PS5 allows players to record their party chats, Sony reveals amid privacy concerns

PlayStation 5 lets players record their party chats and submit them in case members do not apply to the rules of conduct on PlayStation Network. Sony has disclosed the information after players on PlayStation 4 were being notified about the unexpected feature.

PlayStation 4 Update 8.00 has introduced new safety procedures as we’ve reported upon release. However, it hadn’t been evident how that would have impacted the party chat experience PS4 players are used to.

When customers got notified of the party chat recordings, the community started worrying about Sony recording and storing their conversations, making up for a serious breach in their chats.

So apparently, in case y'all didn't know this beforehand. But apparently the newest Sony update to the PS4 and will continue onto 5 will be recording your voice while in party chat. pic.twitter.com/T0VIbwIpZe

— Ittarra Oda: Gone; caring for my mom (@IttarraOda) October 14, 2020

The notification is letting players know other users will be given tools to record their chats, though, not that Sony is recording and storing all of the conversations held by consumers on PlayStation Network, as detailed by the company in an update on PlayStation Blog.

This is a brand new feature that will be unlocked on PS5 alone, and PlayStation 4 users were told about it just because PlayStation 5 users will be able to party-chat with their friends on PS4 – and vice versa.

“Following this update, users are seeing a notification about Party Safety and that voice chats in parties may be recorded,” said Sony in an update in the original update 8.00 blog post.

“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 platform owner added, clarifying this is something happening exclusively when there’s a PS5 user in the party.

“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,” the update wraps up.

While the feature could end up being useful in helping people having anyhow dangerous chats on PlayStation Network, it’s clear that Sony has miscommunicated the feature, lacking clarity when releasing the patch notes in the update 8.00.

However, with the UI still under wraps, there’s a chance PlayStation wanted to detail the feature further as soon as they would pen a blog post or host a stream about the incoming – and reportedly revolutionary – PS5 dashboard.

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