Consumer Rights Wiki - User contributions [en]

Enshittification

2026-05-14T21:07:08Z

D-side: Undo revision 53475 by 73.209.231.145 (talk) — not a typo, linked Wikipedia for the definition

{{Incomplete|Issue 1=Some sections are lacking adequate source population or quality|Issue 2=Some sections are far too brief, or aren't even written|Issue 3=Lack of depth; there's not enough links of data that connects each stage together, not to mention real-world examples of companies going through the full process.}}{{ToneWarning}}

'''Platform decay''', commonly known as '''[[wikipedia:Enshittification|Enshittification]]''' or '''crapification''', is a practice in which companies (usually large ones) allow the quality of the products or services they provide to decline over time.

The term was first coined by tech blogger [[wikipedia:Cory Doctorow|Cory Doctorow]] in November 2022<ref>{{Cite web |last=Doctorow |first=Cory |date=28 Nov 2022 |title=Pluralistic: How monopoly enshittified Amazon/28 Nov 2022 |url=https://pluralistic.net/2022/11/28/enshittification/ |url-status=live |access-date=18 Aug 2025 |website=Pluralistic |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20260216121528/https://pluralistic.net/2022/11/28/enshittification/ |archive-date=16 Feb 2026}}</ref>, popularized by Arun Maini (Mrwhosetheboss)<ref>{{Cite web |last=Chapman |first=Tom |date=2024-10-30 |title=Popular tech YouTuber exposes why 'broken' Google Search is falling apart |url=https://www.uniladtech.com/news/tech-news/mrwhosetheboss-explains-google-search-broken-715030-20241030 |url-status=live |website=[[UNILAD Tech]]}}([http://web.archive.org/web/20251117215634/https://www.uniladtech.com/news/tech-news/mrwhosetheboss-explains-google-search-broken-715030-20241030 Archived])</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=@Mrwhosetheboss |title=The Internet is starting to Break - Here's Why. |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wVYG1mu8Lg8&pp=ygUuVGhlIEludGVybmV0IGlzIHN0YXJ0aW5nIHRvIEJyZWFrIC0gSGVyZSdzIFdoeQ%3D%3D |url-status=live |website=[[YouTube]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=@Mrwhosetheboss |date=2024-10-12 |title=Why Google Search is Falling Apart. |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSGVk2KVokQ |url-status=live |website=[[YouTube]]}}</ref>, and has since gained widespread recognition.<ref>{{Cite web |title=enshittification |url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/slang/enshittification |url-status=live |access-date=18 Aug 2025 |website=Merriam-Webster |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20260222030743/https://www.merriam-webster.com/slang/enshittification |archive-date=22 Feb 2026}}</ref>

==How it works==
The platform decay practice is done in three stages. Initially, the companies create high-quality products or service offerings, usually by offering users a product or service at a low price (or sometimes for free). This works as an easy way to attract users and consumers and undercut the competition. Later, the offerings and platform quality decline, often with subtle changes, worsening users' experience during a transition to prioritize profits for business customers. At the end, they decline quality for both regular and business customers to prioritize shareholder profits.

It is an effective practice amongst large corporations that offer a monopoly product or service. When there's no significant competence, the enshittification may persist longer, as users may be unable to leave the platform because they're used to it or because they can't find similar alternatives that meet their needs. These practices could also cause provider companies to incur irreparable reputational damage. According to Cory Doctorow on ''Wired,'' 2023:

<blockquote>''"It is a seemingly inevitable consequence arising from the combination of the ease of changing how a platform allocates value, combined with the nature of a "two-sided market," where a platform sits between buyers and sellers, holding each hostage to the other, raking off an ever-larger share of the value that passes between them."'' <ref>{{Cite web |last=Doctorow |first=Cory |date=23 Jan 2023 |title=The ‘Enshittification’ of TikTok |url=https://www.wired.com/story/tiktok-platforms-cory-doctorow/ |url-status=live |access-date=18 Aug 2025 |website=WIRED |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20260120085207/https://www.wired.com/story/tiktok-platforms-cory-doctorow/ |archive-date=20 Jan 2026}}</ref></blockquote>
===1. Incentivizing mass adoption===
Companies begin by offering a product or service that provides a high-quality experience or usage for users, while constantly listening to user feedback. Another common practice to attract users is to offer a low or affordable price for most consumers. They basically create something "too good" to be free or low-cost. This leads to a visible, well-known product or service that makes it easy to build communities and user bases.

A documented example of this phase is [[Uber]] aggressively using investor capital to fund massive subsidies, paying to acquire both drivers and passengers.<ref>{{Cite web |title=How Uber Disrupted An Industry With An Explosive Approach |url=https://www.cascade.app/studies/uber-strategy-study#:~:text=Uber%20combined%20that%20initial%20campaign,rider%20sides%20faster%20and%20easier. |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20251112132833/https://www.cascade.app/studies/uber-strategy-study |archive-date=12 Nov 2025}}</ref> It was initially well-received for offering competitive transportation prices, leading to a large user base adopting the platform.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Wolff |first=Micheal |date=22 Dec 2013 |title=Wolff: The tech company of the year is Uber |url=https://eu.usatoday.com/story/money/columnist/wolff/2013/12/22/the-success-of-app-based-car-service-uber/4141669/ |url-status=live |access-date=18 Aug 2025 |website=USA TODAY |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20250414222632/https://eu.usatoday.com/story/money/columnist/wolff/2013/12/22/the-success-of-app-based-car-service-uber/4141669/ |archive-date=14 Apr 2025}}</ref>

===2. Catering to business clients===
Once communities and user bases are stable, companies begin offering products and services to business customers, providing strong incentives. These partnerships and the new profit-making focus are eroding the user experience through tactics such as ads and sponsored content.

A documented example of this phase is seen in the case of [[Reddit]] removing free access to its API near the time of its Initial public offering (IPO).<ref name="TheVergeAnnouncement">{{Cite web |last=Shakir |first=Umar |date=April 18, 2023 |title=Reddit's upcoming API changes will make AI companies pony up |url=https://www.theverge.com/2023/4/18/23688463/reddit-developer-api-terms-change-monetization-ai |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230614020642/https://www.theverge.com/2023/4/18/23688463/reddit-developer-api-terms-change-monetization-ai |archive-date=June 14, 2023 |access-date=June 17, 2023 |work=[[The Verge]]}}</ref> Then, in 2024, Reddit struck a $60 million deal with [[Google]] to grant access to its user-generated content for AI training data.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Tong |first=Anna |last2=Wang |first2=Echo |last3=Coulter |first3=Martin |last4=Tong |first4=Anna |last5=Wang |first5=Echo |date=2024-02-22 |title=Exclusive: Reddit in AI content licensing deal with Google |url=https://www.reuters.com/technology/reddit-ai-content-licensing-deal-with-google-sources-say-2024-02-22/ |access-date=2025-06-20 |work=Reuters |language=en |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20260112221447/https://www.reuters.com/technology/reddit-ai-content-licensing-deal-with-google-sources-say-2024-02-22/ |archive-date=12 Jan 2026}}</ref>

===3. Quality degradation for shareholders===
When both users and business partners are locked in, the company shifts its surpluses to the shareholders. It no longer has any incentive to grow or maintain quality for either of its customer bases, and it relentlessly seeks profit at any cost for shareholders. Companies at this stage also tend to have such a large market presence that switching barriers naturally (or intentionally) fall into place for those trying to leave for alternatives.

