Oculus Quest Headsets Won't Require a Facebook Account in 2022

[Uskompuf]

Mark Zuckerberg has recently announced a rebrand of Facebook to Meta during the companies Connect 2021 AR/VR event. This change will involve the dissolution of the Oculus brand for hardware naming and will also introduce an arguably more significant change in that Oculus/Meta accounts will be disassociated with Facebook accounts removing the need for a Facebook account to use the headsets. This change has allegedly come about due to the negative connotations regarding the Facebook brand and to encourage new users who aren't interesting in creating a Facebook account. While these changes won't be fully implemented until 2022 some users have reported that Oculus support is able to unlink Facebook accounts immediately while retaining purchases and most non-social features on the headset.

As we've focused more on work, and as we've heard feedback from the VR community more broadly, we're working on new ways to log into Quest that won't require a Facebook account, landing sometime next year. This is one of our highest priority areas of work internally.

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[Fourstaff]

Good start, but still a long way to go. I will not be surprised if they choose to build a different user profile instead.

 

[tehehe]

Not tying your social identity to a headset is a good move. Still, you will require account that is within Facebook ecosystem so this is pointless if you care about your privacy at all.

 

[Crackong]

So it won't need a "facebook" account but a "Meta" account ?

 

[watzupken]

Not needing a Facebook account does not mean they are not stealing data from you, and tracking your every move. They will just find an alternative way to do it. Coming from a company that is obsessed with collecting every bit of data from you where possible, you know they will never change their core business.

 

[W1zzard]

This is one of our highest priority areas of work internally.

I doubt removing the login requirement will take more than a day of work. I guess their highest priority is working on new ways to get the data to mine

 

[bubbleawsome]

While I know it’s still Facebook in the end, I’m actually happy about this and it might even convince me to get a quest 3.

 

[Chrispy_]

Thank f*** for that. Baby steps but one of the worst.
We use Oculus Quest 2's for work and the FB shenanigans make them a nightmare to deal with.
Facebook is a company that should never have been involved with VR hardware. All they've done is litter the experience with irrelevant BS and make it worse for everyone in every conceivable situation.
Zero benefit to everyone involved, basically. Literally any other investor/buyer would have been better by far.

 

[Selaya]

why the FUCK do i have to create an account to use the fucking hardware i own
wat

 

[human_error]

They're just creating a higher level profile that will still contain all the data your existing Facebook login does. This is just a way to try and distance the damaged Facebook brand from their other services (Instagram, WhatsApp, Oculus/Meta). If you don't like Facebook's data mining and tracking then this does nothing to change that.

This will also be the precurser to merging all their messaging apps/platforms into a single Meta messenger - again they're hoping that changing the login from "Facebook" to "Meta" will trick people who refuse to get a Facebook into creating a profile because it's not called a Facebook login. I'm sure it will work.

 

[Vayra86]

Any smart company cuts all ties to both Meta and FB and any of Zuckerbergs brilliant ideas.

It won't last and you're on the wrong side of history. That includes anyone still frequenting that cesspool btw. And if you still think you're smarter than that, you've not paid a lot of attention. As long as this company has market share, it will radically influence society in ways that benefit nobody except Zucker's bottom line. No limits, no moral, no ethics are involved here and everyone is the product.

VR is the gateway to more control, more data, and more manipulative practices.

Good start, but still a long way to go. I will not be surprised if they choose to build a different user profile instead.

If you think this is a start, you're reading it wrong.

"we're working on new ways to log into Quest"

Net gain is zero.

 

[Mussels]

That actually sounds like a positive change?

 

[Fourstaff]

Any smart company cuts all ties to both Meta and FB and any of Zuckerbergs brilliant ideas.

It won't last and you're on the wrong side of history. That includes anyone still frequenting that cesspool btw. And if you still think you're smarter than that, you've not paid a lot of attention. As long as this company has market share, it will radically influence society in ways that benefit nobody except Zucker's bottom line. No limits, no moral, no ethics are involved here and everyone is the product.

VR is the gateway to more control, more data, and more manipulative practices.



If you think this is a start, you're reading it wrong.

"we're working on new ways to log into Quest"

Net gain is zero.

Anything which doesn't require Facebook is a big improvement.

 

[Vayra86]

Anything which doesn't require Facebook is a big improvement.

Did you even read the article? Or where is the disconnect here? Do you not see what's going on?

They're rebranding to Meta. They have the Facebook data sets. All they need to do is match IDs.

The criticism on Facebook extends not to that platform but to any social media fueled by ad revenue, ergo, virtually all of them.

 

[Mussels]

Did you even read the article? Or where is the disconnect here? Do you not see what's going on?

They're rebranding to Meta. They have the Facebook data sets. All they need to do is match IDs.

I know plenty of people who dont use FB, or when they do use blank, fake accounts
Then ofc theres people who want their VR games kept away from work related FB accounts, which makes total sense

 

[Vayra86]

I know plenty of people who dont use FB, or when they do use blank, fake accounts
Then ofc theres people who want their VR games kept away from work related FB accounts, which makes total sense

Blank, fake accounts are data.
A Facebook account is market share.
Market share is influence.

