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Title: Nintendo Warns Switch 2 GameChat Users: 'Your Chat Is Recorded'

Link: https://games.slashdot.org/story/25/06/05/233...

Ars Technica's Kyle Orland reports: Last month, ahead of the launch of the
Switch 2 and its GameChat communication features, Nintendo updated its
privacy policy to note that the company "may also monitor and record your
video and audio interactions with other users." Now that the Switch 2 has
officially launched, we have a clearer understanding of how the console
handles audio and video recorded during GameChat sessions, as well as when
that footage may be sent to Nintendo or shared with partners, including law
enforcement. Before using GameChat on Switch 2 for the first time, you must
consent to a set of GameChat Terms displayed on the system itself. These
terms warn that chat content is "recorded and stored temporarily" both on
your system and the system of those you chat with. But those stored
recordings are only shared with Nintendo if a user reports a violation of
Nintendo's Community Guidelines, the company writes. That reporting feature
lets a user "review a recording of the last three minutes of the latest three
GameChat sessions" to highlight a particular section for review, suggesting
that chat sessions are not being captured and stored in full. The terms also
lay out that "these recordings are available only if the report is submitted
within 24 hours," suggesting that recordings are deleted from local storage
after a full day. If a report is submitted to Nintendo, the company warns
that it "may disclose certain information to third parties, such as
authorities, courts, lawyers, or subcontractors reviewing the reported
chats." If you don't consent to the potential for such recording and sharing,
you're prevented from using GameChat altogether. Nintendo is extremely clear
that the purpose of its recording and review system is "to protect GameChat
users, especially minors" and "to support our ability to uphold our Community
Guidelines." This kind of human moderator review of chats is pretty common in
the gaming world and can even apply to voice recordings made by various smart
home assistants. [...] Overall, the time-limited, local-unless-reported
recordings Nintendo makes here seem like a minimal intrusion on the average
GameChat user's privacy. Still, if you're paranoid about Nintendo potentially
seeing and hearing what's going on in your living room, it's good to at least
be aware of it.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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