Xbox LIVE online safety and privacy
Change your privacy and online settings
Xbox LIVE offers a variety of online safety and privacy settings so you can control the Xbox LIVE experience. The default online safety and privacy settings are divided into three age groups: child, teen, and adult. Xbox LIVE determines which default safety and privacy settings to use based on the birthdate that was entered when the Xbox LIVE account was created.
You can, however, completely customize the online safety and privacy settings to whatever is best for you and your family. Adults can change the default settings on their own account as well as on family member accounts.
Privacy settings and child accounts
Topics
Change online safety and privacy settings
You can change the online safety and privacy settings for any profile on your console. Here’s how:
Change your safety and privacy settings- Sign into your Xbox LIVE account on your console.
- Go to Settings, and then select Privacy.
- Select Change Settings, and then select Customize.
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- Change the settings to whatever you’d like.
- To exit, press the B button on your controller, and then choose Save and Exit.
- Sign into Xbox LIVE using an adult account.
- Go to Settings, and then select Family.
- Select the child account that you want to manage.
- Go to Online Safety, and then select Change Settings.
- Change the settings to whatever you’d like.
- To exit, press the B button on your controller, and then choose Save and Exit.
Default online safety and privacy settings
Default values for online safety and privacy settings are based on the birthdate you entered when you created your account. The table below shows the default settings for each age group:
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Adult |
Teen |
Child |
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Activity settings |
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Online Gameplay |
N/A |
Allowed |
Allowed |
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Accept Friend Requests |
N/A |
Blocked |
Blocked |
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Purchasing |
N/A |
Blocked |
Blocked |
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Voice and Text |
Everyone |
Friends only |
Friends only |
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Video Communication |
Friends only |
Friends only |
Blocked |
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Privacy settings |
|||
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Profile Sharing |
Friends only |
Friends only |
Blocked |
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Kinect Sharing |
Friends Only |
Friends Only |
Blocked |
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Social Network Sharing |
Allowed |
Blocked |
Blocked |
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Game History |
Everyone |
Friends only |
Blocked |
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Online Status |
Everyone |
Friends only |
Friends only |
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Video and Music Status |
None |
None |
None |
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Friends List |
Everyone |
Friends only |
Blocked |
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Voice Data Collection |
Blocked |
Blocked |
Blocked |
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Voice Search Data |
Not Set |
Not Set |
Not Set |
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Content settings |
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Programming |
Standard |
Standard |
Family |
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Profile Viewing |
Everyone |
Friends only |
Blocked |
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Member Content |
Everyone |
Friends only |
Blocked |
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Explicit Music |
Allowed |
Blocked |
Blocked |
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Opt-in settings |
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Xbox Marketing |
Opt Out |
Opt Out |
Opt Out |
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Partner Marketing |
Opt Out |
Opt Out |
Opt Out |
Activity settings
The table below describes the Xbox LIVE activity settings that you can control:
|
This setting... |
Controls a player's ability to... |
Options |
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Online Gameplay |
Decide whether or not a child can connect to Xbox LIVE and play games with other Xbox LIVE players including friends.
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Accept Friend Requests
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Decide whether or not a child can accept Xbox LIVE friend requests without parental approval. Friend requests act like a contact list and also change what information can be seen on Xbox LIVE.
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Purchasing |
Decide whether or not a child can purchase items on Xbox LIVE Marketplace, such as arcade games, game add-ons, and other items.
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Voice and Text |
Decide who to communicate with using voice, text, and game invites. |
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Video Communication |
Decide who to interact with using video on Xbox LIVE. Includes Video Kinect and in-game video chat. |
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Privacy settings
The table below describes the privacy settings that you can set:
|
This setting... |
Controls... |
Options |
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Profile Sharing |
Who can see your Xbox LIVE profile—including personal information, game history, and achievements |
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Kinect Sharing |
Whether or not you can upload photos and videos that you take while playing Kinect games to websites or services such as KinectShare.com. You can download, print, and share photos that you upload to KinectShare.com. Learn how to share in-game photos and videos. |
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Social Network Sharing |
Whether or not the profile can post to social networks such as Facebook. |
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Game History |
Who can see your game history and your achievements |
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Online Status |
Who can see what game or application you are currently playing |
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Video Status |
Who can see the title of the video you are viewing while connected to Xbox LIVE |
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Friends List |
Who can see your friends list |
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Voice Data Collection |
Whether Microsoft can collect samples of voice commands spoken when using Kinect. This information will be used to help improve Microsoft speech recognition. |
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Content settings
The table below describes the online content settings you can set. If you want to control which games can be played and what content can be watched, please see Xbox 360 console parental controls.
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This setting... |
Controls whether the account... |
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Family Dashboard |
Can receive standard Xbox Dashboard or the Family Dashboard with family Xbox LIVE programming. |
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Profile Viewing |
Can see other people's profiles. A profile includes information about a member's game history and achievements. It can also contain a gamer's motto and personal information that might be inappropriate for children. |
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Member Content |
Can see member-created content on Xbox LIVE. Member content includes images, text, and custom content in games, which might be inappropriate. |
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Explicit Music |
Can play explicit music and music videos on your console and Zune. |
Opt-in options
The table below describes marketing settings that you can set:
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Xbox Marketing |
Don’t miss out! Get insider information, including news on games, latest releases, downloadable demos, videos, and other rewards and promotions. |
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Partner Marketing |
Do you want to share your information with our third-party partners (such as game publishers) so that they can communicate with you about their products? |
Promote a child account to an adult account
Xbox LIVE determines whether an account is a child account or an adult account based on the age of the account owner. Account owners who are younger than 18 are given child accounts in the United States. The legal adult age varies by country and region (for example, the adult age in Korea is 20).
Child accounts are tied to an adult's Windows Live ID. The adult account can control Family Settings and restrict some features of Xbox LIVE.
After you reach the age of adulthood (which varies by country and region), you can promote a child account to an adult account. This promotion removes the Family Settings and Xbox LIVE restrictions.
To promote a child account to an adult account
- Sign in to Xbox LIVE by using the account that you want to change.
- Go to Settings, and then select Account.
- Select Promote Child Account.
- Follow the on-screen instructions to promote the account.
Note This option is available only if the date of birth for the account indicates that you have reached the age of adulthood (18 in the United States). The legal adult age varies by country and region. The age of an account owner is calculated by using the date of birth provided when the account was created. This date cannot be changed. If you entered an incorrect date of birth when you created the account, your only option is to create a new account using the correct date of birth.
Note If you want to control the console itself - for example, to limit the amount of time the console can be used on a daily basis, or limit the content types that can be viewed on the console - please see Xbox 360 console parental controls. To learn about ESRB Ratings and safe gaming tips, please see GetGameSmart.com.
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