Oculus said that in their privacy policy they will track your location, physical movements, and how you are using the Oculus headset. These are pretty normal for a privacy policy, except for tracking one’s physical movement because that is only for VR consoles. Senator Al Franken who is a consumer advocate, who was against Uber’s invasive privacy policy had something to say about the Rifts’ policy.
Earlier this week, Franken, in a letter to Oculus, explained how he had concerns with Oculus’ privacy settings with the Rift. He asked Oculus how they will use the data they collect because
“[he believes] Americans have a fundamental right to privacy, and that right includes an individual’s access to information about what data are being collected about them, how the data are being treated, and with whom the data are being shared.”
Oculus has not replied yet, but from the letter it seems that Franken’s main concern is the fact that he does not know what Oculus is doing with the information rather than the privacy policy itself. What Oculus will probably do is make their privacy policy more clear similar to what HTC did for their Vive Headset. With the issue of physical movements, this is data that Oculus should have in order to help make the Virtual Reality experience more refined.
One issue that could arise is the fact that the Rift does not really have an off button so it is constantly sending out information, even when not in use. One way for users to keep track of this is through the use of Facebook and Oculus. One solution that has been brought up is the idea of a privacy mode which would allow the user to turn off the recording of the device allowing them to use it without Oculus tracking their every movements. But as of right now we will just have to live with the fact that this collection is for a better VR experience.