BF3 SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
It’s already known that Origin will be required to play Battlefield 3 on the PC, and at first, it seemed like just another digital download service users would have to put up with. However, some might find it disturbing that, according to the Origin End User License Agreement (that thing no one ever reads), EA collects information about your computer, the software installed on it, its hardware, not only to “improve the service”, but they can also pass on this data to third parties, as the document states:
EA may also use this information combined with personal information for marketing purposes and to improve our products and services. We may also share that data with our third party service providers in a form that does not personally identify you.
The last part, “in a form that does not personally identify you”, is a relief, but still, it’s scary to know that Origin will be collecting all sorts of information from your system, including your IP address and other, non-EA software that you have installed on your PC. You can read the full Origin EULA here.
It gets scarier. Another EA EULA, which covers EA Online and EA account privacy (which is requited to play Battlefield 3), has even more concerning legal speak. The scary part of the EULA, as pointed out by a user on The Escapist Forums:
When you use EA online and mobile products and services or you play our games on your PC or console, we may collect certain non-personal demographic information including gender, zip code, information about your computer, hardware, software, platform, media, mobile device, mobile device ID, console ID, incident data, Internet Protocol (IP) address, network Media Access Control (MAC) address and connection. We also collect other non-personal information such as feature usage, game play statistics and scores, user rankings and click paths.
Since Battlefield 3 and all other EA Online games fall under this category, it gives EA the right to collect vast amounts of data on players, and to make matters worse, the beginning of the document states that you waive all your rights to be protected by law. Worse, EA reserves the right to share all of this information with any third party, including law enforcement agencies.
We’re not sure if this is common among other publishers in their license agreements (like Valve’s Steam service), but it definitely seems like EA is taking it too far, if not breaking the law. If you wish to read the EA Online EULA, you can find it here.
*Quietly starts deleting all the pirated porn*
*Starts retrieving all deleted porn from Ain’s hard drive…* sssshhh. lol
you stole my comment i hate you
im just going to buy mw3 because i heard it wasnt crap like BO
(One year before that)
im just going to buy BO because i heard it wasnt crap like MW2
(One year before that)
im just going to buy WAW because it has cod in it
(One year before that)
Modern warefare was a good game
(im not buying mw3 btw)
These licenses always over step their bounds. But no matter what they say, they cant take away your rights as a consumer. Even with a clause that says “you waive all your rights to be protected by law”.
What rights are you speaking of? Hollywood law rights? Or actual Rights?
There is no law that protects a person if they AGREE to have their information divulged. The end user agrees to waive their rights in lieu of the service provided, hence the service provider cannot be accountable for actions that the user has given permission for. This is legally the same as allowing a clinic to gain access to your personal medical records.
wrong, in Austria for example, you still have “fundamental rights” in an contract ,that are prescribed by the state, even if you sign it
He’s right, here in the states we have certain rights that cannot be legally waived off. Lots of companies use that disclaimer as legal protection but still wind up getting sued and losing.
you can’t sign away your right to sue….. It’s impossible.
A recreation group called Society for Creative Anachronism was sued by one of their members for medical expenses. (The member didn’t want to sue, but their insurance company forced them to, it was a case of “sue, or we won’t cover you”….) They had signed a waiver stating that they could not hold the ‘SCA’ accountable – guess what? the court said, oh yes they could…. regardless of any piece of paper. You could sign it in blood and it won’t hold a cup of piss in court.
To be honest, if anyone wants to know these things about you or your hardware, they can do it almost immediately. It’s no surprise, to me at least, that they have this stated. This is pretty much used for hack-bans and stuff like that. Say I was aim-botting and someone reported me, EA then would need to learn things about me, IP (for obvious reasons) my hardware compared to theirs, what programs I’m using to hack, etc etc etc. Really, this is no surprise, yea, it sucks, but like I said earlier, if I REALLY wanted to learn these things about you, I could do so by Googling how to do it, only thing is they are doing it legally. I see no concern in this.
Only one thing to say…Lol.
Actually I believe there are certain laws under the Data Protection Act in the EU that protect such Data. Or something similar. I’m not quite sure of the details.
Anyone?
Only if the user does not consent to the data transmission (see Google).
They are basically doing (and have already done, I’d bet, since the effective date of that document is 11/16/09) what just about every other media and entertainment company has been doing for years… I don’t even want to think about the database Google has on me.
I dislike this.
I like that you dislike
i like that you like that he dislikes that
i like that you like that he likes to dislike him.
lol
This will help protect against hackers, the terrorists of gaming. This is basically the patriot act of gaming IMO.
You speak as if the Patriot Act was fair and just for everyone.
Sic semper tyrannis.
Don’t get me wrong, the patriot act can lick my balls, but for super-competitive online gaming it really may not be a bad thing. It makes hacking scarier and more risky for the hacker being tracked. So, I say good for now.
Flame on!
In all serious-ness now….
