According to a report today from VG 24/7, Microsoft planning and marketing director Albert Penello dismissed the notion that the Kinect for Xbox One would be used in an inappropriate advertising manner.
Penello took to NeoGAF to respond to questions about Microsoft potentially using the Kinect with Xbox One to target consumers with advertisements because of its expression and facial recognition software.
Specifically Penello addressed a query regarding Xbox 360’s NuAds.
“NuAds by definition is simply interactive advertising done on the platform,” Penello said. “Using the functions of the console and Kinect to interact versus just watching a spot. There’s nothing particularly interesting happening here unless you’re in the advertising business, and we’ve done a few on Xbox 360 today.”
The concerns with the Xbox One come from an interview earlier this year in which it was suggested that the Kinect could be used in advertising, Penello said, because Microsoft can see “expressions, engagement, etc.”
Penello said, flatly, that no one at Microsoft or Xbox is working on that.
“We have a lot more interesting and pressing things to dedicate time toward,” Penello said. “It was an interview done speculatively, and I’m not aware of any active work in this space.”
Penello also added that if the Xbox One were ever to go down that adverstiment path, users would have control, “period.”
The Kinect does have facial recognition, Penello said, which allows the Xbox One to automatically log in users, but the information doesn’t leave the console.
Preventing the Kinect from being used inappropriately, Penello added, is “something the team take very seriously.
