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| Voice chat recording is available for PS5 owners |
Some PlayStation 4 users who downloaded the latest firmware version 8.0 were surprised when the platform informed them that Sony has the right to record audio conversations for monitoring purposes.
The firmware update release notes did not initially mention recording audio conversations, but the Japanese company made it clear what the news meant for the official blog update.
Sony said: After this update, users will see group security notifications and will be able to record voice conversations within the group.
She added: The pop-up you see on the PlayStation 4 should now let you know that once activated, PlayStation 5 users will be able to send voice chats and PlayStation 4 users will be able to join.
The voice chat recording function must be monitored when starting (PlayStation 5). This feature allows users to record audio chats from (PlayStation 5) and submit them for review.
After joining the voice chat, it looks like your voice has been recorded even to old device users (PlayStation 4) and sent to Sony for monitoring.
This can be a breach of privacy as, in theory, anything you say in an audio chat can be sent to Sony without your explicit consent.
However, this feature can also be used as a useful tool to help people report bad members who might harass them.
According to Sony, Sony doesn't seem to be actively listening to all of the audio chats players have with friends in-game.
This feature appears to be unavailable to (PS4) users. This could be because the controller (PS5 DualSense) has a built-in microphone while the (PS4 DualShock) controller does not. .
The latest firmware version 8.0 also changes the way groups and messages work, adding new avatars, parental controls, and support for two-factor authentication applications.
In another setup step (PlayStation 5), Sony renamed the mobile device, Mac computer and Windows app (PS4 Remote Play) to (PS Remote Play).
The app can be used to connect to the PlayStation 5 platform when it launches next month.