Valve Doesn't Sound Too Happy about the Epic Store Copying Steam Data

Megalith

Megalith

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Could a lawsuit be brewing? A spokesperson with Valve has told Bleeping Computer the company is “looking into what information the Epic launcher collects from Steam” following allegations the software was stealing users’ information without their express permission. Engineers with Epic have admitted some of the scrapped data could be sent to the company's servers.

In other words, Valve doesn't think the Epic Store client should be touching localconfig.vdf at all, and presumably would prefer it if Epic used the Steam API to gather friends lists. For Epic's part, it has not said that the entire file is uploaded, only that it parses out user IDs and uploads hashes of them, should users import Steam friends. In the future, Valve could potentially encrypt local user data to prevent the Epic client and other software from copying it.
 
It's funny that programs do this ALL THE TIME, especially on andriod, ios. I don't think most users have any concept of what is going on in the background when you install programs and give them access to your machine. There are other programs that meta scan all your friends lists and can combine them into a single app for you to connect with easier, how is that any different than what epic is accused of? They're only being targeted because they are direct competition now.
 
For example: Discord friend sync is disabled by default and requires the user to click and OK Steam, Skype , Battlenet Friend import l’m pretty sure.

If the Epic launcher grabs these by default it’s maybe an issue.

My 2c
 
oldmanbal said:
It's funny that programs do this ALL THE TIME, especially on andriod, ios. I don't think most users have any concept of what is going on in the background when you install programs and give them access to your machine. There are other programs that meta scan all your friends lists and can combine them into a single app for you to connect with easier, how is that any different than what epic is accused of? They're only being targeted because they are direct competition now.
Click to expand...
False. Android requires permission to have access to contacts, storage, etc. Also, each app doesn't start scrapping all other apps etc. if you give access to storage. If an app does, as some have been caught doing, they are classified as malware/viruses.
 
It's called The Web for good reason and when you think about who invented it (Mr. Gore lol) well, keep in mind it's also called The Net
 
This might get Epic into serious trouble in the EU since we have strict data protection regulations - taking data without users consent can result in an extremely high penalty (up to €50M or 4% of worldwide revenue - whichever is higher).
 
Company does it to consumers: nothing happens until someone notices and calls out on it, company apologizes/denies/makes up fluff, nothing really happens in the end except may be a slap on the wrist

Company does it to another company: all hell breaks loose

I see nothing wrong here.
 
If this is scoped for GDPR violation, or more, this could be a death knell for Epic Launcher
 
HL3 confi---

nevermind, all devs move back to the steam team :D
 
Skull_Angel said:
Company does it to consumers: nothing happens until someone notices and calls out on it, company apologizes/denies/makes up fluff, nothing really happens in the end except may be a slap on the wrist

Company does it to another company: all hell breaks loose

I see nothing wrong here.
Click to expand...
That's more of a highlight of the flaws in the justice system since a single person can be trumped by a big company than the legality of it as per the spirit of the law.
 
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