Facebook is now Deploy Messenger on Oculus Quest and Quest 2 headsets, and trust me, I cringe too.
Messenger is only available to those who have already connected their Facebook accounts to their Quest or Quest 2 headset, so those who have tried to merge their separate Oculus account are safe for now. But if you are one of those people who last bought an Oculus headset October, you probably already know that Facebook requires you to log in to your account first. Understandably, if this announcement feels like a larger attempt by Facebook to take over your gadget– and collect more of your data.
Adding Messenger to Oculus is completely against the whole purpose of VR: immersion. Not only do I not want to read messages in the headset, but also how exactly someone should respond in Messenger while wearing a Quest? Facebook said in its press release that users can write messages by typing them in VR, selecting something pre-written, or using the speech-to-text feature, and has not provided further details. Typing with the controller’s thumbstick has never been quick or easy, not everyone can type without looking at the keyboard, and speech-to-text isn’t 100% accurate. It doesn’t always explain regional dialects or speech disorders.
And, I mean, why would you want to chat with your friends on Messenger in VR when? VRChat exists? Fortunately, Facebook gives you the option to sign out of Messenger on your Oculus headset, which is best – the bigger problem here is Facebook’s tendency to collect data.
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Users needed to link their Oculus to their Facebook account means the social media already have access to your VR gaming habits, but Facebook collects data from the Messenger app.
When are Apple “privacy nutrition labelsFor the App Store last year, it hit a CVS format coupon on Facebook Messenger. First noticed by 9 to 5Mac, it turns out Facebook collects an absurd amount of data about its users, including: sensitive information for product personalization, analytics and app functionality; financial info to third party advertisers and a mysteriously labeled “other purpose” category; and device ID information.
It’s likely that if you use Messenger in your Oculus, Facebook will collect data there too; According to Apple’s privacy label, Facebook collects data about users’ gameplay content. When the company announced for the first time it would require Oculus users to log in with their Facebook accounts, it confirmed that data would be collected about users’ “relevant content” about “Oculus Activity” and that that data would be used to track Oculus events or VR apps.
Oculus is another means for the company to collect more data about its users, and adding Messenger to the VR platform gives the company more opportunities to do that. Combine all that with that of Facebook terrible privacy track record, and frankly, it takes all the fun out of VR gaming with an Oculus headset.