An ongoing example is [[YouTube]]'s [[YouTube#Crackdown against ad-blockers|crackdown on users who use ad blockers]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=YouTube intensifies crackdown on ad blockers {{!}} AdGuard |url=https://adguard.com/en/blog/youtube-new-banner-adblockers-violate-tos.html |access-date=2025-06-20 |website=AdGuard Blog |language=en}} ([http://web.archive.org/web/20251211160954/https://adguard.com/en/blog/youtube-new-banner-adblockers-violate-tos.html Archived])</ref> While such a crackdown might reduce ad-blocker usage and increase short-term shareholder returns, it degrades the user experience and reduces the quality of impressions for advertisers. Over 30% of the world's population uses YouTube, with a ~98% market share in online video media.<ref>{{Cite web |title=YouTube - Market Share, Competitor Insights in Media Players And Streaming Platforms |url=https://www.6sense.com/tech/media-players-and-streaming-platforms/youtube-market-share |access-date=2025-06-20 |website=6sense |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20250429132430/https://6sense.com/tech/media-players-and-streaming-platforms/youtube-market-share |archive-date=29 Apr 2025}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=23 Essential YouTube Statistics You Need to Know in 2025 |url=https://thesocialshepherd.com/blog/youtube-statistics |access-date=2025-06-20 |website=The Social Shepherd |language=en |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20260124141601/https://thesocialshepherd.com/blog/youtube-statistics |archive-date=24 Jan 2026}}</ref>

==Why is this a problem?==

===Erosion of user experiences===
It can cause frustration among customers; for example, [[Netflix]] has started locking movies behind expensive plans, forcing customers to subscribe to a more expensive plan.

Enshittification can also lead to [[wikipedia:Feature creep|feature creep]] - especially when new features of a product are intended to lock in users further and increase revenue. This creep can lead to an overall reduction in performance due to [[Bloatware|bloat]] and increased complexity, reducing a product's usability. A prime example of feature creep, in large part due to late-stage enshittification, is [[Microsoft Windows]].

===Switching barriers===
Enshittified platforms that act as intermediaries can act as both a monopoly on services and a [[wikipedia:Monopsony|monopsony]] on customers, as high switching barriers prevent either from leaving even when better alternatives technically exist. These barriers can be intentionally put in place - such as restricting the user's ability to transfer data or communicate between platforms - or unintentional, such as a platform's userbase being so large that it naturally makes it near impossible for users or partners to find equivalent engagement on an alternative platform.

An example of this would be a long-time eBay seller hoping to leave the site for an alternative with lower fees (such as eBay's competitors, like Etsy or Mercari). They might first encounter issues migrating all of their listings over to the new platform, a process that could be tedious. Their feedback history will certainly not carry over to the new platform, so buyers are initially less likely to view them as trustworthy, potentially impacting sales. Lastly, the alternative platform likely has a vastly smaller user base than eBay, so, despite any potential benefits, the seller is less likely to be successful on the new platform than on eBay.

Such switching barriers can create an adversarial relationship between platform users or business partners and the company on which they depend. Users or partners cannot succeed without access to the platform's wide reach, but that access leaves them wholly dependent on a company whose interests no longer align with theirs.

===Platform death===
A potential end-scenario for enshittified platforms is death, usually caused by a large enough exodus of users and business partners, and a general loss of trust. A platform may not truly "die" per se, but it can completely lose the identity that made it successful in the first place - and might not ever regain it. An ongoing example is [[X Corp|Twitter]] post Elon Musk's takeover. Under its new ownership and branding, the platform lost swathes of its userbase and advertisers to alternative platforms (such as Bluesky after its policy shifts proved widely unpopular.

However, the death of an enshittified platform is not a particularly positive outcome. It uproots a long-established userbase and can greatly disrupt their activities. There is also the chance that alternative platforms lack feature parity with the old platform or that they might not be able to support the massive influx of new users, at least for some time. At worst, data loss could be involved, meaning years' worth of information - if not archived beforehand - could potentially be lost if a platform shuts down in some capacity.

==Common signs==
Products and services that are affected by enshittification usually apply these practices (that could be subtle at first) to their product or services:

*Modifications of [[terms of service]] or [[terms of use]] to include anti-consumer practices.
*[[Advertising overload]] to prioritize advertiser profits and encourage users to pay to disable (or limit) ad visibility.
*[[Pay-walling]] or limiting functions or features, usually ones that were free at first. This can also lead to [[monetization overload]]. In some cases, a function or feature might be completely removed.
*Integration of [[Bloatware]].
*Price gouging or [[Value based pricing|surge pricing]].
*In physical products, lower-quality or less durable materials are used to manufacture products to minimize costs. In some cases, this practice is alongside [[planned obsolescence]].
*In software, low-quality updates and features, in some cases involving the usage of [[AI slop]].
*Provider companies ignore user feedback that calls for reverting or removing features that reduce partnership or shareholder profits.
*Difficulties or inabilities to remove a payment method or to cancel a subscription.

==Examples==
===E-commerce===
{{Hatnote|Main articles: [[Amazon]], [[eBay]]}}
In Doctorow's original post, he discussed [[Amazon|Amazon's]] practices. The online retailer initially drew in users with products sold at a loss and free shipping. Once its user base was well established, more sellers began selling their products on Amazon. Finally, Amazon began to add fees to increase profits. In 2023, over 45% of the sale price of items went to Amazon through various fees. Amazon also allows sellers to push their listings higher in search results via its paid Sponsored Products program. Doctorow described advertisement within Amazon as a payola scheme in which sellers bid against one another for search-ranking preference, and said that the first five pages of a search for "cat beds" were half advertisements

eBay is another e-commerce site that followed a similar trajectory, initially offering low fees and a robust buyer and seller protection system. Once its userbase of largely secondhand buyers and sellers was solidified, eBay raised seller fees. It began incentivizing large-volume sellers - often actual businesses - with lower selling fees if they subscribed to an eBay Store. eBay sellers are also no longer able to leave negative feedback for buyers, greatly reducing sellers' ability to avoid bad actors. Since then, eBay has introduced promoted listings, which are effectively analogous to Amazon's paid sponsored listings. eBay has also encouraged sellers to use AI-generated descriptions that often misrepresent the condition of items being sold and has opted all of its users into in-house AI training [[Ebay AI opt in by default|by default]] as of its April 21, 2025, privacy policy revision.

===Media streaming platforms===
{{Hatnote|Main articles: [[Netflix]], [[Prime Video]], [[Disney+]]}}
The enshittification of Netflix is similarly reflected in other competing streaming platforms such as YouTube TV and Amazon Prime Video, where prices have increased despite a decline (or at least no perceivable improvement) in overall service quality. Multiple providers have also downgraded their cheapest paid plans, now bundling ads.

