Users allege that Epic's launcher collects your Steam data, Valve and Epic respond to claims

SapphireExile · Mar 16, 2019

So many people instantly jumping on the bandwagon.
Check the file yourself. It contains nothing that isn't already public data.

Sure, they could have used the Steam API. They could have also requested such data outright.

But bashing the company just because they collect data from another service specifically for the purpose to allowing you to add your friends from Steam is a bit stupid.

No hate for the Twitch client? The old Curse? Tukui? Battlenet? Uplay?

People need to get their priorities straight.

piratesephiroth · Mar 16, 2019

DuoForce said:
I don't use programs made by the Chinese

That's called Capitalism

That's called real life.

Also yeah, Epic Games is owned by Tencent so no one in their right mind should be using that Epic launcher anyway.

Bernhard · Mar 16, 2019

not playing metro exodus......was worth tbh

the_randomizer · Mar 17, 2019

SapphireExile said:
So many people instantly jumping on the bandwagon.
Check the file yourself. It contains nothing that isn't already public data.

Sure, they could have used the Steam API. They could have also requested such data outright.

But bashing the company just because they collect data from another service specifically for the purpose to allowing you to add your friends from Steam is a bit stupid.

No hate for the Twitch client? The old Curse? Tukui? Battlenet? Uplay?

People need to get their priorities straight.

Maybe if Epic wasn't so damn stupid about how they implemented it, it would be different. They should learn to not program in such a shitty manner.

Kioku · Mar 17, 2019

SapphireExile said:
So many people instantly jumping on the bandwagon.
Check the file yourself. It contains nothing that isn't already public data.

Sure, they could have used the Steam API. They could have also requested such data outright.

But bashing the company just because they collect data from another service specifically for the purpose to allowing you to add your friends from Steam is a bit stupid.

No hate for the Twitch client? The old Curse? Tukui? Battlenet? Uplay?

People need to get their priorities straight.

Maybe if they openly informed the user of the collection? The other platforms you (should) now what they're collecting and when. Especially Twitch... Where you willingly link your profiles. At this point, the issue isn't them collecting it. It's how they're trying to justify it and practically lie about it. I doubt they don't have the information they're receiving, whether they have explicit permission or not.

RivenMain · Mar 17, 2019

they gave out free slime rancher. I can't be to mad xD

Captain_N · Mar 17, 2019

Smoker1 said:
Also love this: Purchase a Game from Steam. Next thing you know, depending on the Game, you get ANOTHER Steam-Like App on your PC that you need to Sign-Up for in order to Play the Game you just Purchased

Game in Question: Trials Rising
Steam-Like App it Installs: UPlay

UPlay will want ask to Link your Facebook, Twitter, Steam, you name it. If you Uninstall UPlay, you can not run the Game, which is BS!

This is why i dont mess with steam,Uplay,epic or any others. I dont do online protections. If a game has it ill play the hacked version or i dont play it. the companies cant wait till its all streamed. then they have 100% control.

bi388 · Mar 17, 2019

Captain_N said:
This is why i dont mess with steam,Uplay,epic or any others. I dont do online protections. If a game has it ill play the hacked version or i dont play it. the companies cant wait till its all streamed. then they have 100% control.

Buy gog versions when you can, theyre always 100% drm free, and their launcher is completely optional

Kioku · Mar 17, 2019

bi388 said:
Buy gog versions when you can, theyre always 100% drm free, and their launcher is completely optional

If every game dev went GOG, that'd be the end of the business world as we know it. All the customers would be happy, though.

kuwanger · Mar 17, 2019

Smoker1 said:
If you Uninstall UPlay, you can not run the Game, which is BS!

One could say the same for Origin, Steam, etc. I don't know if Twitch Launcher or Epic Launcher* has the same limitation. I do know both will, by default, creating shortcuts pointing to their launcher and not the game files. The first thing I do is fix that, as I do not have nor want either launcher running 99% of the time. I'd actually love to see this whole mess parlayed into #uninstall_and_play or similar to see all these game stores move towards a mostly DRM free setup. Long term, I don't trust any of them, including Valve.

jt_1258 said:
We pay for the games on the respective platform and a cut of the profit goes to the platform and that cash is supposed to be used for the platform.

