No, it doesn’t brick your console, but you might be finding yourself somewhat shocked if you live in one region of the world.

Recently, the new firmware arrived, which, as usual, just improves the system stability. However, European users will find a message after installing it, saying that Sony „may collect data about this PS4 and how it is used.”

Sony wants to collect two sets of data – the first one would be the service data, which is „necessary to provide online services,” while the second category, dubbed „additional data,” includes „navigation, usage, and settings data.”

Sony sends, receives and logs data about the apps we use and content we consume – for example; it could be a video that they would pay the licensors for consuming said content. Some online games might track our character’s movement so that other players would get this information and vice versa. Other service data that Sony collects? Network configuration, devices connected to our PlayStation 4 (controllers, PlayStation VR headsets), error data, legal data, and load time data.

That’s not all: additional data can go as detailed as „when and how you use the game’s user interface, which parts of the game level you visit, which weapons you use, and which characters you interact with.” It might also include what we looked for in the PlayStation Store, or what system settings have we changed. Fortunately, this information detailed in this paragraph is NOT REQUIRED to submit (if we do, though, we’ll get personalized ads…), but the other stuff from the previous paragraph is NECESSARY if we install the 5.53 firmware. Sony’s reasoning behind the usage of device data is to produce anonymous statistics, understand and improve the performance of new products, detect and minimize fraudulent or unauthorized behavior.

GameSpot reports that nobody received such a popup window in the United States, which means that Sony is likely preparing for the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation), which will come into force in May in the European Union.

Source: GameSpot