There are about three billion gamers worldwide, and the gaming industry is worth $193 billion, almost twice as much as the combined value of the music and film industries.
Janne Lindqvist, associate professor of computer science at alto noted, “We had two supporting lines of inquiry in this study: what players think about games, and what games are really up to with respect to privacy.’
The study's authors were astonished by how complex the concerns of gamers were.
“For example, participants said that, to protect their privacy, they would avoid using voice chat in games unless it was absolutely necessary. Our game analysis revealed that some games try to nudge people to reveal their online identities by offering things like virtual rewards,” said Lindqvist in a report published in the journal Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction.
The authors found examples of games that used "dark design," or interface decisions that coerce users into taking actions they otherwise would not. These might make it easier to gather player data, motivate users to connect their social media profiles, or permit the exchange of player information with outside parties.
“When social media accounts are linked to games, players generally can’t know what access the games have to these accounts or what information they receive,” said Amel Bourdoucen, doctoral researcher in usable security at Aalto.
For instance, in some of the prevalent games, gamers can log in with their social media accounts. However, these games may not disclose the information they have gathered in the interaction. “Data handling practices of games are often hidden behind legal jargon in privacy policies,” said Bourdoucen.
It has thus been suggested to gaming authorities to specify the data they are collecting from the users, making sure that the gamers acknowledge and consent to their data being collected.
“This can increase the player’s awareness and sense of control in games. Gaming companies should also protect players’ privacy and keep them safe while playing online,” the authors wrote.
The study reveals that the gamers often had no idea that their chat-based conversations could be revealed to outside parties. Additionally, throughout a game, players were not informed about data sharing.
The study further notes that the players are aware of the risks and in fact take certain mitigation methods.
Lindqvist says that, “Games really should be fun and safe for everybody, and they should support the player’s autonomy. One way of supporting autonomy would be able to let players opt out from invasive data collection.”