Game News
Back in 2014 Facebook confirmed the acquisition of virtual reality developer Oculus. The deal is thought to have cost around $2 billion and was most likely an attempt for Facebook to enter the VR industry. But it’s a hidden clause found six years later that’s got people really talking.
As discovered by @CixLiv on Twitter, there’s an interesting sub-clause on Facebook’s delete profile page. It says that deleting your account will also wipe your oculus information. This includes achievements, existing store credits, and even previous app purchases. In other words, Facebook reserves the right to forcibly remove the ownership of any Oculus app you’ve purchased.
Another strike against Facebook
It’s no secret that the social media giant has a taste for personal information. Back in 2018 company CEO and founder Mark Zuckerberg had to face a US Senate to explain his company’s behaviour. According to several leaks, Facebook had been selling its customers personal data to other companies and even governments.
It got so bad in fact that the European Union had to rework its entire online privacy act to protect people. Now if a company wants to do business in an EU state it has to ask consent to collect data. And if the consumer doesn’t want to give said data away, you can not deny them access to your product or service.
Since the Oculus Rift is another source of valuable data, it makes sense that Facebook would want to protect that. By tying it to your Facebook account, it’s effectively monopolizing information about you. It’s a bizarre concept but sadly not a new one.
Perhaps the craziest thing of all is that if you create a burner Facebook account just for Oculus, you can get banned. It’s actually against the Oculus terms and conditions to not use your official profile. Hopefully, the backlash regarding this encourages Facebook to rethink its business strategy at least a little.
