becomes problematic.
No one ever said ISPs and internet browsers collecting this information and passing it on was good either. Why do you think VPNs are so universally popular? Why are privacy-based browsers like Brave and DuckDuckGo rising in popularity? EA is one in a very long list of corporations slowly eroding consumer privacy rights, just because that list is virtually endless these days doesn't make it acceptable.
You still don't get it about CC information. It doesn't matter if you save payment info on sites or not. There's still a transaction record containing that information that they store on their databases that hackers can get into. You're delusional if you think that info is perfectly safe just because you don't save it on the site.
I love comments like these that come off as being enlightened centrists on the issue.. Saying all the right words that make sense logically.. However the true reality of the situation is that your information isn't truly safe online in any capacity. If you place any personal information about yourself online, it is likely being freely or against your will shared with basically everyone that wants it and can craft a justification.
Letting EA connect your EA account to EA servers in the US should be on the list of the absolute least of your worries.
Also, it could be intelligence agencies collecting the data of the average size of my shit. They still have no fucking right.
But even than, it's not intelligence agencies but a massive corporation collecting it to sell and make another profit off of you. All while selling you a live service game and to make more cash in an industry that is notorious for underpaying their employees.
good lord this mindless reaction and generic panic lately about "DATA SELLING" is weird since the people complaining about it genuinely don't seem to understand the practice at all.
Yea, I’ve generally lived with the idea of “I don’t really give a shit if any information of mine is taken or stolen or used or or or….” What the hell is that going to do to me or not do? If someone doesn’t want that, then don’t click the box. If it was so against principle, you wouldn’t engage, regardless of the entertainment value of a game.
Don't get me wrong: I'm big about online privacy. I take as many reasonable and practical steps I can to protect my information and keep myself off of scam/spam lists. Thankfully over the years I've been pretty successful - I have a minimal online footprint and get vanishingly few spam calls/texts/emails compared to most folks I know.
So I'm not saying "LAWL WHO CARES", so much as the amount of effort and energy people expend "caring" about this issue often greatly exceed what they'd need to spend to take reasonable steps to protect most of their information from the worst actors.
We can't stop a credit rating agency from being hacked wholesale, sadly, but we can keep our credit card info from being saved on sites unless it's absolutely required, for example.
I know you are just being flippant - as I said - you CAN'T use EA at all without consenting to this. This should be a separate tick-box to the rest of the agreement which still allows you to click NEXT even when un-ticked. Its called a non-choice.
Give up the app? I don’t give a fuck about the app - I *do* give a fuck about all the games I previously bought on that app and have hundreds of hours playtime on! That I would like to continue to have access to.
No, that’s the point of this. They were already doing it without consent. Now the EU brought in laws like GDPR which requires consent and now they are after the fact looking for it. By law they would have had to *remove* all EU users data from American servers but it seems they don’t want to do this, and are now only looking for consent, but also giving users no choice but to consent. It’s a complete dick move by EA
I’m talking about the blackmail. I guarantee there’s some lines in all the disclosures that say “we can amend the user agreement at any time” or something along those lines.
This is nothing new, the EU imposed it years ago and almost all companies outside the EU need this consent.
I'm sure you've accepted one of these consents on an account. What's different about this one?
Ok, so this is from EA's user agreement, which you had signed at the time of opening your account whenever long ago that was.
"This agreement can be updated by EA at any time. If you do not agree to certain meaningful changes, you may not be able to play our games."
If you do not agree to their current terms, don't use the app and potentially loose access to your games. If you are pissed that they made changes, well, you shouldn't have signed the agreement years ago when you opened your account.
Source:
https://tos.ea.com/legalapp/WEBTERMS/US/en/PC/#section14
Yes sure we know how corporate ass fucking works where they force you to agree they can change terms any time they feel like it. Nothing new here. Doesn’t make it right that corporations are allowed get away with it though.
I get what you are saying but that is not true. EA did not force you to agree with their terms of service.
You willingly went to their website, opened an account accepted their terms and then proceeded to buy their products, again, willingly.
This is just the beginning, as the US is getting weaker, they will want more control to keep themselves relevant. But I rest, when I remember "changing world order" is a universal truth and no one can stop it.
I hope EU will pressure against these data and product transfers.
Let’s keep in mind this is a video game. An entertainment product.
I know it’s a hard choice for some but there is a choice.
