Responding to worries that an always-on Kinect sensor recording camera and audio information would be a threat to user privacy, Microsoft offers a simple solution: the ability to turn the Kinect off, which they'd told us about. Better: pause it while gaming.


You can also determine which personal data is or isn't shared with others.

You are in control of the Kinect, not the other way around. That's the message Microsoft is trying to get across in "Privacy by Design: How Xbox One and the New Kinect Sensor Put You in Control." The damage-controlling article explains that while the Xbox One functions better with Kinect enabled, it doesn't have to be that way.


Unless utilizing a game or feature that requires the sensor, Kinect can be paused. When not using your Xbox One, it can be turned off with a simple "Xbox Off" voice command. In off mode, the system listens for "Xbox On", and that's it — and even that functionality can be disabled.

And hey, just because using the Kinect is incredibly convenient and fun and awesome and you should totally do it, you can use your stupid old controller or a remote instead.

I don't know about you guys, but my fears are assuaged.

Here are all the soothing bullet points.