Oculus announced a plan today that would require Oculus VR set users to create or merge a Facebook account with their Oculus account. Facebook purchased Oculus in March 2014 for 3.2 billion dollars in cash and stock, and the announcement is prompting fans to bring up Facebook’s history of mismanaging user data.
Facebook has purchased various media companies in the last decade. Facebook purchased Instagram in 2012 and WhatsApp in 2014, leading to the integration of Facebook profiles with Instagram and one of the largest data scandals in 2018. Facebook came under fire when a third party app was used to gather information on users in order to sell to voters wanting political information. The scandal caused a large distrust in Facebook, which has since caused even more controversy with political ties and influences.
The Oculus announcement gives users a limited time to merge their Oculus and Facebook accounts, though new users will need to log in with Facebook from the start. Any existing Oculus accounts not merged with Facebook by January 1st, 2023 will not have full functionality. Oculus users saw this as an ultimatum to either not have full functionality of their VR device, or merge their accounts and potentially give Facebook very detailed data gathered from VR.
Some saw this decision as completely anti-consumer. Based on Facebook’s history of user data, many believe that the merging of Oculus and Facebook accounts only benefits Facebook by having more information on Oculus users. The announcement by Oculus is most likely going to result in users creating burner Facebook accounts or users choosing alternatives to the Oculus. Many fans have already pointed out that PlayStation VR and the HTC Vive do not require any additional social media profiles to use.
Although Facebook acquired Oculus over six years ago, Oculus made a statement that Oculus users would not require a Facebook account. Now, the promise has been broken. Rumors of a new Oculus headset being in development has been floating around and the announcement of merging accounts could point to changes occurring at Oculus.
With so much competition happening in the virtual reality industry, the announcement from Oculus comes as a surprise. Many users are becoming aware of company policies and how their personal data is used, and Facebook has left a bad taste in the mouths of many wanting to protect their information. With controversy surrounding media apps such as Tik Tok and Apple, Oculus and Facebook are joining in on the list of potential controversies.
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