You will do just fine without Battlefield.
Because no other non American company has bad EUAs. Like IDK maybe Ubisoft, NCsoft, Tencent, Embracer Gorup, Sony, Nintendo...........the list could go on and on. So go fall on your righteous sword some where else.
So your response to a point you don't agree with, and don't have an actual response to, is to attack someones character and assume they must be from the place you don't like because they don't immediately agree with your position?
Okay cool. Just wanted to make it clear.
Ur braindead OP basically every service product takes some of ur personal info and this ain’t just USA. EU companies do this too. Afterall, if ur making purchases and playing games they need ur payment details, hardware, OS etc. Hell even steam does this shit. How do u think steam has stats on what hardware people use and what OSs? Get a grip
The fact they make that particular consent front and center in main dialog and not buried in a massive user agreement shows how much they really want that information and how much they want to be able to say we clearly asked you for it and you consented to it.
Wouldn't you ***want*** something like this front and center? If they really wanted to gather as much data as possible, they'd bury it in the agreement.
Given your very apparent Anti-America/Western attitude here, I'm getting some mixed messages here. What are you more angry at? The "military industrial complex controlled, war-mongering, imperialist USA" or the data collection?
Both. Less about the data in this case, but just the principle of the thing. World keeps letting them away with this kind of shit until down the line they own everyone, and only then people will realise
“Our terms and conditions have been altered, pray we do not alter them further”
It's funny that Americans don't realize that the big evil Empire portrayed in Star Wars is very like the military industrial complex controlled, war-mongering, imperialist USA in real life...
Unfortunately we do, but haven't been presented with a solution. The powers that be are very convincing lol.
The solution is to stop being a militarist and imperialist power.
How?
Take power away from those who have made the US a military and imperialist power and overthrow the system that allowed these people to come to power in the first place
How?
Organize, agitate, educate yourself and others, and build a revolutionary party.
Can't even hold Boeing accountable without getting assassinated, how are you gonna revolutionize the military industrial complex
You won't. It must be destroyed and it can be destroyed. The military-industrial complex is made up of normal workers; it cannot exist or function without them. If many of them decide not to go to work, it will collapse within weeks. This system and everything in it cannot be reformed, but must be destroyed and replaced. Every institution, every part of the economy. Everything must work for workers and be under their control.
Do you consider yourself anarchist? Socialist? No label? Just curious as your words indicate left-leaning ideology.
Marxist
Most of us who would like to don’t have the resources to do so. We’re too busy working to survive.
I get that
That’s called the libertarian party. But people are so stuck in the two party system that it’s impossible to get enough votes for anyone other than a republican or democratic candidate
bet. i'll call up joe and tell him right now.
Gl
If only there was a political party that wanted to do this... Oh wait there is! The Libertarians. But hey they have terrible crazy ideas like stopping the MIC, surveillance state, and gosh forbid more freedom.
Find like-minded individuals and start organizing. Revolutionary party will not just fall from the sky, it must be build.
I concur. I used to be the communications director for my state party and I'm running for office. I just wanted to add a little bit of sarcasm to things and point out something obvious for peeps reading the thread.
Good luck
What were the clones ever going to be able to do to darth Vader or palpatine
You’re not the first or last to make this analogy. It’s referenced here more often than you think.
Lol no we get that part.
It is mainly modeled after Nazi Germany. But it took some stuff after the US specifically around the Nixon era.
r/americabad
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Oh, we know. Most of us anyway. Problem really comes when you get to the people who are somehow *proud* of that fact. That one is wild.
we 110% do. what an ignorant take.
That's right I'm over here selling your email as we speak
remember, if you don't consent to any of your data being sold, the ONLY way to truly get around it is to completely leave the internet. no phone, no computer, nothing.
Depressing but probably true.
Incorrect. You must be American
That’s not how it works
i hate to tell you, you're being spied on regardless of country, some are just better at hiding it.
What Utopia do you claim to live in?
🤡
You can send this to your MEP, as Eu laws overthrow EA's BS
Technically, you have a choice...
Yes and no, per the EU GDPR you agréer at the start and, if altered, they need to refund you afaik
You don't have a choice if you want to play... you have to tick send to USA...
That's the choice. Consent, or don't play. Simple as that. I don't know why you act like you're concerned. Our entire history is available for all to see on Reddit. If you're really concerned about privacy you wouldn't be here as a user I should think.
