Following PlayStation 4 firmware update 8.00 yesterday, a number of users expressed concerns over a notification that states, “Voice chats may be recorded for moderation. By joining, you agree to being recorded.”
As screenshots of the notification flooded social media, Sony released a statement on the PlayStation Blog, explaining that PlayStation 5 players will be able to record conversations that happen in a party chat, and submit them for review. What this basically means is that you’ll be able to record players that engage in misconduct over voice chat, and request Sony’s moderation team to review the content and decide whether any action needs to be taken or not. While only PS5 players will have access to the voice chat recording feature, they will be able to record PS4 players who are in the party as well.
The statement reads:
Following this update, users are seeing a notification about Party Safety and that voice chats in parties may be recorded. Voice chat recording for moderation is a feature that will be available on PS5 when it launches, and will enable users to record their voice chats on PS5 and submit them for moderation review. The pop up you’re seeing on PS4 right now is to let you know that when you participate in a chat with a PS5 user (post-launch), they may submit those recordings from their PS5 console to SIE.
As a reminder, both Sony and Microsoft already reserve rights to monitor and record chats, so this isn’t exactly anything new. The only difference here is that other users will be able to record and report chats that violate Sony’s terms and conditions.
[Source: PlayStation Blog]
