Oculus Rift terms of service: Three things you should know before buying

Oculus Rift privacy concerns — You'll want to give Oculus' T&Cs a good read-through before you purchase its VR headset Oculus

Those of you thinking about picking up an Oculus Rift may want to take a closer look at the terms and conditions before doing so, because it turns out what's in there is quite troubling.

Oculus began shipping its virtual reality headset on 28 March, much to the delight of consumers and (some) critics alike. However, some users are now taking a second look at the headset's T&Cs after discovering that the device is gathering data on their usage habits.

When setting up the Oculus Rift on a PC, a background service gets installed that allows the headset to monitor how it's being used. This includes info on the apps and content being accessed in addition to identifying info like as users' device type and IP address. The headset then sends this data back to Oculus, which is owned by Facebook.

As spotted by Upload VR, there are a number of somewhat worrying terms that users are consenting to upon hitting the 'agree' button in the Oculus' Terms of Service. While we'd fully advise Rift owners to give them a thorough going-over themselves, below we've highlighted three key policies you should be aware of before buying the headset.

1. Oculus collects data on how you use the Oculus Rift

This includes data on where, when and how you use the Oculus Rift, the content you view and even your physical movements while wearing the device. The Terms of Service read:

Depending on how you access and use our Services, we may collect information such as:

Information about your interactions with our Services, like information about the games, content, apps or other experiences you interact with, and information collected in or through cookies, local storage, pixels, and similar technologies (additional information about these technologies is available at https://www.oculus.com/en-us/cookies-pixels-and-other-technologies/);
Information about how you access our Services, including information about the type of device you're using (such as a headset, PC, or mobile device), your browser or operating system, your Internet Protocol ("IP") address, and certain device identifiers that may be unique to your device;
Information about the games, content, or other apps installed on your device or provided through our Services, including from third parties;
Location information, which can be derived from information such as your device's IP address. If you're using a mobile device, we may collect information about the device's precise location, which is derived from sources such as the device's GPS signal and information about nearby WiFi networks and cell towers; and
Information about your physical movements and dimensions when you use a virtual reality headset.

Speaking to IBTimes UK, an Oculus spokesperson said that the company isn't sharing information with Facebook at this time. However, they added that while Facebook isn't currently using data collected from the headset for advertising, it is something the company "may consider in the future."

2. Third parties can also collect information about you through the Oculus Rift

Under Oculus' terms, the company is allowed to share certain information about you with selected third parties. This includes:

Sharing Within Related Companies. We may share information within the family of related companies that are legally part of the same group of companies that Oculus is part of, or that become part of that group, such as Facebook. For a list of our related companies, please see https://www.oculus.com/en-us/related-companies/.
Service providers. We may share the information we collect with vendors, service providers, researchers and other partners, who work at our direction to support the Services (such as hosting our Services, fulfilling orders, facilitating payments, analyzing the way people use our Services, processing credit card payments, providing customer service, or sending electronic communications for us).
Other parties in connection with certain business transactions. In the event that the ownership of Oculus (or any portion of our assets) changes as a result of a merger, acquisition, or in the event of a bankruptcy, information from or about you or your device may be transferred to another company.
Consent. We may share information about you for any other purpose for which you give us your consent.
We may also share de-identified or aggregate data with others for any purpose. De-identified data means information where we have removed your name or contact information. Aggregate data is data that has been combined with other data so that it doesn't identify any specific person.

Third parties can also collect information on how you use Oculus' services for marketing purposes, including "the use of cookies, device IDs, local storage, pixels and other technologies".

3. You must surrender creative ownership rights

While Oculus can't lay claim to any content you create using the Rift, the company is permitted to use your work however it likes, forever and without having to pay you to do so. It can also give this right to other companies. The terms read:

As Gizmodo notes, it shouldn't come as much of a surprise that Facebook-owned Oculus is trying to find out how it can profit from virtual reality by monetising user experiences. However, it does appear to confirm worries that many expressed when Facebook acquired Oculus VR in March 2014, in that the social media company would use the technology to pursue its own commercial interests.

How do you feel about Oculus' Terms of Service? Would you reconsider buying an Oculus Rift? Let us know @IBTimesUKTech

Oculus Rift

Join the Discussion