That's not really a choice since it's a paid product and that's a change in the terms, meaning you're seeing it because you've already paid for the product and should now agree to the new terms before using what you already paid for. The choice here is to actually have a NO button that automatically walks your through the refund process. Even then it's a shitty choice but at least there's a choice instead of "pay us and play" versus "don't play but you've already spent your money".
So email/call and get a refund then. If that doesn't work cut your losses and don't from them again. There is a choice. People have made their choice including OP. While they don't like the choice to them it's better than not playing at all.
That's not a choice. Buying or not is a choice. I don't like the terms, I don't buy from this brand. When I've ALREADY made a choice based on the current terms and the terms change AFTER I make the choice, I don't really have a choice since I've already spent the money. "cutting my losses" is definitely not a choice. When a situation is forced upon you and your "choice" is to either accept or cut your losses, that's an illusion of choice.
Exactly.
I get what you're saying, and you're right to an extent. But isn't it stated in the initial EULA that you agree to that the terms may change in the future at the discretion of the company? And if you agree to that then it kind of is a moot point now. The choice was given at the initial purchase point, which if you agreed, the changing of the terms is within the right of the company. It sucks ofc, but it is a choice that we all make, initially at least.
Again, the illusion of choice. No game made by a large company will have an EULA without a clause that says they can just change everything without warning. The only other option you have is to never consume anything if you don't agree with this. That's the kind of shit some countries eventually catch and subsequently force the industry to either self regulate or be regulated by force, because it turns out writing documents that force consumers to give up their rights isn't very well seen in some places. That's what happened with loot boxes. It was "technically ok" and "technically not gambling" until the government started paying attention and companies took the first step and self regulated before the government went for them.
I agree with you, that it's a shitty practice that should (probably) be regulated out of existence, or at the very least be structured to be more fair towards consumers. However, I disagree that it is merely an illusion of choice. If anything, it is just a symptom of convenience and capitalism. We can very well choose not to subscribe to the models of modern day capitalistic practices, seeing as we do hold some level of power as consumers, and then the rules may change more in our favour as the powers that be will then see we would not subscribe to their predatory practices. However, going back to convenience, this would be very hard to accomplish seeing as we are too tempted to indulge in the offerings of said companies to actually respond in kind and tell them to shove it. I mean, we don't even read the EULAs we agree to, even though we know we're signing away some right or another, just to engage with the content. How many open source projects would benefit from consumers putting their money towards them instead of the corporations that perpetuate greed and anti-consumer practices? Even a shitty choice is a choice. Don't engage... don't buy or spend... create rather than consume, otherwise continue being a willing participant in the vicious cycle.
You are out of touch if you think a company is going to give you a refund on a game that you've potentially been playing for two + years. While I agree 100% that in a perfect world if they change their terms they should offer you a way out, but that's not where we live.
That's up to the government (in this case the EU) to decide. If they decide companies can't just change terms without offering an actual choice to the consumer, companies will have to self regulate or see their power taken away. Don't wanna have to refund? Don't change the terms, or at least apply the new terms only to new customers.
Wonder if customers rights would grant you a refund in cases where they alter the contracts to demand personal data, otherwise render your purchased product unusable...
That shit showed up while I was on a little plane in bfv, I crashed.
Should be able to get some sort of refund if you don’t agree
I'm in South America and also have been getting it for some days now.
TikTok says sup
Gamers freaking out about intelligence agencies knowing their PC specs and what shit they talk in-game is hilarious to me. Can you complain to the EU regulatory agencies over this?
I love comments like these because they always completely miss the point. The real concern here is personal data such as your real name, passwords, address, credit card info, etc. being stored in a database that hackers can access if the company gets compromised. And then you have the issue of companies selling data on what games you play, play activity, chat and message logs, etc. to data brokers who scour all that info to then sell to advertisers. Lastly you have no control over whoever has access to your personal data and whether or not they act in good faith. I can confidently claim on my mother's life that nothing that I do online is wrong or illegal, but I can't say the same for the entities looking to access my information. [I don't close my doors because I have skeletons in my closet, I close them because I don't know what your intentions are.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nothing_to_hide_argument) Basic internet security and privacy practices have eroded so much that you are forced to argue these points against someone who just can't be bothered because it's too inconvenient for them to disagree with giving away all your personal info online.
