Facebook has recently been overwhelmed with controversy for their lack of care in our private data and selling it off to third party companies such as Cambridge Analytica. As a result, Founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg was called into a Senate committee hearing to explain his reasoning behind it.
Facebook has issued many updates in light of this controversy to appear more transparent towards the users and they seem to be taking the same approach with Oculus. In an update, the Oculus team has announced that they will be providing important privacy updates to their platform to meet the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) guidelines.
Oculus privacy changes include:
- A new My Privacy Center that includes tools to view your information and download the data you’ve shared with Oculus—launching on May 20
- Updated Terms of Service and Privacy Policy that will be available April 20 with a more detailed explanation and real-world examples of how Oculus uses your information to create a better VR experience for you
- Adding the Code of Conduct to our official Terms to provide increased visibility of our commitment to create a safe VR environment for all people
My Privacy Center
My Privacy Center is a new, “centralized location where you can easily learn about your privacy settings and manage your communications preferences” according to the team. Users will have access to new tools that allow you to see the information that Oculus has collected which associates with your Oculus account. You will be able to download the data file of the information you’ve shared with Oculus so that you can take it with you.
“Our updated Privacy Policy that goes live tomorrow now includes more real-world examples and details about how we use data to personalize your experience on the Oculus platform and deliver social features like Oculus Rooms, as well as how we share data with the Facebook Companies. You’ll also see more explanation about how we work with developers to help them build safe communities and contribute to a healthy and diverse VR ecosystem.
As we look toward the future and the exciting work being done in research, we’re expanding our Terms of Service beyond VR to include AR products.”
Facebook uses your Oculus information and data
If you didn’t know, your Oculus information and data is shared on the Facebook platform as well. The Oculus team has stated the following in regards to this issue.
“We share limited information with Facebook to improve your experience in and outside of VR. For example, if an Oculus account is flagged for spam or abuse, we can share that with Facebook so appropriate action is taken on both platforms. Also, if you choose to link your Facebook and Oculus accounts, you can share screenshots from VR directly in News Feed and message friends across platforms.”
What happens to data after deleting your Oculus account
Oculus has stated that when you delete your account, they will remove it from their servers. It might take up to 90 days but they do retain information in their logs. This includes purchase information and more.