If you read the End User License Agreement for Origin it states that by installing Origin you're giving EA the right to monitor your PC and to make a profile of you, including what programs you have installed (and whether you have any illegally downloaded material), what websites you use, etc., and that EA reserves the right to share or sell this information to third parties.

And here were worried the government was the one playing Big Brother -creeped out emote that isnt on the emote chart-

Good luck to them with that.

The only "programs" I use while Origin is running is the game.

Afterward, I exit Origin and there are no residual processes running in memory.

Given the news headlines this past month (re News Corp), I'm suprised you still had this view.

7. USER GENERATED INFORMATION

"User Generated Information" means any information made available to other users through your use of multi-user features of Steam or to Valve through your use of the Software. User Generated Information may include, but is not limited to, chat, forum posts, screen names, game selections, player performances, usage data, suggestions about Valve products or services, and error notifications. Subject to the Valve privacy policy referenced in Section 1 above, as applicable, you expressly grant Valve the complete and irrevocable right to use, reproduce, modify, create derivative works from, distribute, transmit, broadcast, and otherwise communicate, and publicly display and perform the User Generated Information and derivative works thereof in any form, anywhere, with or without attribution to you, and without any notice or compensation to you of any kind.

Is Origin the same program as that EA Download Manager?

I really haven't payed much attention to anything lately. About the only news I've watched the past few months were the UK riots and the uprising in Libya, and a few things locally, other than that, I've pretty much kept to my own affairs.

Edit: The News Corp is that journaBlism scandal right? I thought that was a whistle blower who started the ball rolling or something. (Hasnt paid much attention to the story)

Edit 2: Bootysweat- But it doesn't explicitely state that it's running during Origins active use, it could very well be running deep in the background. *Tinfoilhattimechildren*

From what I understand, it's EA's answer to Steam.

Origin isn't the only software that does this.

From Steam's EULA:

What fool installs a Spyware program that invasive?

Basically at least one News Corp owned Newspaper has been caught hacking into the voicemail service of prominent people, including in one case the voicemails of a missing person and her mother - on the missing persons voicemail they also deleted voicemails when the system filled up giving the mother and police false hope that the missing person was alive (she wasn't) and checking her voicemail.

From what I understand, it's EA's answer to Steam.

2. Consent to Collection and Use of Data.
You agree that EA may collect, use, store and transmit technical and related information that identifies your computer (including the Internet Protocol37683v1Address), operating system,Application usage (including but not limited to successful installation and/or removal), software, software usage and peripheral hardware, that may be gathered periodically to facilitate the provision of software updates, dynamically served content, product support and other services to you, including online services. EA may also use this information combined with personal information for marketing purposes and to improve our products and services. We may also share that data with our third party service providers in form that does not personally identify you.