I always feel like Kinect is watching me…

File this one in the ‘weird’ box. A recently uncovered patent filing from Microsoft shows plans for using Kinect to make sure users are adhering to content usage rules… by watching them.

According to industry website MCV, through the patent Kinect (or any camera really) could be used to spy on end users and see what they’re doing with what they’ve downloaded. The goal would be to make sure that they’re adhering to the rules of use for whatever piece of media they’re running.

Kids watching an ‘R’ rated film? Not gonna happen. Showing a movie (or game) publicly? Not any more. Get the drift?

I can see where the company was going with this idea and it probably seemed like a winning proposition at some point, but it’s not. Not in any way. As much as consumers will allow service providers of all kind to get away with, I can’t see them being okay with a giant company (or even a small one) putting a camera in their living room.

It’s invasion of privacy cranked up to the Orwellian max. More than likely, this is just another one of those interesting little footnotes in patent history that will never go anywhere or be seen in any form as part of a final piece of consumer electronics.

I hope.

Source: MCV