Is Your PS5 Snooping On You? Here’s What You Can Do

Technology is steadily creeping into every nook and corner, making us more dependent on smart devices in our day-to-day lives. That said, technology is also diminishing the thin line of privacy that lies between smart devices and users, especially connected devices, be it smartphones, IoT products, or even gaming consoles.

Fortunately, a majority of firms allow their privacy-conscious users to alter their privacy settings. But since data harvesting is a huge market, companies are happy collecting and selling your data to advertisers. Well, Sony might be doing something similar. If you are a PlayStation 5 user but don’t want the company eavesdropping on you, this article might be for you.

Is Sony Recording Your Conversations?

Sony records a five-minute clip when a user enables their mic and joins a Voice Chat. The company does this when the user says something inappropriate and the user on the receiving end decides to create a harassment report. To create such a report, users can send 20-40 seconds of audio clips to the company taken from that five-minute clip.

Interestingly, users cannot opt-out of this feature as the company believes it will promote online safety. It means, if you are a PS5 user, your conversations are being recorded. But fret not, there are a few workarounds that users can try in the settings to trim down the amount of data Sony collects from them.

Tweak Default PS5 Mic Settings

Sony’s privacy policy notes that the PS5 collects some user data by default. This data includes users' IP addresses, the games they play, the content they download, what time they play, and even the things they do within the game’s that Sony publishes. While you cannot completely turn your back on this practice, there are ways to minimize it.

First and foremost, players should turn off the DualSense controller by default. Sony will still record some of your Voice Chats, doing so will ensure that you don’t have an active mic around you at all times.

All players need to do is go to Settings > Sound > Microphone > Microphone Status When Logged In, and switch to “Mute.”

Restrict Sony From Collecting PS5 Data

Though there’s no way users can completely Sony from collecting their PS5 data, they can reduce the amount. It means Sony will get less info about their gaming habits. This can be done by limiting the console data collection from the Privacy menu, which per the company, will only gather data required for their PS5 to function properly, and giving them access to its services including PlayStation Network.

Players just have to go to Settings > Users and Accounts > Privacy > Data You Provide and select the "Limited" option. In the same Privacy menu, users should head to Voice Data Collection and switch the toggle to “Don’t Allow.” But players should note that doing so still won’t disable the voice features of the console.