Oh there is also the notion that the client has been collecting information since I believe May 2018 according to someone's post on that OP forum. This was due to the client being the same one that was before used for Unreal development, however this means that they've been collecting data (without your permission) for nearly a year and that is worth a lot in the right hands, namely Epic for understanding a market they are now pushing their way into.
Also note that the client collects this data no matter you opting in to linking your Steam friends list or not. Hence the 20% Fortnite Steam figure, because they just scrape it no matter what.
Yes and Yes.I would just like to know if anyone can confirm that the file it duplicates to get info bypasses Steam privacy settings?
For example if I set everything on my Steam profile to be all private, does Epic still create a local duplicate file with that info I have declared I want to be private?
I would just like to know if anyone can confirm that the file it duplicates to get info bypasses Steam privacy settings?
For example if I set everything on my Steam profile to be all private, does Epic still create a local duplicate file with that info I have declared I want to be private?
Doubt Epic will be saying anything further out of its own volition. If games media could help us get to the bottom of this, that would be nice.
I would just like to know if anyone can confirm that the file it duplicates to get info bypasses Steam privacy settings?
For example if I set everything on my Steam profile to be all private, does Epic still create a local duplicate file with that info I have declared I want to be private?
The Epic Game Shop is build over the Fortnite launcher, so they were using that data to make it easier to add friends from Steam.Odd how they have been collecting friends list for a non-extient epic store that doesn't need Steam friends lists in mid 2018
Except there is no evidence they're actually collecting any data except that which they have permission to sync. If we did, it would be a clear-cut problem.It is creating files with data irrelevant to the stated purpose of the collection, so if you "give permission" to sync that data with Epic for your friends list, they are collecting more than they state they are, or at least more than you would have reason to assume they are without manually checking the files being sent.
If as in your examples, Epic games collects information on porn habits from users "just on local machines", but then that data gets sent to their service when you tell it to sync your friend lists, that would indeed be a breach of privacy, both on a legal and common-language sense.
If this data is never sent back to Epic, is that considered data collection under GDPR? Remember we have no evidence of data being sent to Epic without permission.If they collect which games I play and my savefiles, which they never state they are collecting: they are breaching GDPR
I imagine it would be a massive mess to disassemble it. It's an electron app, so you'd be disassembling chrome. Basically.Anyone have IDA Pro and a lot of times on their hands? I'd be willing to disassemble the client and see what they actually are doing if I had the time.
Sorry I messed up. Process Monitor and not Process Explorer:
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/procmon
Updated OP.
yes because they are scrapping the local files on your computer, the privacy settings is on your online account and determines who and what has access to that.
So the Epic Store is actually just the same client that was just for Unreal stuff. They rejigged it to add in Fortnite support and then now revamped it with the store interface. That is why they've been doing it since before it was the "Epic Game Store" due to it being the same client.Odd how they have been collecting friends list for a non-extient epic store that doesn't need Steam friends lists in mid 2018
I can answer this.I would just like to know if anyone can confirm that the file it duplicates to get info bypasses Steam privacy settings?
For example if I set everything on my Steam profile to be all private, does Epic still create a local duplicate file with that info I have declared I want to be private?
Except there is no evidence they're actually collecting any data except that which they have permission to sync. If we did, it would be a clear-cut problem.
If this data is never sent back to Epic, is that considered data collection under GDPR? Remember we have no evidence of data being sent to Epic without permission.
Its extremely conspicous they avoided talking about why they look up other information unrelated to the friends list.Why is collected if it's never sent? In which moment the Epic client asks authorization to collect and receive this data? The client only asked me to sync friend lists.
The fact they only admitted collecting the friend steam data while there's eveidence they are gathering way more is quite telling.
They're owned by Tencent, after all. People tend to forget this.They say they dont share any of the info they collect so they are doing it, Chinese goverment style
They're owned by Tencent, after all. People tend to forget this.
I can answer this.
My Steam account is private.
I have 95 files in the Epic folder (95MB)
Oldest being 2018-05-14, newest being 2019-03-10 (that's YYYY-MM-DD)
They're owned by Tencent, after all. People tend to forget this.
Wait a sec...why was it collecting info about Steam in May...when Epic announced their store later on in the year???
Probably Fortnite, it let you add steam friendsWait a sec...why was it collecting info about Steam in May...when Epic announced their store later on in the year???
Seems Epic have been doing this for a while, so if you use UE for example it still does it.Wait a sec...why was it collecting info about Steam in May...when Epic announced their store later on in the year???
Any number of reasons. The most obvious being "they plan on using it at some point". It doesn't mean they're using it now, though. If they are, that's a problem obviously.
If the data is being scraped and stored locally, they don't necessarily have to ask authorization. Videogames don't have to ask permission to create a log file containing your OS, Windows Location, installed drivers, CPU details, GPU details, and stuff like that. They DO have to ask permission to send this data back to the game's developer.In which moment the Epic client asks authorization to collect and receive this data?
Yikes, pretty happy I refused to install EGS. I can honestly say I expected something like this which is exactly why I haven't and never will.
Go tell that to Randy Pitchford , who's seemingly making Borderlands 3 exclusive to EGS
Go tell that to Randy Pitchford , who's seemingly making Borderlands 3 exclusive to EGS
Go tell that to Randy Pitchford , who's seemingly making Borderlands 3 exclusive to EGS
Wait a sec...why was it collecting info about Steam in May...when Epic announced their store later on in the year???
Go tell that to Randy Pitchford , who's seemingly making Borderlands 3 exclusive to EGS
No they were put there as a competitive way to gain a competitive nature on a very competitive platform. Competition!According to this website: Fortnite Guide- Now Add Steam Friends In Fortnite - VoStory the functionality that lets people import their Steam friends into the EGL was added with Update 4.3 of Fortnite. That update was released on May 30, 2018. The first files scrapped by the EGL on my computer were generated on May 4, 2018. Did those files travel in time?