EA: Congrats. You’ve drilled another nail into Origin’s Coffin. Between shoving it down User’s Throats, stirring up excuses so you can avoid putting it on Steam, requiring people to run it in the Background, bla bla bla…
Sure, we can say that a lot of other Companies probably have this in their EULAs that they know nobody will read because they’re so long you just don’t WANT to read it, but when someone actually brings specific portions of an EULA to light, that’s when the real damage is done. Like now.
Personally hoping the increase in negative reactions towards Origin forces EA to drop the “shoving Origin down your Throat with BF3″ stuff. Feel free to flame me, but if this forces EA to re-consider Origin-BF3 integration, then good. Whatever it takes.
Oh, and uh, before anyone points out how Steam also has Graphs etc. on User base running which OS and which Programs, participation in those is optional. They ask you if you want to submit your data, they don’t just take it.
If you think that’s the case then you need to re-read the Steam privacy policy.
X-Box Live and PSN do the same thing that Origin is doing.
The difference isn’t that EA holds data on you it’s that they share it with 3rd parties without your consent.
Also you do have to opt-in to the Steam hardware analysis.
This is @DERP:
If you hit you agree then you consented. Done.
you hope….. you don’t know what’s happening in background while you play……
Honestly i have used orgins for re downloading a sims game i bought when it was just EA managers. its not really as bad as every takes it, it downloaded my game fast, its fairly well designed.now i fucking love steam i have over 100 games registered on steam and I will probably continue to use it, i do wish Bf3 was still on steam…but who in the actual fuck gives a shit as long as the service works, u get ur freaking game WHO THE HELL CARES get over it play ur damn game and shut the fuck up
I think that’s a shame, just a shame. Where is our privacy? I looked positively about Origin before reading this but, I’m a little anxious about it.
EA fucking strikes again, dice are working the back sides off to make such a great game and all it seems is that EA just wanna fuck it up so much…
They don’t do anything any other company wouldn’t do. And does.
But when their openly saying they want to take down the biggest competion in the gaming market, why go and make dick moves like this? at the moment its like they want to do everything they can to piss off the pc community… next they will announce the game uses always internet drm, which considering the game dosnt use a main menu apparntly, its looking that way already… bobby kotick must be crying with laughter every time summet like this pops up
I paid 35€ to pre-order the game. I now have the feeling with all these popping up every now and then, EA must pay me to install this crap, normally.
Firstly, I was excited about BF3, then impatient, then the nasty EA’s things started rising… Still I was like “sure” then “ok” then “meh” then WTF
Damn… Those rich f@ers know very well we gonna get the game anyway and they step on this and our bodies.
THIS IS MADNESS!!!
Madness?
…
This…IS…ORIGIN!!!!
(sorry, it had to be done)
I know. I was waiting for something like that
Yeah it had to
i said something similar to this 300 line and some one said this to me … so im saying it to you
THIS IS AN OLD MEME!!!!
Now let’s Remix it! ((( d(-_-)b )))
yeaa
THIS IS ORIGIN,THIS IS ORIGIN x10
Didn’t they do the same in 2142?….not a big deal
what
“When you use EA online and mobile products and services or you play our games on your PC or console, we may collect certain non-personal demographic information including gender, zip code, information about your computer, hardware, software, platform, media, mobile device, mobile device ID, console ID, incident data, Internet Protocol (IP) address, network Media Access Control (MAC) address and connection. We also collect other non-personal information such as feature usage, game play statistics and scores, user rankings and click paths.”
I hope all of you realize that the information above is captured at nearly every internet website you visit. Build your own website and incorporate google analytics. It will shows click paths, browser, computer info, etc. It’s all anonymous but it’s there. The fact that EA captures the same thing that even I can do it really no surprise.
The fact they are reporting anonymous info to 3rd parties could be a bit of a concern, but what company DOESN’T do that? Probably very few. As long as it’s anonymous there’s really no harm, in fact, it could help companies tailor the experience to feed your needs/wants more closely.
I see no harm in the above. I’m all for being conscious of the information that’s getting out there, but this is standard legal jargon and standard industry practice, nothing to be concerned about.
I agree. The “third party service providers” they mention are probably just industry analysts they contract with to provide demographic info and the like. There’s a difference between selling your information for a profit and providing it to someone that performs some sort of service to them. Seems like EA is doing the latter.
I am skeptical, as one always should be when personal info is involved, but this doesn’t seem to be too abnormal.
Do people not realize that the legal form here is basically an industry standard document? Jeesh, people need to get a grip. If you are online right now, which you are, chances are some computer somewhere is mining you for information. Right now, at this very minute.
Ok, I’m not that type that’s crying about some data collection.
I kinda like all the graphs and statistics. They are very interesting in some point.
But EA is realy taking it too far with that! This is too much and too forced.