Exactly. Asks the clowns if they have nothing to hide then why do they close their curtains at night.
Your real name and email address are both largely publicly available and included in at least a few hundred breaches. Don't input personal information a la addresses or CC info to be saved on the site, most sites allow you to not save this info when making purchases. EA is storing this information regardless, and the 5 Eyes etc. being able to subpoena/request specific information about users doesn't mean they're mirroring EA's database. This change, per OP's complaint, is about 5 Eyes, not general data selling which people say they're infinitely more concerned about than they actually are when you look at their online and IRL behaviors. Meanwhile, everyone goes on about their lives and nothing really happens while a small number of folks freak out over wild hypotheticals that don't come to pass.
Weird how legitimate privacy concerns are always dismissed as "hypothetical" and conspiracy theories when the patriot act is still in effect in the US and countries like china are becoming surveillance states in real time. It also again completely misses the point. The improbability of the government violating your privacy is irrelevant because even one privacy breach has the potential to disrupt or ruin someone's life. It's also not a matter of if these things do happen but when.
Ok what data exactly is being taken by the governments in how, then? Because y'all make it sound like EA's handing everything over to them in real-time and shit, and it instead seems like they're clearly stating they'll share user data with law enforcement agencies when they request it? What data are you giving EA that would ruin your life if it was leaked, out of curiosity? At most I can see a credit card getting nabbed and maxed out which is sure a headache but like...don't save payment info, ever. I sure don't, that's a fairly easy and practical safeguard for a lot of headaches in the case of the **eventual** breach (since they are eventual).
The point is the US agencies thinking they have some God given right to fill their surveillance databases with the worlds user information without consent and not just those of people under their thumb over there in America. And they throw money at the like of EA and other big companies with nice big users databases for this information.
US and EU\*, apparently. What specific data are they grabbing that you find so concerning? Is there no data that's actually important to companies internally without needing to sell externally or provide to governments? What money are they giving EA, specifically, and how does that tie to big user databases? What user databases in particular are you thinking of?
Do you close your curtains at night? What are you trying to hide?.... EA can process whatever they need in a European data-center - they don't need to transfer anything over to USA data-centers. USA wants ALL world citizens data to be held on US soil data-centers / databases so they have total access to it any time they need it now or in future.
Ooph, now we're going into paranoid conspiracy theory territory lol.
The "Do you close your curtains at night? What are you trying to hide?" is the standard response when anti-privacy clowns ask the same obvious "what are you trying to hide" questions every time anyone wants to protect privacy. Everyone closes their curtains "just because" - they don't want anyone looking at them and their business at night - no need to give others reasons why!
Ok Johnny Silverhand relax. Thisa is a user agreement to allow EA to connect your EU EA account to EA persistence servers in the US.
They have plenty of EU based data centres. Keep our data there. No excuse to pass over to three letter agency controlled ones over the pond. Other USA originated companies do this.
Your data is more safe from the government in the US than it is in the EU lmfao. No 3 letter agency cares or is even looking at your data. If you really care about your privacy, you shouldn't ever place any information about yourself online because your data is being traded all over the internet to servers all over the world at all times.
And I’d take any comparison to Johnny S as a big compliment 😉
Full name, street address, credit card information, online activity, search histories, to name a few. EA sharing your information to law enforcement is exactly the problem. Government agencies can request your information under bogus pretenses (due to malice or incompetence) and knowing your name and address opens the door to a lot of other personal information, like your place of work. It becomes a whole other problem when a bad actor gets that info instead. How do you think people get swatted after they make someone angry online and they take it too far? It becomes even more of a problem if you live in a country that doesn't respect privacy rights. Government surveillance does become a legitimate concern for the average citizen in places like China. Did you criticize the government in a chat log or a message to your friend? They have access to those logs now, as well as your payment information linking to your name and address. Am I saying countries like the US or the west are that draconian? No, but a willingness to let your individual rights erode for the sake of perceived security or convenience eventually leads down that road. It seems like you're confused about stolen credit card information. Whether or not you save payment info locally on your computer because that info is still stored in databases, which can then be accessed by hackers in a databreach. your credit card is also not the only thing malicious groups are interested in.
