EA Denies Battlefield 3/Origin ‘Spyware’ Claims

13 years ago

Is Origin spying on your system? The agreement all its users sign up to certainly allow it to, but EA denies this is going on.

by
Pete Davison
November 01, 2011 11:25 AM PT

Origin’s quality assurance team. Possibly.

EA’s wannabe Steam rival Origin has had a rocky start when it comes to building trust with gamers. Eagle-eyed players spotted some clauses in the end user license agreements which gave cause for concern over privacy — and the fact that several high profile titles disappeared from Steam and reappeared on Origin hasn’t made EA many friends, either.

According to Eurogamer, German gamers have been expressing anger following Battlefield 3′s launch, since the game requires the use of Origin, even with retail copies. The Spiegel newspaper in Germany printed a list of items in the license agreement which potentially breached German privacy laws, including the right for EA and unnamed “partners” to “gather, use, store and transmit technical and related information” on “IP addresses, usage data, software, equipment, software usage and existing hardware peripherals.”

German gamers were reportedly returning copies of Battlefield 3 in droves, and disgruntled players rating-bombed Amazon.de’s user rating, making it one of the worst on the site. EA Germany has strongly denied the accusations of Origin being “spyware,” noting that it does “not have access to information such as pictures, documents or personal data, which have nothing to do with the execution of the Origin program on the system of the player.”

Whatever EA says, if you’re planning on playing Battlefield 3 on PC — or indeed any game which requires the use of Origin to purchase or play — be sure to read the Terms of Service very carefully. Here’s the paragraph that is causing worry for some:

2. Consent to Collection and Use of Data.

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. IF YOU DO NOT WANT EA TO COLLECT, — USE, STORE, TRANSMIT OR DISPLAY THE DATA DESCRIBED IN THIS SECTION, PLEASE DO NOT INSTALL OR — USE THE APPLICATION. This and all other data provided to EA and/or collected by EA in connection with your installation and use of this Application is collected, used, stored and transmitted in accordance with EA’s Privacy Policy located at www.ea.com. To the extent that anything in this section conflicts with the terms of EA’s Privacy Policy, the terms of the Privacy Policy shall control.

Also Read:
Origin EULA Doesn’t Allow Opt-Out of Data Collection