A company may not use scripts/automation/steam api or site scraping to collect information about any user except by permission from Valve. If Microsoft is in violation they can have their API account terminated. However, the fun part is that YOU have to go find this violation and THEN prove it to Valve. Good luck!

Accounts don't link themselves.

Originally posted by DarkCrystalMethod:

A company may not use scripts/automation/steam api or site scraping to collect information about any user except by permission from Valve. If Microsoft is in violation they can have their API account terminated. However, the fun part is that YOU have to go find this violation and THEN prove it to Valve. Good luck!

Well, I've got an Xbox app showing games I've played on Steam despite never linking my account, so it is happening. I just don't know how to go about raising this with Steam, as it seems pretty unreasonable behaviour from Microsoft.

If Steam is allowing them to do it without my permission (I have definitely never agreed to this) then that's bad behaviour from both of them. Otherwise why would Microsoft think they'd get away this?

Originally posted by C²C^Guyver |NZB|:

Accounts don't link themselves.

My Steam account is definitely not linked at the time of this happening. And Game Pass has always been its own app (as far as I recall) so there should be no connection to Steam that I've ever given it.

Even if you turned it off, it would still know what you played. It simply wouldn't show you. Look at Discord for example, or Nvidia too, They do the same thing.

You have quite a few Xbox Games Studios games in your library.

Originally posted by jb2097:

Originally posted by DarkCrystalMethod:

A company may not use scripts/automation/steam api or site scraping to collect information about any user except by permission from Valve. If Microsoft is in violation they can have their API account terminated. However, the fun part is that YOU have to go find this violation and THEN prove it to Valve. Good luck!

Well, I've got an Xbox app showing games I've played on Steam despite never linking my account, so it is happening. I just don't know how to go about raising this with Steam, as it seems pretty unreasonable behaviour from Microsoft.

If Steam is allowing them to do it without my permission (I have definitely never agreed to this) then that's bad behaviour from both of them. Otherwise why would Microsoft think they'd get away this?

When you play a game on your PC, it doesn't run inside of a Steam bubble, hidden from the systems view. Microsoft is simply using the data is already collecting on your PC like recently run games and apps. Steam isn't giving that information to Microsoft, your PC is.

Originally posted by jb2097:

I just logged into the Xbox app and was surprised to see it showing games I recently played on Steam. Considering that the two apps aren't connected, and that I have never linked them or given any permission for this to happen, how the hell can Microsoft do this?

I'm aware it is a feature they are rolling out, but you'd think they'd get your approval as the account owner first! Does anybody know if this has come up in discussion? It seems like something Epic did a while ago and Steam weren't happy about it - is this the same?

On a personal level it angers me because they didn't bother asking if I even agreed to it, and turning it off is buried somewhere in the options or not even done through the app.

Every time a game is launched, Microsoft records every game was launched wit A/B tests, regardless of whether Xbox settings are enabled in Windows or not.

You don't even have to actively log in to the Xbox network or actively use any related features, as Microsoft collects the data without your knowledge.

https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3412191209
I also reported this data behavior to related data protection authorities in my country. In Windows itself, one can speak of placebo settings, which are ultimately useless and deceive users.

Observed for the first time in March 2022. At times, six other Microsoft services were also involved.

Unless the X-Box applications are explicitly removed from the system, the applications remain permanently active.

Microsoft cannot be trusted in this regard. If a service was e.g. shut down, blocked, become obsolete, revised or whatever... five other services with the same or similar functions will take its place.

Unfortunately, this is not an isolated case of questionable mechanics in Windows. The only thing that helps is to block the respective addresses, e.g., via hosts or DNS resolver. Otherwise? In addition delete everything that is not needed and steer clear of Microsoft games, because you have to register explicitly with the Xbox/Microsoft partner network to play them. Especially annoying when local accounts are forced online and overwritten.

As example, last thing i discoverd few days ago, was a new active Windows 11 logging function that monitor the MachineID, motherboard, user language, client ID, MUID, ActivityID of users and data was send to MSN. Of course, without asking.

And yes, they get away with it, just like with everything else. Unfortunately, politicians around the world have failed when it comes to imposing severe penalties on (large) corporations or imprison those responsibles. Even worse, many politicians are now doing the same thing and actively support this.