I've bought zero games for Uplay or Epic Launcher yet have a few or several. I incidentally (Amazon Prime) have games with Twitch Launcher. I've bought one bundle of games that had some Origin exclusives, but most my games were "On the house". Basically, I have little to no interest in funding any store front than GoG or Steam, and I'd be perfectly happy if larger players could push Steam harder to give fairer cuts across the board--the same with Google, Apple, etc.

My point is, at least for the moment I guess I paid Epic with my data, so I'm not entirely upset about this. This is probably all that Epic is going to get out of me.

* I know at least for Epic that Axiom Verge and Slime Rancher were both DRM free, as I was able to copy and use them on my Linux machine under Steam's Proton. And the absurdity of course is that Axiom Verge and Slime Rancher both have Linux versions.

Burlsol · Mar 17, 2019

Smoker1 said:
Also love this: Purchase a Game from Steam. Next thing you know, depending on the Game, you get ANOTHER Steam-Like App on your PC that you need to Sign-Up for in order to Play the Game you just Purchased

Game in Question: Trials Rising
Steam-Like App it Installs: UPlay

UPlay will want ask to Link your Facebook, Twitter, Steam, you name it. If you Uninstall UPlay, you can not run the Game, which is BS!

Pretty much this. We already had our time to bitch about this when Ubisoft and EA started moving everything to their storefronts. Too little outcry too late.

b17bomber · Mar 17, 2019

If you farm the rice, you pay the price.

Xzi · Mar 17, 2019

Burlsol said:
Pretty much this. We already had our time to bitch about this when Ubisoft and EA started moving everything to their storefronts. Too little outcry too late.

Not really, UPlay is actually a much better solution because it doesn't force you to start a whole new library on a whole new launcher. If Epic had taken that route and continued to offer their games on Steam in addition to offering them through their own launcher, that would make them a far more appealing option.

This is ultimately a separate issue from gathering data without consent, though.

jt_1258 · Mar 17, 2019

kuwanger said:
One could say the same for Origin, Steam, etc. I don't know if Twitch Launcher or Epic Launcher* has the same limitation. I do know both will, by default, creating shortcuts pointing to their launcher and not the game files. The first thing I do is fix that, as I do not have nor want either launcher running 99% of the time. I'd actually love to see this whole mess parlayed into #uninstall_and_play or similar to see all these game stores move towards a mostly DRM free setup. Long term, I don't trust any of them, including Valve.

I've bought zero games for Uplay or Epic Launcher yet have a few or several. I incidentally (Amazon Prime) have games with Twitch Launcher. I've bought one bundle of games that had some Origin exclusives, but most my games were "On the house". Basically, I have little to no interest in funding any store front than GoG or Steam, and I'd be perfectly happy if larger players could push Steam harder to give fairer cuts across the board--the same with Google, Apple, etc.

My point is, at least for the moment I guess I paid Epic with my data, so I'm not entirely upset about this. This is probably all that Epic is going to get out of me.

* I know at least for Epic that Axiom Verge and Slime Rancher were both DRM free, as I was able to copy and use them on my Linux machine under Steam's Proton. And the absurdity of course is that Axiom Verge and Slime Rancher both have Linux versions.

How can you just be happy with it....it makes no sense. Sure, if they took the info from what you provided to them then maybe but they are stealing info from other applications now. This is beyond it's own bounds now to the point where it's like spyware that trys to steal your passwords and credit card info. Why is something like that acceptable.

Taleweaver · Mar 17, 2019

I have to ask : is the OP updated at some point or are almost all people here too ignorant to read?

I know... The statement will press people off, but it clearly states the following :

the data is only actually sent to Epic if one actively chooses to import their Steam friends list.

