ESA: Earning back your trust and support is our top priority

Today the Electronic Software Association made some lofty promises about E3 2020, and pledges to protect that private data of journalists, exhibitors, and attendees this time around.

When you register for E3, the ESA asks you for a lot of info; phone numbers, address, email, and even a scanned copy of your driver's license or ID. Basically stuff you don't want anyone to really access unless there's a good reason. A bit ago the ESA accidentally published the sensitive info of thousands of registered attendees from E3 2004 and 2006. The move was seen as the nail in the annual showcase's coffin and caused a big wave of distrust in the media--the very people responsible for creating E3 buzz ever year.

Now the ESA says things have changed. The company has rebuilt its website from the ground up with new security tools and plans to host any personal info off-site.

"We've upgraded our media registration process. Earning back your trust and support is our top priority," the ESA said in a news post.

"That's why we rebuilt the E3 website with enhanced and layered security measures developed by an outside cybersecurity firm. This included updating our data management processes, including the handling of personally identifiable information, and we will no longer store that data on our site. We have also changed our registration practices and will collect the minimum information necessary to complete your registration."

The ESA also promises E3 2020 will "celebrate gaming culture in exciting new ways" and will use the show floor to "shake things up."

I'm not sure exactly what this means, but it sounds like E3 will be less of a show about games and more about the stuff surrounding games, like promotions, advertisements for gaming-related products, etc.

With major breadwinners like Sony and EA skipping E3 in favor of their own events, the show certainly has lost a lot of its impact.

E3 2020 begins on Tuesday, June 9 and ends on Thursday, June 11, 2020.