===Search engines===
{{Hatnote|Main articles: [[Google]], [[Bing]]}}
Google started as an ad-free search engine but then began adding sponsored links at the top of search results, making them less distinguishable from non-ad links. {{Citation needed}} In 2024, Google started rolling out AI Overview, an AI-generated summary that appears at the top of the search results. Due to the release being rushed and not having proper revisions, the AI Overview showed inaccurate and potentially dangerous overviews, such as encouraging eating rocks, suggesting putting glue on top of pizza as a solution to cheese sliding off, encouraging smoking during pregnancy, encouraging suicide, and suggesting users jump off the Golden Gate Bridge.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Goodwin |first=Danny |date=24 May 2024 |title=Google AI Overviews under fire for giving dangerous and wrong answers |url=https://searchengineland.com/google-ai-overview-fails-442575 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250623180113/https://searchengineland.com/google-ai-overview-fails-442575 |archive-date=23 Jun 2025 |access-date=21 Jul 2025 |work=Search Engine Land}}</ref> Google has responded to those issues and temporarily disabled the AI overview. While those incidents have been fixed and the AI Overview has been made available again, the AI overview still shows inaccurate results caused by hallucinations, biases, and the citing of non-verifiable sources, often citing satire comments as factual sources or making stuff up. The AI overview has also been criticized for being considered unwanted or unnecessary, environmentally harmful, raising privacy concerns, and reducing traffic to genuine sites, encouraging people to rely on the overview instead of visiting sites to obtain the information they're looking for.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Perez |first=Sarah |date=15 Jul 2025 |title=Google Discover adds AI summaries, threatening publishers with further traffic declines |url=https://techcrunch.com/2025/07/15/google-discover-adds-ai-summaries-threatening-publishers-with-further-traffic-declines/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250718124612/https://techcrunch.com/2025/07/15/google-discover-adds-ai-summaries-threatening-publishers-with-further-traffic-declines/ |archive-date=18 Jul 2025 |access-date=21 Jul 2025 |work=TechCrunch}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Bellan |first=Rebecca |date=10 Jun 2025 |title=Google’s AI search features are killing traffic to publishers |url=https://techcrunch.com/2025/06/10/googles-ai-overviews-are-killing-traffic-for-publishers/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250714040741/https://techcrunch.com/2025/06/10/googles-ai-overviews-are-killing-traffic-for-publishers/ |archive-date=14 Jul 2025 |access-date=21 Jul 2025 |work=TechCrunch}}</ref>

===Social media===

====Facebook====
{{Main|Facebook}}
[[Facebook]] has shifted from a network for personal connections to a platform dominated by advertising and algorithmic manipulation. User data is monetized at the expense of privacy, while the quality of organic content has steadily declined.

====Instagram====
{{Main|Instagram}}
Instagram once centered on creativity and social sharing, but now prioritizes sponsored posts, shopping features, and influencer marketing. Users’ ability to control their feeds has been reduced, reflecting the platform’s focus on profit over consumer experience.

=====Reddit=====
{{Main|Reddit}}
Reddit’s 2023 API changes exemplify enshitification, undermining community tools and third-party apps in favor of advertising revenue. This has eroded user autonomy and restricted consumer choice.

====Twitter/X====
{{Main|X Corp}}
Following its acquisition and rebrand, Twitter/X introduced [[Pay-walling|paywalls]] for basic features, weakened its moderation, and increased sponsored content. The result has been degraded service and a diminished consumer experience.

====TikTok====
{{Main|TikTok}}
TikTok’s powerful recommendation algorithm drives engagement but also funnels users into repetitive content while saturating feeds with advertising. Concerns over data exploitation further highlight the imbalance between corporate gain and consumer rights.

====YouTube====
{{Main|YouTube}}
YouTube has expanded ad loads and aggressively promoted subscriptions, while algorithmic changes often disadvantage independent creators. Consumers face reduced choice and increased intrusion, hallmarks of enshitification.

====Discord====
{{Main|Discord}}
Discord's primary selling point is that it is the most widely used platform for online communication, especially for communities.{{Citation needed}} Because of this dominance, it has caused barriers for users intending to switch to alternative platforms such as Stoat or Matrix, as a lack of common users between platforms makes it difficult for more users to transfer over.{{Citation needed}} This fact has been abused by Discord with its infrastructure showing signs of decay,{{Citation needed}} the introduction of advertisements in the format of "quests",{{Citation needed}} and the degradation of free perks.{{Citation needed}}

===Software===

====Adobe====
{{Main|Adobe}}
'''Users losing their perpetual licenses''': Starting in 2013, Adobe eliminated the option to purchase perpetual licenses for core products like Photoshop, Illustrator, and Premiere. Users must now maintain an ongoing subscription to access the software. Canceling payments disables applications regardless of prior investment, dramatically increasing long-term costs and removing user ownership in favor of recurring subscriptions.

'''Loss of files on deactivated products''': Many Adobe file formats (PSD, AI, INDD, AE project files) are proprietary and poorly supported by third-party software. When a subscription ends, users are unable to open, export, or meaningfully edit their own historical work, effectively creating [[data lock-in]] for user-created content to enforce continued payment.

'''Mandatory Creative Cloud account:''' By applying [[Digital rights management|DRM]] to offline tools, software that normally runs locally requires frequent online authentication via the Creative Cloud desktop app. Forced sign-ins, background services, and periodic license checks can unexpectedly disable software, undermine reliability, and make professional tools dependent on Adobe’s servers.

'''Dark patterns in subscription cancellation:''' Adobe’s subscription plans use confusing billing structures (such as “annual plans billed monthly”) that impose early termination fees. Cancellation flows are [[Dark pattern|deliberately complex]], with obscured options and repeated retention prompts, leading users to pay for longer than intended or to be penalized for leaving.

====Microsoft Windows====
{{Main|Microsoft Windows 11}}
'''Forced Microsoft account sign-in:''' Beginning with Windows 10 and further enforced in Windows 11, Microsoft increasingly requires users to sign in with a Microsoft account during setup. This restricts offline use, obscures the option to create a local account, and facilitates expanded telemetry collection and ecosystem lock-in.

'''Baked-in advertising:''' Despite being a commercial software, Windows includes advertisements and promotional content in the Start Menu, lock screen, system notifications, and settings panels, used to promote Microsoft 365, OneDrive, Edge, and other services and proprietary software. Even when users disable these features, they are frequently re-enabled after major updates.

'''Dark patterns in first-party applications''': Microsoft applications repeatedly nudge users toward Microsoft-preferred choices. Edge persistently prompts users to set it as the default browser and displays warnings when switching away. OneDrive frames cloud uploads as “protecting your files,” obscuring the fact that local folders are being redirected to Microsoft’s servers. Subscription prompts often lack a clear “Never ask again” option, offering only choices such as “Try for free” or “Maybe later” as in Microsoft 365. Windows U.S.

'''Baked-in telemetry:''' Telemetry and diagnostic data collection are enabled by default, particularly in non-Enterprise editions, with only limited controls available to disable or reduce them. Most data collection is vaguely documented, undermining informed consent.

'''Loss of user control over updates''': Windows updates cannot be permanently disabled through standard settings. Users can only defer updates for a limited period (up to four weeks), after which downloads and installations are often forced, sometimes causing unexpected restarts or re-enabling previously disabled features without user consent.

