Legal Question in Constitutional Law in California
Invasion of privacy under EULA?
This program called PunkBuster searches outside of it's folder on one's computer. It says in the End User License Agreement ''Licensee understands that PunkBuster software inspects and reports information about the computer on which it is installed to other connected computers and Licensee agrees to allow PunkBuster software to inspect and report such information about the computer on which Licensee installs PunkBuster software. Licensee understands and agrees that the information that may be inspected and reported by PunkBuster software includes, but is not limited to, devices and any files residing on the hard-drive and in the memory of the computer on which PunkBuster software is installed.'' Is it illegal for them to do this?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Invasion of privacy under EULA?
The whole point of programs like PunkBuster is to provide an honest gaming environment by detecting whether users are running a bot or some other type of software that enables them to cheat in an online game. So yes, if you agree to the EULA and let PunkBuster run on your system you are agreeing to have your system scanned for cheat-ware. Presumably PunkBuster is not looking for or reporting private data that is not related to the game(s) it is trying to protect. If you were very technically sophisticated and you were able to prove that PunkBuster did something (beyond the scope of legitimate game protection) that invaded users' privacy, then you might have a legal claim for fraud or invasion of privacy even if the EULA says otherwise.
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