Electronic Arts has revised the language of their digital distribution service Origin, after the outcry from users over the intrusiveness, perceived or real.
The EULA stated, ”You agree that EA may collect, use, store and transmit technical and related information that identifies your computer (including the Internet Protocol Address), operating system, Application usage (including but not limited to successful installation and/or removal), software, software usage and peripheral hardware, that may be gathered periodically to facilitate the provision of software updates, dynamically served content, product support and other services to you, including online services. 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 EULA now reads, ”EA knows that you care how information about you is collected, used and shared, and we appreciate your trust that we will do so carefully and sensibly. Information about our customers is an important part of our business, and EA would never sell your personally identifiable information to anyone, nor would it ever use spyware or install spyware on users’ machines.”
The flowery language and use of words like ”care”, ”appreciate”, and ”carefully and sensibly” doesn’t answer the question of whether they will not share the data, even if it’s anonymous.