'''Degraded local search in favor of web search:''' The start menu and file search experience has progressively gotten worse, blending local results with Bing web searches. This often prioritizes online content and advertisements over fast, predictable local file and application discovery, thereby reducing usability to promote Microsoft’s search and advertising ecosystem.

===Video Games===

====Unity====
{{Main|Unity}}
Unity Software Inc. implemented sweeping changes to its Unity pricing model, affecting all engine users, forcing them to either adopt the per-download fee or delist their games.

====Mobile Games====
{{Hatnote|Main articles: [[Apple App Store]], [[Google Play Store]]}}
A lot of mobile games have fallen into enshittified experiences. The [[Free to Play|Free-to-play]] business model took off with users bombarded by ads, [[Microtransactions|microtransactions]], [[Battle passes|battle passes]], energy systems, and more, to extract as much money as possible from players' pockets while making the experience less fun. The video game Angry Birds is a good example of this. What started as a very simple game now has all the aforementioned tactics baked in, rendering the playing experience tedious and unpleasant.

==Possible solutions==

===Legislation and movements===
{{Hatnote|Main articles: [[GDPR]], [[Free software movement]]}}

===Right of exit===
{{see also|Click-to-cancel|Interoperability}}

The right of exit, or Data portability, is the right of a user to leave a platform without losing the data stored on it, and instead to export and access it in various applications of the user's choice.<ref>{{Cite web |title=DataPortability Project |url=http://www.dataportability.org/ |url-status=unfit |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090723171111/http://www.dataportability.org/ |archive-date=23 Jul 2009 |access-date=18 Aug 2025 |website=DataPortability}}</ref>

==Further reading==

*https://pluralistic.net/2024/01/30/go-nuts-meine-kerle/#ich-bin-ein-bratapfel
*https://www.darkpattern.games/

==External links==

*[https://youtu.be/T4Upf_B9RLQ "A Day in the Life of an Ensh*ttificator"], by [https://www.youtube.com/@Forbrukerr%C3%A5detNorge Forbrukerrådet - Norwegian Consumer Council], 2026
*[https://youtu.be/NBZv0_MImIY "Y'all mind if I complain for 15 minutes?"], by [[wikipedia:Jaiden_Animations|Jaiden Dittfach]], 2025. In this video, she talks about how things have "become less efficient" and "more stupid".
*[https://eev.ee/blog/2025/07/03/the-rise-of-whatever/ "The rise of Whatever"]
*[https://gavinhoward.com/2023/11/your-loved-ones-are-prisoners-and-you-made-the-chain "Digital chains and modern feudalism"]

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Common terms]]
[[Category:Theme]]

Sideloading

2026-04-24T01:13:27Z

D-side: Typo in the WIndows case

{{Stub}}
'''Sideloading''' is a term suggested by product manufacturers that refers to a secondary method of software installation, typically one with more user control compared to the primary one(-s) that are advertised more widely and openly.

Most recent use of the term "sideloading", one that pertains the most to consumer rights and is the main subject of this article, refers to methods of software installation from user's files on platforms where this method isn't typical. Most commonly, when a device heavily advertises installation through the manufacturer's software distribution channel. Two most famous examples of this are [[Apple App Store]] on [[iOS]] and [[Google Play Store]] on [[Android]], where software can instead be installed ("sideloaded") from <code>*.ipa</code> files (after device [[Jailbreak|jailbreaking]]) and from <code>*.apk</code> files (pending major restriction as of April 2026<ref name=":0" />), respectively.

As of 2026, in recent years manufacturers have described this practice as something only advanced users need, particularly pirates and hardware hackers, and use this as justification for restricting the feature for ''everyone'', ignoring or sidestepping [[Erosion of ownership|the problem of erosion of ownership]] its restriction entails: restrictions on sideloading are arbitrary limitations on device capabilities imposed by manufacturers against consumers' interests.

This has prompted a rise in sentiment that "sideloading" as a distinct concept is a manipulation of consumer expectations through a change in language, and a more generic term "installation" should be used instead, to make restrictions on software installation seem more impactful.

Another often cited reason for restricting this is the use of sideloading for malware distribution: since this installation mechanism is controlled largely by the user, the ease of this procedure allows tricking an uninformed user into installing malicious software on their devices. Whether the extent of sideloading restrictions is limited to fighting this, however, is debatable.

==Background==
Throughout most of its existence it has been a niche technical term, and as such, its meaning hasn't been very stable. All known meanings share the etymology of the word as "the process of ''loading'' from the ''side''" within the context of electronic devices, but the object of the process (what's being loaded) and what constitutes "the side" have changed several times.

In earliest uses, "sideloading" used to refer to not just software installation, but to ''any'' data transfer directly between devices.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Sideloading |url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sideloading |access-date=2026-04-24 |website=Wikipedia}}</ref> This meaning has receded, since consumer hardware adopted standard data transfer protocols over common standards of communication such as USB, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, which lifted many of the technical barriers to direct data transfers that necessitated a separate word for this.

Later sideloading used to refer to elaborate installation procedures performed during development, troubleshooting or repair. This use is still common in some communities, such as aftermarket Android firmware development (Android Debug Bridge even includes a command by the same name) and game console hacking. In uses like this, "sideloading" is typically opposed to official software delivery methods such as over-the-air (OTA) updates in internet-connected devices.

Modern uses of the term, however, usually refer to installation of software outside of the "official" channels and generally only apply to platforms where such channels exist at all.

===Failed introduction on Microsoft Windows===
On platforms where it's common for the user to obtain their software in channels outside of hardware manufacturers' control, such as downloading [[Windows]] software installers on software vendors' websites, there is no need to distinguish sideloading from installation.

[[Microsoft]] seems to have intended to introduce this distinction by building their own [[Microsoft Store]] and incentivizing software vendors to publish there, e. g. by making it the only source of software on a new cheaper edition [[Windows 10 S]], but poor reception of that edition seems to have stopped that plan from progressing any further.

==Why it happens==
Without meaningful competition, monopolistic providers often become complacent and lack incentive to maintain quality and innovation. A single store means another single point of failure for a platform. When a provider stops support, perfectly serviceable devices may be bricked. Many other platforms, like Windows and Linux have a variety of stores, repositories, and individual sites for getting software. Open platforms and choice allow devices to succeed, even when a particular manufacturer's software store is not well run.

Therefore, the openness of Android has made it a good option for many developers and consumers to do with their devices as they see fit.

==Related incidents==

===Google announces plan to restrict app downloads===
''Main article:'' [[Google plans to restrict sideloading of Android apps]].