--

BigData business, live. Ruthless, without asking at everyone's expense. Metadata is the only thing that matters. Modern parasitism. Without penalties, without consequences for those responsible. But instead, there are restrictions and prohibitions for ordinary citizens who destroy entire lives for far less. Any questions?

If anyone objects now that there are (real) penalties, forget it. If a company has to pay a sum that is less than what it earns in a day/week/month, that's ridiculous. Especially when one consider that court proceedings can sometimes take years for a little fine.

I haven't seen e.g. Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, Satya Nadella, Tim Sweeney, Sundar Pichai, Andrew Wilson with cases such as Kerry Hopkins or anyone else from the industry in jail yet. And that's where they belong. All of them. And anyone else who supports the system in relation to data theft, misuse and unauthorized access, as well.

I have also never seen such companies being broken up. I mean, Facebook, Inc. changed its name to Meta Platforms, Inc. when the criticism got worse and worse. That's it. Nothing else.

Steam is also no exception when it comes to questionable background connections, mechanics and excessive data collection.

Are you SURE they don't have permission, because it may be in the terms you've agreed to. Espceially if you're in the US, those terms are pretty damned invasive.

I swear, every new day is another reason for using Linux.

Originally posted by crunchyfrog:

Are you SURE they don't have permission, because it may be in the terms you've agreed to. Espceially if you're in the US, those terms are pretty damned invasive.

May be, but if they violate applicable data protection laws and regulations (and MS does it in so many ways), the terms and conditions are useless or would they even protect them. Unfortunately, that is a topic in itself, which goes beyond the scope of this discussion.

Originally posted by Edelgris:

I swear, every new day is another reason for using Linux.

Partially, but it doesn't help if the installed software/games on Linux behave in the same way. Not everyone is a "pro" who knows about network monitoring, which connection belongs to what, what they transports or how to counteract. Even though Linux has become easier to use (depending on the distribution), it is not a ready to use mass-market product like Windows.

Can we not go to paranoia mode, please?
IT doesn't help the OP, symbol name I can't really type on my keyboard.

I wonder if all this actually is is just the standard stuff Windows does and has done for a lot longer than everyone hates it for, the ID of applications.

As for Linux, not many people are interested in building a car from scratch. :P

Originally posted by davidb11:

Can we not go to paranoia mode, please?
IT doesn't help the OP, symbol name I can't really type on my keyboard.

I wonder if all this actually is is just the standard stuff Windows does and has done for a lot longer than everyone hates it for, the ID of applications.

As for Linux, not many people are interested in building a car from scratch. :P

If you're not "paranoid" about the current state of digital and privacy rights, then you're sadly uninformed. The fact that you think that using Linux is like "building a car from scratch" proves it even further.

Originally posted by Edelgris:

Originally posted by davidb11:

Can we not go to paranoia mode, please?
IT doesn't help the OP, symbol name I can't really type on my keyboard.

I wonder if all this actually is is just the standard stuff Windows does and has done for a lot longer than everyone hates it for, the ID of applications.

As for Linux, not many people are interested in building a car from scratch. :P

If you're not "paranoid" about the current state of digital and privacy rights, then you're sadly uninformed. The fact that you think that using Linux is like "building a car from scratch" proves it even further.

That is literally one of the MOST WELL KNOWN jokes about Linux ever.

I can never take you seriously if you're going to say silly things and also not get what a joke was.
It is so obviously a joke people 20 years ago understood it!

I know enough to know that everyone can't be taken seriously with their rants about privacy, because of how too many things actually work.
Big Brother is not watching you.
This is not 1984.

Originally posted by davidb11:

Originally posted by Edelgris:

If you're not "paranoid" about the current state of digital and privacy rights, then you're sadly uninformed. The fact that you think that using Linux is like "building a car from scratch" proves it even further.

That is literally one of the MOST WELL KNOWN jokes about Linux ever.

I can never take you seriously if you're going to say silly things and also not get what a joke was.
It is so obviously a joke people 20 years ago understood it!

I know enough to know that everyone can't be taken seriously with their rants about privacy, because of how too many things actually work.
Big Brother is not watching you.
This is not 1984.

Your problem is that your joke and your knowledge of the digital world are both 20 years old.