Microsoft reveals which of your information stored through Xbox may be shared with publishers

3 min. read

Published on May 15, 2018

published on May 15, 2018

Readers help support MSpoweruser. We may get a commission if you buy through our links.

In an effort to provide more transparency, last week’s Preview Alpha build for Xbox Insiders revealed that Microsoft would be informing people of scenarios where their data would be shared with third-party publishers. Specifics were not detailed at the time, but players have been greeted with a new notice that outlines these data-collection methods and what may be shared, which can be read below.

If you use an Xbox Live enabled game (or app through your Xbox console), Microsoft may share information with the publisher of that game or app in order to deliver your online experiences, improve the game or app, diagnose problems, provide support, and connect you with other users.

Information we share may include:

limited Microsoft account data such as country and age range;
Xbox profile data such as user id, gamertag, gamer profile, and avatars;
data about your game play or app session, including achievements unlocked, time spent in the game or app, presence, game statistics and rankings, and enforcement activity about you in the game or app;
social data, including club memberships; friends, other users you have played with, and information about your interactions and communications;
data about the game or app’s performance on the console, including error reports;
content you create, upload or share in the game, app, or within Xbox Live;
other data, like gamerpics and real name, that you choose to share based on your settings or by providing additional consent.

Third party game and app publishers and developers are independent controllers of this data, and their data collection, use, and sharing practices are governed by their privacy policies. Please take time to review their policies; you may find these linked from the product pages of the games or apps in the Microsoft store. For games published by Microsoft, please visit privacy.microsoft.com.

If you want to stop sharing game or app data with a publisher, remove all its games or apps from all devices where you have installed them. Some publishers’ access to your data may also be revoked by visiting https://microsoft.com/consent

For more information about our privacy practices, visit privacy.microsoft.com.

Among statistics such as your gaming habits, Microsoft’s statement reveals that it may send personal information such as your age range and country. If this doesn’t sit well with you, you can opt out of sharing game or app data from certain publishers.