Google claims that this will increase security, however they have a history of allowing unsafe and low quality content on their platforms.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Abrams |first=Lawrence |date=September 16, 2025 |title=Google nukes 224 Android malware apps behind massive ad fraud campaign |url=https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/google-nukes-224-android-malware-apps-behind-massive-ad-fraud-campaign/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250916174433/https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/google-nukes-224-android-malware-apps-behind-massive-ad-fraud-campaign/ |archive-date=16 Sep 2025}}</ref>

It is unclear how moving to a single authority for trust would improve user experience on Android devices. For example, the [https://f-droid.org/ F-Droid] project, a repository of open source apps where, unlike in Google's store, volunteers actually inspect the source code of every single app to ensure that they are safe and tracking free, announced the announced changes would mean the end for them.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=marcprux |date=2025-09-25 |title=F-Droid and Google's Developer Registration Decree |url=https://f-droid.org/en/2025/09/29/google-developer-registration-decree.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250929015129/https://f-droid.org/en/2025/09/29/google-developer-registration-decree.html |archive-date=29 Sep 2025 |access-date=2025-10-07 |website=F-Droid}}</ref>

==See also==

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Common terms]]

Sideloading

2026-04-24T01:09:16Z

D-side: Near-full rewrite, added earlier history and a case of how it didn't happen on Windows

{{Stub}}
'''Sideloading''' is a term suggested by product manufacturers that refers to a secondary method of software installation, typically one with more user control compared to the primary one(-s) that are advertised more widely and openly.

Most recent use of the term "sideloading", one that pertains the most to consumer rights and is the main subject of this article, refers to methods of software installation from user's files on platforms where this method isn't typical. Most commonly, when a device heavily advertises installation through the manufacturer's software distribution channel. Two most famous examples of this are [[Apple App Store]] on [[iOS]] and [[Google Play Store]] on [[Android]], where software can instead be installed ("sideloaded") from <code>*.ipa</code> files (after device [[Jailbreak|jailbreaking]]) and from <code>*.apk</code> files (pending major restriction as of April 2026<ref name=":0" />), respectively.

As of 2026, in recent years manufacturers have described this practice as something only advanced users need, particularly pirates and hardware hackers, and use this as justification for restricting the feature for ''everyone'', ignoring or sidestepping [[Erosion of ownership|the problem of erosion of ownership]] its restriction entails: restrictions on sideloading are arbitrary limitations on device capabilities imposed by manufacturers against consumers' interests.

This has prompted a rise in sentiment that "sideloading" as a distinct concept is a manipulation of consumer expectations through a change in language, and a more generic term "installation" should be used instead, to make restrictions on software installation seem more impactful.

Another often cited reason for restricting this is the use of sideloading for malware distribution: since this installation mechanism is controlled largely by the user, the ease of this procedure allows tricking an uninformed user into installing malicious software on their devices. Whether the extent of sideloading restrictions is limited to fighting this, however, is debatable.

== Background ==
Throughout most of its existence it has been a niche technical term, and as such, its meaning hasn't been very stable. All known meanings share the etymology of the word as "the process of ''loading'' from the ''side''" within the context of electronic devices, but the object of the process (what's being loaded) and what constitutes "the side" have changed several times.

In earliest uses, "sideloading" used to refer to not just software installation, but to ''any'' data transfer directly between devices.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Sideloading |url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sideloading |access-date=2026-04-24 |website=Wikipedia}}</ref> This meaning has receded, since consumer hardware adopted standard data transfer protocols over common standards of communication such as USB, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, which lifted many of the technical barriers to direct data transfers that necessitated a separate word for this.

Later sideloading used to refer to elaborate installation procedures performed during development, troubleshooting or repair. This use is still common in some communities, such as aftermarket Android firmware development (Android Debug Bridge even includes a command by the same name) and game console hacking. In uses like this, "sideloading" is typically opposed to official software delivery methods such as over-the-air (OTA) updates in internet-connected devices.

Modern uses of the term, however, usually refer to installation of software outside of the "official" channels and generally only apply to platforms where such channels exist at all.

=== Failed introduction on Microsoft Windows ===
On platforms where it's common for the user to obtain their software in channels outside of hardware manufacturers' control, such as downloading [[Windows]] software installers on software vendors' websites, there is no need to distinguish sideloading from installation.

[[Microsoft]] seems to have intended to introduce the distinction it by building their own [[Microsoft Store]] and incentivizing software vendors to publish there, e. g. by making it the only source of software on a new cheaper edition [[Windows 10 S]], but poor reception of that edition seems to have stopped that plan from progressing any further.

==Why it happens==
Without meaningful competition, monopolistic providers often become complacent and lack incentive to maintain quality and innovation. A single store means another single point of failure for a platform. When a provider stops support, perfectly serviceable devices may be bricked. Many other platforms, like Windows and Linux have a variety of stores, repositories, and individual sites for getting software. Open platforms and choice allow devices to succeed, even when a particular manufacturer's software store is not well run.

Therefore, the openness of Android has made it a good option for many developers and consumers to do with their devices as they see fit.

==Related incidents==

===Google announces plan to restrict app downloads===
''Main article:'' [[Google plans to restrict sideloading of Android apps]].

Google claims that this will increase security, however they have a history of allowing unsafe and low quality content on their platforms.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Abrams |first=Lawrence |date=September 16, 2025 |title=Google nukes 224 Android malware apps behind massive ad fraud campaign |url=https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/google-nukes-224-android-malware-apps-behind-massive-ad-fraud-campaign/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250916174433/https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/google-nukes-224-android-malware-apps-behind-massive-ad-fraud-campaign/ |archive-date=16 Sep 2025}}</ref>

It is unclear how moving to a single authority for trust would improve user experience on Android devices. For example, the [https://f-droid.org/ F-Droid] project, a repository of open source apps where, unlike in Google's store, volunteers actually inspect the source code of every single app to ensure that they are safe and tracking free, announced the announced changes would mean the end for them.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=marcprux |date=2025-09-25 |title=F-Droid and Google's Developer Registration Decree |url=https://f-droid.org/en/2025/09/29/google-developer-registration-decree.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250929015129/https://f-droid.org/en/2025/09/29/google-developer-registration-decree.html |archive-date=29 Sep 2025 |access-date=2025-10-07 |website=F-Droid}}</ref>

== See also ==

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Common terms]]

Cloud (service)

2026-03-26T02:10:17Z

D-side: Forgot website name in the source re: Eight Sleep & AWS outage

In consumer technology, a '''cloud service''' typically refers to a data processing service provided by a service provider (often product manufacturer), often for a periodic fee, without control over or even information about what infrastructure provides that service. Typical examples of such services include data storage, off-device data processing, easy access to an internet-connected device from anywhere with an internet connection and synchronization between devices.

A defining feature of a cloud service is absence of management of the infrastructure that processes the data — presented in marketing as a plus for the sake of convenience, but restricting choices consumers may want to make themselves.

==Origin of the term==
The term "cloud services" borrows from a term [[wikipedia:Cloud_computing|cloud computing]], which is vague to the point that FSF recommends avoiding it,<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-12-17 |title=Words to Avoid (or Use with Care) Because They Are Loaded or Confusing § “Cloud Computing” |url=https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/words-to-avoid.html#CloudComputing |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250310165359/https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/words-to-avoid#CloudComputing |archive-date=2025-03-10 |access-date=2026-03-24 |website=GNU Project - Free Software Foundation}}</ref> and in context of consumer technology the term inherits its vagueness. A defining feature of a cloud service is absence of management of the infrastructure that processes the data. It's true in cloud computing as well, but referring to the perspective of a service provider and a party that supplies them with computing infrastructure, e. g. servers, disk drives and network hardware.