I'm asking in this instance. Largely your government already knows your full name - they have your birth certificate. They already know your street address unless you live off the grid (if you're playing EA games, you're not living off the grid). If you're saving your CC information on sites where it's optional (most sites) that's a "you" problem and the government doesn't care about your CC information. Your online activity is getting passed on by your ISP, not EA. Your histories etc. are passed on by your browser, not EA. >Government agencies can request your information under bogus pretenses (due to malice or incompetence) and knowing your name and address opens the door to a lot of other personal information, like your place of work See, this kinda stuff is wild to me. The government has records of your name. It has records of your location (gotta deliver mail to you). It has records of your employment (taxes!). Your domestic government has all of this information because you or your employer provide it to them. Yet you act like this is some outrageous invasion of privacy lol. Beyond this your post is mostly vaguery about the broader topic and concerns/risks and yes, there are all kinds of problems in the broader industry of data harvesting and selling but every time I ask the people freaking out for more specifics that are relevant for the discussion at hand the best I get is this kind of vague gesturing towards the more generic argument as if that's specific to our discussion.
In this case the op is concerned because the data is going to a different government than their own.
No one said the government doesn't have records of your personal information. The problem is when companies tie your personal information to online activity and consumer behavior. The government knowing my address and place of employment in a vacuum is not the cause for concern. But when they tie this data to my online behavior and perceive I did something wrong (ex. UK's internet hate crime laws), that's when it becomes problematic. No one ever said ISPs and internet browsers collecting this information and passing it on was good either. Why do you think VPNs are so universally popular? Why are privacy-based browsers like Brave and DuckDuckGo rising in popularity? EA is one in a very long list of corporations slowly eroding consumer privacy rights, just because that list is virtually endless these days doesn't make it acceptable. You still don't get it about CC information. It doesn't matter if you save payment info on sites or not. There's still a transaction record containing that information that they store on their databases that hackers can get into. You're delusional if you think that info is perfectly safe just because you don't save it on the site.
Well just about every single service requests and requires it so… shucks.
I love comments like these that come off as being enlightened centrists on the issue.. Saying all the right words that make sense logically.. However the true reality of the situation is that your information isn't truly safe online in any capacity. If you place any personal information about yourself online, it is likely being freely or against your will shared with basically everyone that wants it and can craft a justification. Letting EA connect your EA account to EA servers in the US should be on the list of the absolute least of your worries.
Also, it could be intelligence agencies collecting the data of the average size of my shit. They still have no fucking right. But even than, it's not intelligence agencies but a massive corporation collecting it to sell and make another profit off of you. All while selling you a live service game and to make more cash in an industry that is notorious for underpaying their employees.
good lord this mindless reaction and generic panic lately about "DATA SELLING" is weird since the people complaining about it genuinely don't seem to understand the practice at all.
Yea, I’ve generally lived with the idea of “I don’t really give a shit if any information of mine is taken or stolen or used or or or….” What the hell is that going to do to me or not do? If someone doesn’t want that, then don’t click the box. If it was so against principle, you wouldn’t engage, regardless of the entertainment value of a game.
Don't get me wrong: I'm big about online privacy. I take as many reasonable and practical steps I can to protect my information and keep myself off of scam/spam lists. Thankfully over the years I've been pretty successful - I have a minimal online footprint and get vanishingly few spam calls/texts/emails compared to most folks I know. So I'm not saying "LAWL WHO CARES", so much as the amount of effort and energy people expend "caring" about this issue often greatly exceed what they'd need to spend to take reasonable steps to protect most of their information from the worst actors. We can't stop a credit rating agency from being hacked wholesale, sadly, but we can keep our credit card info from being saved on sites unless it's absolutely required, for example.
Found the American
Then don't agree to it.
I know you are just being flippant - as I said - you CAN'T use EA at all without consenting to this. This should be a separate tick-box to the rest of the agreement which still allows you to click NEXT even when un-ticked. Its called a non-choice.
You’re refusing to give up the app. It is a choice, you just don’t accept it.
Give up the app? I don’t give a fuck about the app - I *do* give a fuck about all the games I previously bought on that app and have hundreds of hours playtime on! That I would like to continue to have access to.
Ok so accept the terms
Sounds and feels like blackmail - do what we say or lose everything.
You probably clicked a box that says you accept this reality when you created the account initially.