The way I see this, the situation is as follows :

Epic store : do you want to import your stream friends list?
User: yeah sure Whatever
...
User : hey... This thing accesses my already public steam data without my consent!

kuwanger · Mar 17, 2019

jt_1258 said:
How can you just be happy with it....it makes no sense. Sure, if they took the info from what you provided to them then maybe but they are stealing info from other applications now.

I never said I was happy about it. One thing I'm not happy about is the hardware survey. Annoyingly enough, you have to login with UE4 access to look at the code they point at. This could be used for unique iding, which is far from desirable. Having said that, I use my Wintendo for Epic Launcher, so I'm not entirely worried about this--mostly just annoyed. They also don't really address the issue of scraping Steam game save listings or how there's cloud syncing which copies your friends list. The major reason I don't care about these things? My Steam profile is already public--that's the norm if you do key trading--, so there's very little real new information they gather*.

jt_1258 said:
This is beyond it's own bounds now to the point where it's like spyware that trys to steal your passwords and credit card info. Why is something like that acceptable.

Stealing passwords and/or credit card info would be entirely unacceptable. If it turns out they were searching for any of the above, then that would be grounds for lawsuits. The same with if Microsoft were caught doing similar. You see, we're already down the rabbit hole that is pervasive spying** as the norm. I don't like it. I don't actively support it. However, there's basically nothing I can do about it, so sadly I'm most complacent about it.

Oh, and as a point, I don't store my credit card information or "important" passwords on my Windows machines. Spyware is sadly too much the norm with Windows (even beyond Windows itself). That legitimate companies are now very much in the game? *sigh* I use Epic Launcher just long enough to get free games. I avoid Origin and UPlay. I do what I can to fight the corporate created mess. I guess what I'm saying is, I'm too tired of fighting it all off that this seems like a smaller offense.

* They gather a link between my IP address, possibly my email (I use Google to log in), and my Steam account. That's actually the worst offense.

** Google. My ISP (I presume). Facebook (even though I don't use Facebook). Windows (when I use it to play games). *sigh*

Minox · Mar 17, 2019

SapphireExile said:
So many people instantly jumping on the bandwagon.
Check the file yourself. It contains nothing that isn't already public data.

Sure, they could have used the Steam API. They could have also requested such data outright.

But bashing the company just because they collect data from another service specifically for the purpose to allowing you to add your friends from Steam is a bit stupid.

No hate for the Twitch client? The old Curse? Tukui? Battlenet? Uplay?

People need to get their priorities straight.

That is just plain false. A private Steam profile reveals almost none of this data publicly and even if public you won't find detailed user information like this available online.

AkikoKumagara · Mar 17, 2019

Just use the damn API, Epic. This is the exact kind of scenario it exists for. If I were worried about Valve mishandling my data, why on Earth would I have a Steam Account?

SapphireExile said:
So many people instantly jumping on the bandwagon.
Check the file yourself. It contains nothing that isn't already public data.

Sure, they could have used the Steam API. They could have also requested such data outright.

But bashing the company just because they collect data from another service specifically for the purpose to allowing you to add your friends from Steam is a bit stupid.

No hate for the Twitch client? The old Curse? Tukui? Battlenet? Uplay?

People need to get their priorities straight.

It's collecting this file and uploading it to a server without making it apparent to the end user. I don't think that's right. It could be taking any file from your hard drive and I still think they're obligated to let the end user know.

leon315 · Mar 17, 2019

the prominent APEX is gaining an increasing fanbases, wonder if Origins do same shit as Epic???

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

DuoForce said:
I don't use programs made by the Chinese

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

That's called Capitalism

sir, that's dumb if you think you can escape from ''made in china''.

Silent_Gunner · Mar 17, 2019

As if I needed another reason to not download the damn thing when I feel like resurrecting my PC *hopefully* this weekend!

Sapphire

I wish I could read

Psycho

The Temp's official fox whisperer

猫。子猫です！

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

猫。子猫です！

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Time to fly, 621

Ella

Storywriter

Well-Known Member

Thanks for the fish

The Coolest Bear Around

POWERLIFTER

Crazy Cool Cyclops

Similar threads

Popular threads in this forum