Notably, a "cloud service" in consumer marketing may refer to a data processing service provided by the manufacturer that is ''not'' itself based on cloud computing from the service provider's perspective. A service provider might be in complete physical possession of the infrastructure involved in a service, hence it not being "cloud" for the provider, but manufacturer might still advertise the service as "cloud service" to consumers if the provider manages it for them without offering alternatives or prominently disclosing its existence.

==How it works==
When features of a product rely on data processing outside of consumers' devices, there has to be another device responsible for these functions.

Cloud services function on devices provided by a service provider, with their specifics or even existence hidden from the user behind user interfaces in an effort to simplify user experience.

One adage is often quoted in relation to cloud services: "There is no cloud, it's just somebody else's computer"<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Vorobyov |first=Sergei |date=2023-05-25 |title=There is no cloud it’s just someone else’s computer |url=https://www.solita.fi/blogs/there-is-no-cloud-its-just-someone-elses-computer/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230921154351/https://www.solita.fi/web/20230921154351/https://www.solita.fi/blogs/there-is-no-cloud-its-just-someone-elses-computer/ |archive-date=2023-09-21 |website=Solita}}</ref>. This means that the failure of a device you know nothing about can result in your device/service not working.

==Why it is a problem==

===Economic non-sustainability===
Operating a cloud service requires ongoing expenses for the entire duration for which that service is provided. Marketing professionals realize that requiring an ongoing expense from the user for a given product reflects negatively on its perception, and sometimes try to hide this by doing any of the following:

*Offering additional features or service capacity for an additional fee
*Including a limited amount of service with the product purchase
*Withholding the information about cloud services being involved in some of the product's functionality and potentially introducing a subscription fee post-purchase for the product to function fully or at all
**This often happens after the company that previously offered a cloud service is acquired by another company that isn't as concerned with remaining in good standing with customers of the acquired company

In cases where a product does not provide the ability to choose a service it uses, shutdown of the pre-configured cloud service may cause [[discontinuation bricking]] or loss of product features.

===Service concentration within cloud computing companies===
Because cloud computing providers, which cloud services are often built upon, have to be '''large''' in order to offer competitive advantages to their customers (as pertains to this article, particularly product manufacturers), there are very few cloud computing providers in existence. Thus, every one of them operates the infrastructure under a large number of cloud services.

Some of the most famous cloud providers include Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud and Oracle Cloud.

While they take great care to ensure their smooth operation, they sometimes fail and cause widespread service disruptions because of the great number of companies relying on their services.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-10-21 |title=Amazon says AWS cloud service back to normal after outage disrupts businesses worldwide |url=https://www.reuters.com/business/retail-consumer/amazons-cloud-unit-reports-outage-several-websites-down-2025-10-20/ |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20251130041310/https://www.reuters.com/business/retail-consumer/amazons-cloud-unit-reports-outage-several-websites-down-2025-10-20/ |archive-date=30 Nov 2025|website=Reuters}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-10-09 |title=Kubernetes kicks down Azure Front Door |url=https://www.theregister.com/2025/10/09/kubernetes_azure_outage/ |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20251230215743/https://www.theregister.com/2025/10/09/kubernetes_azure_outage/ |archive-date=30 Dec 2025|website=The Register}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-10-24 |title=Multiple GCP services impacted in the europe-west3-c zone |url=https://status.cloud.google.com/incidents/e3yQSE1ysCGjCVEn2q1h |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241028011248/https://status.cloud.google.com/incidents/e3yQSE1ysCGjCVEn2q1h |archive-date=2024-10-28 |website=Google Cloud Service Health}}</ref>

===Ineffective access controls===
A service provider requires some level of access to the data it processes. Unless access to the service is engineered on consumer's side to minimize such access (e. g. end-to-end encryption), all of the processed data is visible to the service provider<ref name=":0" />, where it can be leaked as a result of a cybersecurity incident or used for purposes to which consumers did not consent (such as included in machine learning datasets{{Citation needed}} or sold to advertising companies{{Citation needed}}).

Providers may offer some access controls for the data they possess and process, but most of the time they are also the ones enforcing them, which renders them ineffective for restricting providers' access due to a conflict of interest. There may be legally binding promises of effectiveness of these controls in their [[terms of service]], but violations of policies established through these controls are difficult to detect and legal enforcement is difficult in general.

===Less legal protection===
In the United States, federal limits on gathering evidence mean you are not usually required to supply a password to unlock a device that you have, however others may be compelled to release your data.

===Loss of control===
Service company can deprive you of your data/services. For example if you lose login credentials, as might happen when a person dies, or your account is stolen, or the service provider terminates the account. (see for example, [[Microsoft account]], [[Google account]]).

===(Often) Lack of competition===
{{Main|Forced cloud}}
Cloud services bundled with products often don't come with the ability to change providers for those services. This puts the product into a direct dependency from the service providers chosen by the manufacturer (often themselves), which:

*artificially prevents demand for the same service from other providers, preventing the emergence of competitive markets in respective market niches, giving financial advantage to chosen providers for non-competitive reasons, as well as preventing users from switching from providers they don't trust, e. g. after security incidents
*threatens [[Right to own|ownership over the product]], as terms of service can be altered unilaterally through technical means, and prevention of this through legal means is difficult or impossible
*limits the use of the product in unusual environments which manufacturer-chosen providers have no willingness or capacity to support, since they provide service for ''all'' users of the product, and therefore prioritize features that benefit wider circles of users, effectively reducing product capabilities. A particularly frequent example of this is functioning of a product with no internet access, which, in addition to being desirable to some users running private networks where access to the internet is restricted or unavailable, is a safeguard against accidents on service provider's side, such as when internet-enabled bed accessories by [[Eight Sleep]] were rendered non-adjustable due to an outage at Amazon Web Services<ref>{{Cite web |last=Castro-Sloboda |first=Giselle |date=2025-10-22 |title=Owners of Luxury Smart Beds Literally Lost Sleep Due to AWS Outage |url=https://www.cnet.com/health/sleep/owners-of-luxury-smart-beds-literally-lost-sleep-due-to-aws-outage/ |url-status=live |website=CNET}}</ref> (also showcasing [[Cloud (service)#Service concentration within cloud computing companies|the problem of service concentration]])

==Alternatives==

===Generic protocols===
A lot of cloud services use needlessly specialized protocols, which allows service providers to maintain monopolies over their respective niches. Use of more generic protocols provides more choice to consumers, incentivizes competition between service providers and creates business opportunities for new service providers to emerge.

For example, the impact of [[Amazon PhotosPlus discontinuation]] would be minimal if it were to allow connection to generic file storage rather than relying on Amazon's specialized photo storage service.

===Self-hosting===
{{Main|Self-hosting}}
Some cloud services can be adequately replaced with self-hosted alternatives, where consumers run compatible software on hardware they control.

==Examples==
*File synchronization services like [[wikipedia:Dropbox|Dropbox]], [[wikipedia:Google_drive|Google Drive]], [[OneDrive]], [[iCloud]], [[Mega.io cloud storage service|Mega]].
*Remote device access, as in [[Wyze|Wyze cameras]] and [[Bosch Cloud Dishwasher Incident|select Bosch dishwashers]].
*[[Software as a service]] online applications, like Google Workspace, [[Microsoft Office 365]], [[Adobe creative cloud]], [[Games as a service]].
*AI compute (inference) servers which power AI chatbots and agents. (for example, [[Google Gemini]], [[ChatGPT]], [[Microsoft Copilot]]).