I realy can accept some data collection but it must be optional.
i got original windows thank god otherwise they wud have blacklisted me phew
oh man …. i have tons of pirated movies/games/ hell even my windows 7 is pirated .. well glad i live in algeria
, you got shit on me
but you guy in “advance countries” may have some trouble with this “ilegal” stuff … man it feels good to do something bad and getaway from it while other ppl get in trouble
That’s the mentality separating advanced countries, like where I live, from 3rd world shit hole countries, like where you live.
oh poor guy
, you need a lean more about countries
things here are just like 1class countries , exept we dont gets arrested for everything and pay 40-60 $ for Xbox 360 Games , Pay For Music (lol) , Cinema Movies (bigger lol) , or games , and you cant get in trouble if you did something in the internet (exept robbing a bank a dude got cought for that)
and thats prety mutch it , if we compare each other right now it is 100% the same , i got a apartment a great one , a Dacia Logan , a Job that pays well
what possibly more would i need ?
laught on you idiot
really guys why are you all losing you´re shit so to speak.anyone can really jsut push the on button on there computer and in a few minutes know you´re hwole past and information.many publishers and developers do this its just that EA states it in the paragraph many others dont.
I can’t even read what you just wrote.
It’s like how Steam collects PC information, it uses it so it can see where hardware trends are going isn’t it?
I doubt it’s going to be snooping through your Porn collection lol.
Or else some EA employee’s job just got a *lot* more interesting…
or deeply disturbing in my case….
i mean what? >_>
come one guys STOP CRYING!!
i hope you read the terms and agreement
BEFORE you continued the installation!
IF NOT!
to bad
hide ur underage childporn animal sex abuse vids
shut up fatass
jk southpark reference
“Cartman, you’re such a big fat fuck, that when you walk down the street, people look at you and say: “Wow, what a big fat fuck!”"
oh man …. i have tons of pirated movies/games/ hell even my windows 7 is pirated .. well glad i live in algeria
, you got shit on me
but you guy in “advance countries” may have some trouble with this “ilegal” stuff … man it feels good to do something bad and getaway from it while other ppl get in trouble
AND BF3 BLOG WHY DO I NEED COMMENT APPROVAL !
EA can go to hell. I’ll still be playing BF3 in the end.
The one game worth buying in years and you are going to Pirate it..
Great one, you are awesome.
You fucking idiot.
I just realized you said “Playing” not “Pirating”… I apologize. my eyes ar escrewed up =_=
No problem.
I’d pay $120.00 for that game. Worth every penny. When I buy BF3 i know I’ll still be playing it in 2015. I have over 640 hours in BC2. I’m hoping to put in at least 1800 hours into BF3.
Darn… I’m betting your really good with that amount of time under your belt, I’ve got a little over 200 hours so far.
so they’ll know about my super legal *cough*torrent client and downloads*cough*?
FFFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU
you went too far EA. f* off
I know this seems kinda bad but really,like James said…how many people actually read the TOA’s? Most people just unknowingly click accept. As long as they can play the game without any disturbances its all good.Also EA isnt the only company that does this
fuck that shit :p
i will be pirating all EA games from now on
“Well hello there! Got something to hide?”
Honestly I don’t really give a damn about this. This seems like a common procedure found everywhere on the internet.
Wrong.
Steam collects data as well, but steam *DOES NOT* sell that data to 3rd party users, it also keeps its data mining to basic hardware and software. It *DOES NOT* trawl your entire computer like Origin is supposed to do.
Most people have no issue with their Data being kept as long as it’s anonymous and if not then it SHOULD NEVER be sold. This is where EA, has once again f*cked up and once again, continues to force people to stick with Digital Download services like Steam.
Thank you EA, after cancelling my pre-order due to your bullsh*t regarding 0 Day DLC and removing BF3 from steam, I’ll continue to avoid your products. I feel sorry for DICE tho, working so very very hard to give us one of the most amazing games in years and it’s continually crippled by stupid, stupid decisions made by EA.
Guess those 1300hours I’ve invested in BFBC2 were a waste of time.
Who even said I was talking about Steam? I was referring to the internet in general.
I’m sorry to hear that you wont join us in Battlefield 3. Maybe someone else will – oh well; one less player equals less chance for overpopulated servers at launch. :3
To be honest, I’d rather stay away from player bases that consist of people who willingly download spywares.
Origin is a spyware. By definition.
Where does it say that they are SELLING the information to 3rd parties?
FYI, Valve exerts no control over 3rd party software distributed through their service. This to say, a game could steal your credit card info and Valve doesn’t care. I’m glad EA restricts themselves rather than being all “we don’t care about the end user”.
You are a moron.. try reading
Also this is part of the EULA: We may also share that data with our third party service providers in a form that does not personally identify you
This is for marketing purposes only.. you may get an email based on the type of games you like etc.. who gives a fuck. If you have a ton of illegal shit on your computer that you are hiding then boo hoo….
If you have facebook then you better delete that too, because the info you share on there is never deleted..