Zuckerberg never gave a flying hoot what name is connected to data sets, he frankly doesn't even want them, because it nets him GDPR trouble. Its the essence of big data.

Like I said, you may think you're smarter, but you're really not. If you use the service, you're adding to the problem.

It may be uncomfortable, but its a truth.

 

[DeathtoGnomes]

I doubt removing the login requirement will take more than a day of work. I guess their highest priority is working on new ways to get the data to mine

Not so much as new ways, new ways to disguise things. Its more like making the same pile of crap look like a different pile of crap while staying the same. wait isnt that a bait and switch?

 

[dyonoctis]

Did you even read the article? Or where is the disconnect here? Do you not see what's going on?

They're rebranding to Meta. They have the Facebook data sets. All they need to do is match IDs.

The criticism on Facebook extends not to that platform but to any social media fueled by ad revenue, ergo, virtually all of them.

When you know the amount of power that is needed to make those big social network work, it's not surprising that they would monetize data. If those network would have made the mandatory switch to subscriptions, everyone would have whined as well, you can't win unless you get back to the 90's internet. Wich won't happen since capitalism is what makes the world go round.

I honestly feel like fighting for total anonymity on the web in 2021, is an utopia. The best that we can get is more transparency about what data are collected, a few browser extension, os settings that helps a bit, and maybe get a few wins about the most dodgy data (like anything linked to facial recognition that is notoriously unreliable, but still severely under looked by laws and regulation because most people don't have a clue about it. It's seriously scary what's happening with that, far more than the regular telemetry that seems to gather everyone's attention )

 

[human_error]

When you know the amount of power that is needed to make those big social network work, it's not surprising that they would monetize data. If those network would have made the mandatory switch to subscriptions, everyone would have whined as well, you can't win unless you get back to the 90's internet. Wich won't happen since capitalism is what makes the world go round.

I honestly feel like fighting for total anonymity on the web in 2021, is an utopia. The best that we can get is more transparency about what data are collected, a few browser extension, os settings that helps a bit, and maybe get a few wins about the most dodgy data (like anything linked to facial recognition that is notoriously unreliable, but still severely under looked by laws and regulation because most people don't have a clue about it. It's seriously scary what's happening with that, far more than the regular telemetry that seems to gather everyone's attention )

My issue with the data collection Facebook/Meta does is that it is so pervasive across the whole internet. If I visit a non-Facebook site that has the Facebook like button, then they can track what I'm doing. That is beyond what I feel is acceptable. Tracking stuff people do within the Facebook website itself, and advertising based on that - fine - as you say they have servers and a business to run and I don't think anyone is saying they shouldn't be able to generate revenue through advertising. Tracking me across the entire internet on websites they don't run is not acceptable in my view, and as I don't have a FB account I can't see or delete the data they collect on me.

I look at it this way - I would not be happy with my ISP tracking every website I visit for advertising and profiling, I wouldn't be happy with my PC monitor analysing images of everything I see to build a profile of me, so why should Facebook be able to do it?

Keeping the tracking in the VR games I play (including getting data on my height, how I move, etc) is just even more data they're gathering. With the next headset rumored to be coming with eye tracking then seeing what kinds of items I look at in-game, how long I spend looking at different adverts in-game etc is yet even more data collection for them. What if they notice I look at adverts with blondes in for longer than those with brunettes - does a preference for hair colour then get put in my advertising profile? Male vs female people in adverts? Races? Ages? It may feel benign but what if they had a profile showing I looked at adverts with specific race and sex combinations less than others and that kind of data leaked? (or was released to discriminate politicians they don't like?) With the modern world that could be used to accuse people of race/sex/age ism and ruin lives, even if it's just a personal attraction measurement. Purely because of the immense amount of data Facebook/Meta can collect to build a better advertising profile. Fortunately the DK2 was my last Oculus and I've been on Steam VR headsets since, so I remain FB free and with headsets sold to game, not collect data.

 

[ymbaja]

So it won't need a "facebook" account but a "Meta" account ?

Exactly!

 

[TheinsanegamerN]

You know, the vive still exists and is a better product. Just let the occulus die in the hands of facebook fanboys.

 

[zoom314]

Space1999: So after all this time they're receiving a signal from Meta...

 

[duckers]

april 2022, still forced to use facebook.

 

[Vayra86]

Any smart company cuts all ties to both Meta and FB and any of Zuckerbergs brilliant ideas.

It won't last and you're on the wrong side of history. That includes anyone still frequenting that cesspool btw. And if you still think you're smarter than that, you've not paid a lot of attention. As long as this company has market share, it will radically influence society in ways that benefit nobody except Zucker's bottom line. No limits, no moral, no ethics are involved here and everyone is the product.

VR is the gateway to more control, more data, and more manipulative practices.



If you think this is a start, you're reading it wrong.

"we're working on new ways to log into Quest"

Net gain is zero.

As predicted....