==Further reading==

*[[Self-hosting]]
*[[Internet of things]]

==References==
<references />
[[Category:Common terms]]

Talk:Forced cloud

2026-03-26T01:49:12Z

D-side: /* Overlap with Cloud (service) */ Reply

==Overlap with Cloud (service)==

The page [[Cloud (service)]] seems to cover similar problems in slightly greater detail. Which is understandable considering this page is about the same thing except ''forced'': same issues, just no alternative. Would information on this page be a better fit incorporated there? Like highlighting in the "alternatives" section that the choice to use a cloud service or not is just not offered most of the time, and listing examples of this happening. [[User:D-side|D-side]] ([[User talk:D-side|talk]]) 02:13, 24 March 2026 (UTC)

:I agree. I guess the articles could be merged. If, for some reason in the future, the Cloud article becomes "too big", then they can be split again [[User:Rudxain|Rudxain]] ([[User talk:Rudxain|talk]]) 13:58, 24 March 2026 (UTC)
::Yeah, that's what I'm thinking too.
::I took the liberty to throw together [[Cloud_(service)#(Often)_Lack_of_competition|a section on it]] that refers back here as the "Main page" for the time being in case I forgot anything listed here. I plan on getting back to this later, but let me know what you think on how it's turning out so far. [[User:D-side|D-side]] ([[User talk:D-side|talk]]) 01:49, 26 March 2026 (UTC)

Cloud (service)

2026-03-26T01:42:52Z

D-side: Refined the definition a bit into "lack of control/management" and added a section on forced cloud use

In consumer technology, a '''cloud service''' typically refers to a data processing service provided by a service provider (often product manufacturer), often for a periodic fee, without control over or even information about what infrastructure provides that service. Typical examples of such services include data storage, off-device data processing, easy access to an internet-connected device from anywhere with an internet connection and synchronization between devices.

A defining feature of a cloud service is absence of management of the infrastructure that processes the data — presented in marketing as a plus for the sake of convenience, but restricting choices consumers may want to make themselves.

==Origin of the term==
The term "cloud services" borrows from a term [[wikipedia:Cloud_computing|cloud computing]], which is vague to the point that FSF recommends avoiding it,<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-12-17 |title=Words to Avoid (or Use with Care) Because They Are Loaded or Confusing § “Cloud Computing” |url=https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/words-to-avoid.html#CloudComputing |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250310165359/https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/words-to-avoid#CloudComputing |archive-date=2025-03-10 |access-date=2026-03-24 |website=GNU Project - Free Software Foundation}}</ref> and in context of consumer technology the term inherits its vagueness. A defining feature of a cloud service is absence of management of the infrastructure that processes the data. It's true in cloud computing as well, but referring to the perspective of a service provider and a party that supplies them with computing infrastructure, e. g. servers, disk drives and network hardware.

Notably, a "cloud service" in consumer marketing may refer to a data processing service provided by the manufacturer that is ''not'' itself based on cloud computing from the service provider's perspective. A service provider might be in complete physical possession of the infrastructure involved in a service, hence it not being "cloud" for the provider, but manufacturer might still advertise the service as "cloud service" to consumers if the provider manages it for them without offering alternatives or prominently disclosing its existence.

==How it works==
When features of a product rely on data processing outside of consumers' devices, there has to be another device responsible for these functions.

Cloud services function on devices provided by a service provider, with their specifics or even existence hidden from the user behind user interfaces in an effort to simplify user experience.

One adage is often quoted in relation to cloud services: "There is no cloud, it's just somebody else's computer"<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Vorobyov |first=Sergei |date=2023-05-25 |title=There is no cloud it’s just someone else’s computer |url=https://www.solita.fi/blogs/there-is-no-cloud-its-just-someone-elses-computer/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230921154351/https://www.solita.fi/web/20230921154351/https://www.solita.fi/blogs/there-is-no-cloud-its-just-someone-elses-computer/ |archive-date=2023-09-21 |website=Solita}}</ref>. This means that the failure of a device you know nothing about can result in your device/service not working.

==Why it is a problem==

===Economic non-sustainability===
Operating a cloud service requires ongoing expenses for the entire duration for which that service is provided. Marketing professionals realize that requiring an ongoing expense from the user for a given product reflects negatively on its perception, and sometimes try to hide this by doing any of the following:

*Offering additional features or service capacity for an additional fee
*Including a limited amount of service with the product purchase
*Withholding the information about cloud services being involved in some of the product's functionality and potentially introducing a subscription fee post-purchase for the product to function fully or at all
**This often happens after the company that previously offered a cloud service is acquired by another company that isn't as concerned with remaining in good standing with customers of the acquired company

In cases where a product does not provide the ability to choose a service it uses, shutdown of the pre-configured cloud service may cause [[discontinuation bricking]] or loss of product features.

===Service concentration within cloud computing companies===
Because cloud computing providers, which cloud services are often built upon, have to be '''large''' in order to offer competitive advantages to their customers (as pertains to this article, particularly product manufacturers), there are very few cloud computing providers in existence. Thus, every one of them operates the infrastructure under a large number of cloud services.

Some of the most famous cloud providers include Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud and Oracle Cloud.

While they take great care to ensure their smooth operation, they sometimes fail and cause widespread service disruptions because of the great number of companies relying on their services.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-10-21 |title=Amazon says AWS cloud service back to normal after outage disrupts businesses worldwide |url=https://www.reuters.com/business/retail-consumer/amazons-cloud-unit-reports-outage-several-websites-down-2025-10-20/ |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20251130041310/https://www.reuters.com/business/retail-consumer/amazons-cloud-unit-reports-outage-several-websites-down-2025-10-20/ |archive-date=30 Nov 2025|website=Reuters}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-10-09 |title=Kubernetes kicks down Azure Front Door |url=https://www.theregister.com/2025/10/09/kubernetes_azure_outage/ |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20251230215743/https://www.theregister.com/2025/10/09/kubernetes_azure_outage/ |archive-date=30 Dec 2025|website=The Register}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-10-24 |title=Multiple GCP services impacted in the europe-west3-c zone |url=https://status.cloud.google.com/incidents/e3yQSE1ysCGjCVEn2q1h |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241028011248/https://status.cloud.google.com/incidents/e3yQSE1ysCGjCVEn2q1h |archive-date=2024-10-28 |website=Google Cloud Service Health}}</ref>

===Ineffective access controls===
A service provider requires some level of access to the data it processes. Unless access to the service is engineered on consumer's side to minimize such access (e. g. end-to-end encryption), all of the processed data is visible to the service provider<ref name=":0" />, where it can be leaked as a result of a cybersecurity incident or used for purposes to which consumers did not consent (such as included in machine learning datasets{{Citation needed}} or sold to advertising companies{{Citation needed}}).

Providers may offer some access controls for the data they possess and process, but most of the time they are also the ones enforcing them, which renders them ineffective for restricting providers' access due to a conflict of interest. There may be legally binding promises of effectiveness of these controls in their [[terms of service]], but violations of policies established through these controls are difficult to detect and legal enforcement is difficult in general.

