And unsurprisingly there are many accounts of this being abused already, heres a few high profile examples: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robbins_v._Lower_Merion_School_... , http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2013/03/rat-breeders-meet...

Indeed. But it happens rarely enough that its usefulness to video chat with friends outweighs the risks for me and many other people. Most people are already okay with a camera on a device that is constantly pointing at them.

I dare say most people are blissfully unaware of how often and how easy it is for someone to use their webcam to spy on them.

Either way thats not the point, I don't have a webcam or mic plugged in, except when i am using it for video chat or gaming, and afterwards i unplug them. The xbox's cannot be removed like my PCs.

But you have the option of unplugging the mic and camera, apparently that is not the case with the xbox.

I do not have that option with my Macbook, nor do I think people have such an option with most laptops that have an integrated camera and mic. I could physically cover the lens and mic, but you can do that with a Kinect, too.