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Games consoles and Roblox: data and privacy settings

Last checked: 23 Oct 2026

Games consoles and Roblox have settings for what data the company collects about how you play, and who other players can see. Here's where each one is, from Microsoft's, Sony's, Nintendo's and Roblox's own help pages. Parental controls and children's chat settings are covered by each company's own guides, linked at the end.

Xbox

Xbox collects some basic "diagnostic" data (reports on errors and updates, and what you do on the console) whatever you choose. You can stop the optional extra detail. Xbox's help gives the same menus for Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One.

Xbox settings

Privacy and online safety (your own profile)

Pick the Child, Teen or Adult defaults, or choose View details & customise to set who can see your profile and activity and who can contact you.

Xbox gives the same steps for Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One. On the web: xbox.com → your gamertag → More actions (…) → Xbox settings → Privacy & online safety. Xbox says you must select Submit before switching tabs there, or your changes won't be saved.

Optional diagnostic data (your profile)

Choose Allow or Block. Optional data is extra detail about errors, the console's hardware and settings, and how games and apps perform. Some basic data (errors, updates and the actions you take) is always collected.

Xbox says optional data is only for adult accounts. If anyone signed in has chosen Block, none is collected.

Optional diagnostic data (when no one is signed in)

Tick or untick. This covers the console when nobody is signed in.

Xbox says the choice of the first person to sign in to a console also decides this. If you're in an Xbox Insider or beta programme, optional data is still collected until you leave it.

Windows PC: optional diagnostic data

Turn it on or off. Xbox says some gaming parts of Windows follow this Windows setting rather than your Xbox one.

You can also change optional data sharing and recommendations at xbox.com/user/settings.

Personalised recommendations

Turn personalised recommendations on or off. Xbox says this setting doesn't affect adverts on the console.

Xbox says child accounts can't be opted in. Who can see your game history is separate: Xbox privacy → View details & customise → Online status & history.

App privacy

Xbox says app privacy choices are saved only on that console, so set them on each one.

Offers from Xbox and other companies

Untick "Send me offers from XBOX" and "Send me offers from other companies" to stop promotional emails.

Voice chat: Xbox lets you save a clip of in-game voice chat to report it. Xbox says these clips last 24 hours and each profile can keep 20. Party chat and Discord can't be captured this way. We didn't find an Xbox help page describing any other voice-data setting.

PlayStation

On PlayStation your privacy settings belong to your account, so they follow you from console to console. The PS5 and PS4 menus are different, so check which one you have. Sony's privacy policy also lists choices about personalised recommendations, personalised adverts and voice transcripts for its chat transcription feature, but the pages we opened don't give the menu steps for those.

PlayStation settings

PS5: privacy settings

Pick a preset (Social and Open, Team Player, Friend Focused, or Solo and Focused), or choose View and Customise Your Privacy Settings for each item.

Sony says privacy settings belong to your account, so a change applies on every PlayStation you use. On the web: Account Management → Privacy settings.

PS4: privacy settings

Set who can see your gaming and media activity, friends and connections, and personal information, and who can message you.

PS5: Limited Data or Full Data

Sony says the PS5 lets you choose "Limited Data" (only what's needed to run its services) or "Full Data" (more, for things like improving your experience).

Unverified path: Sony's privacy policy says to see "About Device Data" on the console, but no Sony page we opened gives the menu steps.

PS5: voice data from Voice Command

Sony says that otherwise, written transcripts of your voice commands may be reviewed by people. Voice Command (Preview) is only in the UK and US.

Turn Voice Command itself off in Settings → Voice Command (Preview) → Enable Voice Command. Sony says child accounts can't use it and their speech is never recorded.

Nintendo Switch and Switch 2

Nintendo's data and email choices are in your Nintendo Account online; GameChat's microphone and camera are on the Switch 2 itself. Nintendo's UK and US pages use different names for the data settings, so look for either.

Nintendo settings

Nintendo Account: usage information (UK)

Two choices: "Allow Nintendo to collect optional device data on Nintendo consoles that you use" and "Allow Nintendo to process your usage information to customise services, offers and recommendations".

From a Nintendo UK news post (December 2025).

Nintendo Account: usage information (US help page)

Choose whether Nintendo can use your usage information to improve its products, and to give you personalised offers and recommendations.

For a child: Family group → the child → Manage Child Accounts → Data Usage - Opt-Out Preferences. Nintendo's US page gives this; we didn't find a UK page with the child steps (Unverified for the UK).

Emails from Nintendo

Turn off promotional emails and survey invitations.

Switch 2 GameChat: your microphone and camera

Mutes or unmutes you, or turns your camera on or off. Settings in the same menu let you show only your face, your face and body, or the full camera view.

Nintendo says the Switch 2 has no system-level voice commands, and the microphone is only on when you use it, for example in GameChat.

GameChat recordings: Nintendo says GameChat audio and video are kept on the console and only sent to Nintendo if someone reports a player. Nintendo Australia's FAQ says recordings are kept for up to 24 hours and the last three minutes are sent with a report. We didn't find a setting to turn this off.

The Switch 2 camera has a green light when it's on and a shutter to cover the lens.

Roblox

Roblox now asks everyone to complete an age check before they can chat: a face scan that estimates age, or a government ID (13 and over only). Roblox says it deletes the face images and video after the check. Some settings, such as ad preferences, only appear for adults.

Roblox settings

Your own visibility

Choose who sees your online status and the game you're in. There's also a "Share activity updates" switch.

Ads Preferences (18 and over)

Two switches: "Personalize your ads" and "Data selling and sharing".

Roblox says only users 18 and over see these settings.

Parental controls and children's accounts

Screen time, chat, spending and content limits for children are safety settings rather than data settings, so this page doesn't cover them. Each company's own guide: Xbox Family Settings app, PlayStation parental controls and spending limits, Nintendo Switch parental controls and Roblox parental controls.

Sources

This page describes your options and how organisations say they handle requests. It isn't legal advice. See About & sourcing, or report a correction.