Sony sent out an e-mail to advise customers that its Terms of Service & User Agreement and Privacy Policy have been updated for PSN and Qriocity customers. Sony actually does these updates nicely. They provide a webpage where you can see the changes that have been made to the agreements. Crossed-out words are gone and underlined words are new. Most of the changes just seem to be changing certain words to be either more specific or more generic, closing some of the loopholes Sony’s legal department probably wanted. You can see the policy diffs here:
One of the bigger chunks of text change is the following paragraph. In it, we see the functionality to recommend favorite content or services to friends on the PSN.
We and third parties may provide functionality allowing you to recommend your favorite content or services to your friends via PSN. Only send recommendations to friends who you know want to receive them and whose age is appropriate for the content or services you are recommending. If you receive unwanted messages, ask the sender to stop. If they do not, you can add that person to your block list. See your system manual for more information.
The other big change that popped out to me was a change to marketing option that allows you to opt-in to receiving ads about Sony products and services and those from partners. The option, thankfully opt-in by default, existed previously and it’s just getting a language change for both Qriocity and PSN customers.
If you are in the United States or Canada, effective August 11, 2011, we will change the marketing options to allow Sony Computer Entertainment America (“SCEA”) and SNEA to market to you about Sony Group of Companies’ products and services.
The new language for PSN customers reads as:
- Yes, I’d like to receive news, special offers and other information about PlayStation and Sony Group of Companies’ products and services.
- Yes, I agree to allow my personal information to be shared with PlayStation partners for marketing purposes.
What? Really? I thought they already shared my personal information with the world!
Please note that all account holders may update their marketing options in the Notification Preferences within the Account Management section of their PlayStation Network or Qriocity account accessed through the PlayStation 3 and PSP (PlayStation(R) Portable) systems starting August 9, 2011. Account holders may update their marketing options in the Notification Preferences within the Account Management section of their PlayStation Network or Qriocity account via the Qriocity.com website starting August 11, 2011.