Microsoft recently updated its privacy policy for the Xbox One and the Kinect camera. The new policy outlines how the company handles your data collected by the Kinect and the Xbox One’s DVR feature. The statement claims the data collected by the Kinect’s facial recognition technology does not leave the console, and can be deleted from the console’s cache at any time by the user.

Furthermore, Microsoft says the string of numbers used to represent your recognition model can’t be deciphered and tied back to the user in any way. Any skeletal models collected by the Kinect are destroyed after the ending of a gameplay session, including any models sent over the Internet during a multiplayer gameplay session. In addition, the skeletons are not identifiable from the raw data, nor is any facial expression data collected by the Kinect.

Moreover, Microsoft says users “should not expect any level of privacy concerning your use of the live communication features such as voice chat, video, and communications in live-hosted gameplay sessions offered through the Services.” However, bear in mind the company may monitor these channels “to the extent permitted by law,” still, the software giant “cannot monitor the entire Service and make[s] no attempt to do so.”

For those who are wondering, Microsoft does not listen in on Skype calls and online voice chat recorded by others over Xbox Live. Or at least that is what they say anyway. There is an opt-out feature here, but it only works to disable advertising and tracking of third party ad services.

Let the Microsoft-NSA jokes begin.

[via Microsoft]