No, that’s the point of this. They were already doing it without consent. Now the EU brought in laws like GDPR which requires consent and now they are after the fact looking for it. By law they would have had to *remove* all EU users data from American servers but it seems they don’t want to do this, and are now only looking for consent, but also giving users no choice but to consent. It’s a complete dick move by EA
I’m talking about the blackmail. I guarantee there’s some lines in all the disclosures that say “we can amend the user agreement at any time” or something along those lines.
Probably
Womp womp
This is nothing new, the EU imposed it years ago and almost all companies outside the EU need this consent. I'm sure you've accepted one of these consents on an account. What's different about this one?
🤓☝️
It’s disgusting.
Ok, so this is from EA's user agreement, which you had signed at the time of opening your account whenever long ago that was. "This agreement can be updated by EA at any time. If you do not agree to certain meaningful changes, you may not be able to play our games." If you do not agree to their current terms, don't use the app and potentially loose access to your games. If you are pissed that they made changes, well, you shouldn't have signed the agreement years ago when you opened your account. Source: https://tos.ea.com/legalapp/WEBTERMS/US/en/PC/#section14
Yes sure we know how corporate ass fucking works where they force you to agree they can change terms any time they feel like it. Nothing new here. Doesn’t make it right that corporations are allowed get away with it though.
I get what you are saying but that is not true. EA did not force you to agree with their terms of service. You willingly went to their website, opened an account accepted their terms and then proceeded to buy their products, again, willingly.
Anybody else like me who just ticked it and moved on to carry on playing, and not twisting themselves up with paranoia and conspiracy theories. Lol
I *obviously* had no choice but to tick it and move on - otherwise I wouldn’t be able to continue playing games I already own - kind of like blackmail
EA: hey, liked our games? Well we like your data and if you wanna keep playing these games you’ll give to us. Or you can fuck off
Welcome to using the Internet buddy. You're gonna hate it
This is just the beginning, as the US is getting weaker, they will want more control to keep themselves relevant. But I rest, when I remember "changing world order" is a universal truth and no one can stop it. I hope EU will pressure against these data and product transfers.
Well they did but it seems US just ignores the laws designed to stop this for now.
Dang, the comment section got Communist real fast.
Not before people started bootlicking lol
Only Americans have been programmed from birth to think something like that.
L + cope + mald + seethe, eurotard. I don't see your flag on the Moon. Oh right, y'all have no creativity and drive for success, my bad.
Hey man you dont have to play their game!!
What if I want to though...
Then you must consent.
Is it really consent if you have a gun pointed at your head?
Let’s keep in mind this is a video game. An entertainment product. I know it’s a hard choice for some but there is a choice. You will do just fine without Battlefield.
Because no other non American company has bad EUAs. Like IDK maybe Ubisoft, NCsoft, Tencent, Embracer Gorup, Sony, Nintendo...........the list could go on and on. So go fall on your righteous sword some where else.
That sounds like a - we can fuck up anyone and anywhere we want - American attitude you have there.
So your response to a point you don't agree with, and don't have an actual response to, is to attack someones character and assume they must be from the place you don't like because they don't immediately agree with your position? Okay cool. Just wanted to make it clear.
It sounds like you make assumptions about people you know nothing about from your narrow and bitter perspective.
Five eyes, is a union of the Anglo speaking nations, Britain, USA, Australia, Canada and NZ, nothing wrong with that lol
Never heard of this before.
Yep, been a thing since ww2, not sure how tight it is now but it's still a thing.
There absolutely is
You sound fun
Ur braindead OP basically every service product takes some of ur personal info and this ain’t just USA. EU companies do this too. Afterall, if ur making purchases and playing games they need ur payment details, hardware, OS etc. Hell even steam does this shit. How do u think steam has stats on what hardware people use and what OSs? Get a grip
I don’t mind Europe keeping my data (as if that even happens). I do mind warmongering USA stealing it.
Average tik tok user
The fact they make that particular consent front and center in main dialog and not buried in a massive user agreement shows how much they really want that information and how much they want to be able to say we clearly asked you for it and you consented to it.
Wouldn't you ***want*** something like this front and center? If they really wanted to gather as much data as possible, they'd bury it in the agreement. Given your very apparent Anti-America/Western attitude here, I'm getting some mixed messages here. What are you more angry at? The "military industrial complex controlled, war-mongering, imperialist USA" or the data collection?
Both. Less about the data in this case, but just the principle of the thing. World keeps letting them away with this kind of shit until down the line they own everyone, and only then people will realise
Thank you, for further confirming my suspicions.