buzer
3 hours ago
Someone in EU should try to make a complaint to the local authority who is enforcing ePrivacy Directive regarding anti cheats in general. Despite what people think ePD isn't limited to cookies and rather also applies all data read or stored in "terminal equipment" via use of electronic communications networks. I would say anti cheat should usually qualify. If they want to do it without consent then they need to show that it's strictly necessary for the service user specifically requested (and that applies for each piece of data written/read, including the OS information).
There's good argument that anti cheat itself would need to be consent based. If you don't accept then you simply don't get placed in games with users who have it enabled.
altairprime
2 hours ago
For anyone pursuing this, consider that the EU age verification apps are the EU’s first foray into digital anti-cheat systems at population scale. If you take the time to research how those are being designed and implemented and incorporate awareness of their work into your complaint about anti-cheats in gaming, your missive will be a lot more likely to strike the target and be taken seriously.
buzer
2 hours ago
The age verification is it's own can of worms. I'm currently waiting for my native country (but not the one where I reside) to actually publish their wallet implementation. I'm planning to make complaint around it because the whole thing almost certainly breaches ePD. ePD's exceptions are actually for "information society service" rather than just any service. The ISS itself has it's own sets of requirements, but the important one here is that "normally provided for remuneration". Service provided by government as part of their public duty almost never fulfills that requirement.
So in order to store or read data they would need consent. But consent requirements come from GDPR and it's unlikely that this type of consent would be "freely given" given the impact of refusal.
altairprime
an hour ago
From a technical standpoint, there’s no functional difference: without secure boot and OS attestation, age verification is as ineffective as EAC on Linux, because you can simply `insmod GameGenie.ko code=A456-GH4C` to have your mobile device simulator kernel patch success into any challenge. At the surface level they’re different — one is PvP, the other is PvG, one uses webcams for Twitch, the other uses webcams for facial recognition — but the same set of kernel defenses enable both.