Your Xbox Might Be Revealing Personal Info Without Your Permission

4
Last night Reddit user "nadiaface" received a strange heads up from a friend who said that their last name was showing up next to their GamerTag. "I thought it was weird," they said in their post, "because I have my settings to block from showing my real name." Sure enough, when they went to check, their full name was showing. Not only that, but everyone's full name was on display next to their tags. Streamers, friends, recent players, everyone.

"I went through my entire friend list and I know for a fact none of these people have ever showed their name before. We all go by nicknames and having your last name show is a HUGE BREACH in security. Why is this happening?" A follow-up post on ResetEra confirmed that it's not just users who are part of the Insider Alpha program. Many people, for no apparent reason, had their privacy options reverted to show their full names to everyone, and no one is sure why it happened. So how can you tell if your privacy settings have been tweaked?

You'll want to follow (this link) to review your Xbox privacy settings. After you log in, you'll see a long list of settings that you can adjust on the fly. About halfway down the page you'll settings for sharing your real name with everyone, with friends, or only to those whom you choose. It will look like this:



For the record, the image above was taken by me, and my privacy settings were not affected. It's worth noting, however, that I recently upgraded to an Xbox One X, and so all of my settings were very fresh.

Many users are reporting that, despite having their privacy settings ticked to only show their names to friends or friends of their choosing, it had been adjusted to show their real names to everyone. Obviously this has been unsettling for a lot of players, and some people are really upset. On the Reddit and ResetEra threads, you'll notice that people are labeling this as "doxxing," since Xbox has been sharing personal information against the wishes of its users.

Posted:
Related Forum: Xbox Forum

Source: http://comicbook.com/gaming/2018/03/01/xbox-showing-real-name-privacy-settings/

Comments

"Your Xbox Might Be Revealing Personal Info Without Your Permission" :: Login/Create an Account :: 21 comments

If you would like to post a comment please signin to your account or register for an account.

CraigPosted:

It's Microsoft, so it's really not surprising. No one reads T&C's these days so they are more than probable in their rights to do so. But it's the internet in 2018, who bloody cares anymore?

FamousPosted:

KyloCrux When you add someone, it automatically selects to show name to that friend. You have to manually deselect. I doubt that person did. Stirring up drama where none is needed.



Nothing but drama is right. If you know how to use an Xbox you can clearly see that and you will need to deselect it.

AcedPosted:

KyloCrux When you add someone, it automatically selects to show name to that friend. You have to manually deselect. I doubt that person did. Stirring up drama where none is needed.

Exactly. The options show up when you first add the person. Thats the problem unless she denied to share her information and its still showing up

TuskPosted:

I don't see the big deal. A lot of people have the same first names.

ZydrinPosted:

When you add someone, it automatically selects to show name to that friend. You have to manually deselect. I doubt that person did. Stirring up drama where none is needed.

MickersPosted:

Rough but it's really not that major.

DecyPosted:

SR20DET This post seems irrelevant.


Now this is an irrelevant post. oh how i love the universe and its weird ways of karma... 1 word READ.

This is a bad bug to have if it is of sorts. From what i remember tho i've always had my settings set seems to be 1 of the main things you do when setting up your account on xbox one for the first time.

WLRPosted:

Cause nobody unchecks the box to share your real name

GhostPosted:

Potion
SR20DET This post seems irrelevant.


Not really. Do you really want someone on Xbox who you are trash talking with on call of duty to know your name?


I'm pretty sure that means they're probably selling your information to other companies which is illegal anyway.

GaryPosted:

SR20DET This post seems irrelevant.


Not really. Do you really want someone on Xbox who you are trash talking with on call of duty to know your name?