Bf2142 has spyware!

WTF!??

i heard Absath (www.ctraltdel-online.com) mention this, but i didn't know what he was talking bout...

its spyware. goddammit, just when you thought EA couldn't get any worse.

ill see waht the link says.

EDIT

nice titties gazz, are they urs? :dennis:

It isn't adware its how the ingame adverts work. It looks up your IP and location so it can give you localised advertisements. This technology is going to be extremely widespread and is in other AAA titles like Need for Speed: Carbon.

No GM, it also registers your surfing behaviour for personalized ad's, thus making it spyware. For example, you've been looking at the latest Amd processor online alot, then ad's from Amd will show up ingame.

@ LS: I wish, I wouldn't stop touching myself all day if I had those

So I would get a load of ads on shemales, beastiality and young children in skimpy underwear?

as research shows, the entire interwebs is at chaos. i've seen things like this, but EA fornicateed with the hornets' nest again. However, it seems either EA has made this a problem by adding the letter with the box, or it didn't explain things all too well. so here's a quote from some weblog, making things ALOT clearer, at least.

i would like to point out that EA just can't stop dissapointing me. however, i just DONT have the means to stop its retardness, so i hereby just leave it like that.

Ok, by now a lot of BF players and digg readers will have heard about all this supposed ‘spyware in 2142 from IGA (In Game Advertising)‘. I’m not an EA rep, but I’m making this post to sort out the facts from the bull.

Here’s the controvertial slip of paper included with the game:

This is what it says:

The Software may incorporate technology developed by IGA Worldwide Inc. (”IGA”) (the “Advertising Technology”). The purpose of the Advertising Technology is to deliver in-game advertisements to you when you use the Software while connected to the Internet. When you use the Software while connected ot the Internet, the Advertising Technlogy may record your IP address and other anonymouse information (”Advertising Data”). The Advertising Data is temporarily used by IGA to enable the presentation and measurement of in-game advertisements and other in-game objects which are uploaded temporarily to your personal computer or game console and changed during online game play. The Advertising Technology does not collect any personally identifiable information about you, and EA will ont provide IGA with any of your personally identifiable information. The servers used by the Advertising Technology may, from time to time, be located outside your country of residence. If you are located within the European Union, the servers may be located outside the EU.

By installing and using the Software, you agree to: (i) the transfer of the Advertising Data to servers located outside your country of residence and, if applicable, outside the European Union; (ii)the collection and use of the Advertising Data as described in this Section; and (iii) the delivery of advertising and marketing content by the Advertising Technology. IF YOU DO NOT WANT IGA TO COLLECT, USE, STORE, OR TRANSMIT THE DATA DESCRIBED IN THIS SECTION, DO NOT INSTALL OR PLAY THE SOFTWARE ON ANY PLATFORM THAT IS USED TO CONNECT TO THE INTERNET.”

1. Rumour: “The slip of paper says, essentially, that 2142 includes monitoring software which runs while your computer is online”
Source: Shacknews Forums

Wrong. The ad module will only run from in-game:
“Data will only be gathered from in game.”
Source: [DICE]CKMC on TotalBF2142 Forums

“John [John Hargelid of DICE] told me that it’s an integrated module in the game that’s only active when you play.”
Source: ninoprotic on BF2.se, translation on Neowin

2. Rumour: “and records “anonymous” information like your IP address, surfing habits (probably via cookie scans), and other “computing habits” in order to report this information back to ad companies and ad servers, which generates in-game ads.”

The ad module will use your IP address for geotargeting purposes only.
“Specifically, IGA’s software uses the IP address for geotargeting of in-game ads (so that European ads are not shown to those in the U.S., for example).”
Source: Justin Townsend (IGA Worldwide CEO) on Gamasutra

The ad module DOES NOT collect surfing habits.
“Web browsing and other profiling data is not being gathered.”
Source: [DICE]CKMC on TotalBF2142

“John says that there are no connections what so ever to spyware and that the code doesn’t send information about your surfing habits. The information that is transmitted to DICE/EA has nothing to do with your personal surfing habits.

In conclusion: No information regarding your surfing habits will be transmitted and the program is only active when you play Battlefield 2142. The only statistics that are sent are from the in game ads in Battlefield 2142.”
Source: ninoprotic on BF2.se, translation on Neowin

The only “computing habits” it records are:
“The time that each ad impression takes place is also recorded by IGA, alongside what type of ad content it was (billboard, megaboard, or video stream), the duration (how long was the ad seen for), the size of the ad relative to the player, and the angle of deflection (what angle the ad is viewed at).”
Source: Justin Townsend (IGA Worldwide CEO) on Gamasutra

Also, a little additional info on the ads:

“The issue of in-game advertising was always going to be unpopular, however it represents the opportunity to fund the teams supporting a title beyond its traditional window.“

“The in game advertising system has been put in place in such a way that you will notice no difference in game performance, with all ads in the game having to be approved by the DiCE art director before being allowed into the game.”
Source: EAUK_Protagonist on EAUK

Hope this clears things up a bit for some people. For the rest, we’ll just have to see when the ads start showing in the retail 2142 game.

Edit: EA have released an official statement (Source: Joystiq):

“The advertising program in Battlefield 2142 does not access any files which are not directly related to the game. It does not capture personal data such as cookies, account login detail, or surfing history.

BF 2142 delivers ads by region. The advertising system uses a player’s IP address to determine the region of the player, assisting to serve the appropriate ads by region and language. For instance, a player in Paris might be presented with ads in French. The information collected will not be repurposed for other uses.

Battlefield 2142 also tracks “impression data” related to in-game advertisements: location of a billboard in the game, brand advertised, duration of advertisement impression, etc. This information is used to help advertisers qualify the reach of a given advertisement.”

@ LS: I wish, I wouldn't stop touching myself all day if I had those

i Lol'd

So I would get a load of ads on shemales, beastiality and young children in skimpy underwear?

oooh you NAUGHTY boi!

Balls indeed! It should be noted that if an EA person were to come in here, they would most likely get the full force of how pissed people are at them. I don't see this happening anytime soon.

Well LS, what most concerns me is the official statement from IGA reporting they will not use personal information for advertizingpurposes. That reminds me of Starforce promising they would never send your personal information to their own servers for whatever reason. We have long passed that bridge and I am really concerned that EA will do the exact same as soon as this storm will start to lay down.

@Caveman: temperatures are above boilingpoint there

Well, that does it, no Bf2142 for me. Here's the original link, I'll just continue to play Bf2 for now and wait for quake wars. That game seems cooler anyway and doesn't have spyware.

For all you lazy bastards, here's the relevant part included in a paper in the 2142 boxset I am talking about.
'IF YOU DO NOT WANT IGA TO COLLECT, USE, STORE OR TRANSMIT DATA DESCRIBED IN THI SECTION, DO NOT INSTALL OR PLAY THE SOFTWATE ON ANY PLATFORM THAT IS CONNECTED TO THE INTERNET'

Oh man, this is pissing me off mayorly, just like Starforce does. Is there no respect for the customer anymore, let's just hope that Firefox doesn't allow this type of bollocks.

I am currently trying to convince a EA employee to be a real man for once and come here to face us. Let's hope my promise not to edit him does the trick, I'm way too lazy to use that button anyway biggrin.gif

Originally posted by Gazz@Oct 18 2006, 02:43 PM
I am currently trying to convince a EA employee to be a real man for once and come here to face us.

:Oo:


Should I take that as a compliment for coming here to discuss SF with all of you?

Originally posted by [SR]Caveman@Oct 18 2006, 03:52 PM
Should I take that as a compliment for coming here to discuss SF with all of you?

Real man don't allow their customers to be hurt by virusses meant for pirates

But yeah, it does show some balls on your side :thumbup: However small they may be

@ lS: I am not at all convinced by an official statement from EA. We've had ton's of that already with excellent humurous announcements like: "EA is going to issue patches as soon as possible to support the community". That was when they launched bf2, and even with 1.4 they still haven't got most bugs out.

It's about time we did some objective research into this matter, I'll see what google turns up