===Less legal protection===
In the United States, federal limits on gathering evidence mean you are not usually required to supply a password to unlock a device that you have, however others may be compelled to release your data.

===Loss of control===
Service company can deprive you of your data/services. For example if you lose login credentials, as might happen when a person dies, or your account is stolen, or the service provider terminates the account. (see for example, [[Microsoft account]], [[Google account]]).

=== (Often) Lack of competition ===
{{Main|Forced cloud}}
Cloud services bundled with products often don't come with the ability to change providers for those services. This puts the product into a direct dependency from the service providers chosen by the manufacturer (often themselves), which:

* artificially prevents demand for the same service from other providers, preventing the emergence of competitive markets in respective market niches, giving financial advantage to chosen providers for non-competitive reasons, as well as preventing users from switching from providers they don't trust, e. g. after security incidents
* threatens [[Right to own|ownership over the product]], as terms of service can be altered unilaterally through technical means, and prevention of this through legal means is difficult or impossible
* limits the use of the product in unusual environments which manufacturer-chosen providers have no willingness or capacity to support, since they provide service for ''all'' users of the product, and therefore prioritize features that benefit wider circles of users, effectively reducing product capabilities. A particularly frequent example of this is functioning of a product with no internet access, which, in addition to being desirable to some users running private networks where access to the internet is restricted or unavailable, is a safeguard against accidents on service provider's side, such as when internet-enabled bed accessories by [[Eight Sleep]] were rendered non-adjustable due to an outage at Amazon Web Services<ref>{{Cite web |last=Castro-Sloboda |first=Giselle |date=2025-10-22 |title=Owners of Luxury Smart Beds Literally Lost Sleep Due to AWS Outage |url=https://www.cnet.com/health/sleep/owners-of-luxury-smart-beds-literally-lost-sleep-due-to-aws-outage/ |url-status=live}}</ref> (also showcasing [[Cloud (service)#Service concentration within cloud computing companies|the problem of service concentration]])

==Alternatives==

===Generic protocols===
A lot of cloud services use needlessly specialized protocols, which allows service providers to maintain monopolies over their respective niches. Use of more generic protocols provides more choice to consumers, incentivizes competition between service providers and creates business opportunities for new service providers to emerge.

For example, the impact of [[Amazon PhotosPlus discontinuation]] would be minimal if it were to allow connection to generic file storage rather than relying on Amazon's specialized photo storage service.

===Self-hosting===
{{Main|Self-hosting}}
Some cloud services can be adequately replaced with self-hosted alternatives, where consumers run compatible software on hardware they control.

==Examples==
*File synchronization services like [[wikipedia:Dropbox|Dropbox]], [[wikipedia:Google_drive|Google Drive]], [[OneDrive]], [[iCloud]], [[Mega.io cloud storage service|Mega]].
*Remote device access, as in [[Wyze|Wyze cameras]] and [[Bosch Cloud Dishwasher Incident|select Bosch dishwashers]].
*[[Software as a service]] online applications, like Google Workspace, [[Microsoft Office 365]], [[Adobe creative cloud]], [[Games as a service]].
*AI compute (inference) servers which power AI chatbots and agents. (for example, [[Google Gemini]], [[ChatGPT]], [[Microsoft Copilot]]).

==Further reading==

*[[Self-hosting]]
*[[Internet of things]]

==References==
<references />
[[Category:Common terms]]

User:D-side

2026-03-24T21:27:34Z

D-side:

Hi, I'm D-side, or D:\side\ where display name restrictions allow (not here) and escaping is proper. My contacts and a bunch of other details can be found on my [https://dside.ru/en/ website].

I somewhat follow happenings in videogames, self-hosting, smart homes and generally local-first infrastructure that empowers users to stand by their own interests and intentions in the digital age against those who seem to be hell-bent on making that a service that only they can provide.

You'll probably see me around trying to condense my couple decades or so worth of experience with technology products and learnings from a decade of software engineering work into high-level concept overviews, e. g. [[Cloud (service)]], [[Self-hosting]], [[Right to own]], [[Ad block]] and hopefully more to come.

Talk:Cloud (service)

2026-03-24T18:55:42Z

D-side: /* Unclear - Everything that isn't mine is cloud */ Reply

==Move article to just Cloud?==

What about moving this article (Cloud (service)) to the more general Cloud heading, leaving the rest of the content basically intact?

I had been thinking of merging self-hosting and LAN (your own cloud) into a cloud article.

--
Preserving my notes from proposal for article on [[Cloud]]

Somebody else's computer. Examples: [[OneDrive]], [[ICloud]], [[Ring]]

Issues:
*Legal protections your vs. somebody else's computer.
*Recovery when lose credentials. etc.
[[User:Drakeula|Drakeula]] ([[User talk:Drakeula|talk]]) 07:24, 21 October 2025 (UTC)

:I don't think merging cloud and self-hosted would work as they're kinda polar opposites as far as services are concerned.
:Moving to just Cloud… not sure. We might end up with a cloud computing article on here that I almost wrote by accident, covering their vendor lock-in, pricing practices (expensive outbound traffic to keep the data in), etc.; so just Cloud might end up a disambiguation page. But I suppose we can have that when we get there and until then it might do. [[User:D-side|D-side]] ([[User talk:D-side|talk]]) 20:24, 21 October 2025 (UTC)

==Unclear - Everything that isn't mine is cloud==

"However, a "cloud service" may refer to a data processing service provided by the manufacturer that is not based on cloud computing."
What does this mean? From a consumer's perspective, it either happens "here" (locally on my devices), or someplace else (i.e., the cloud). If this is trying to distinguish between second party servers (e.g. belonging to the company who sold me the hardware, e.g.) and third party (e.g. amazon AWS), why? What is the benefit of making this distinction for this audience? [[User:Drakeula|Drakeula]] ([[User talk:Drakeula|talk]]) 07:50, 21 October 2025 (UTC)

:It's meant to emphasize that "cloud service" doesn't necessaily imply it's based on "cloud computing" known in the software industry (which my first draft was about). The purpose is to include vendors that provide what's marketed as cloud services even without cloud computing (e. g. connecting everyone to their own server they host themselves). Probably excessive. Open to suggestions on this. [[User:D-side|D-side]] ([[User talk:D-side|talk]]) 20:18, 21 October 2025 (UTC)
::@[[User:Rudxain|Rudxain]] added FSF as a source in reference to vagueness of the term "cloud computing". Which was IMHO misplaced, but I took the opportunity to integrate it into the new section that explains the term in more detail and its distinction from cloud computing.
::I have to admit though that it's essentially "original research" in that it's an aggregation of my experience reading dozens, if not hundreds, product descriptions; that whole section needs more sources to assert (or refute) that we generally mean the same thing manufacturers do. Because the idea is to build a definition for a consumer that might be looking at something that says "cloud" on it. [[User:D-side|D-side]] ([[User talk:D-side|talk]]) 18:55, 24 March 2026 (UTC)

Cloud (service)

2026-03-24T16:37:36Z

D-side: Integrate a slightly misplaced FSF reference into a more extensive exploration of the meaning of the word

In consumer technology, a '''cloud service''' typically refers to a data processing service provided by a service provider (often product manufacturer), often for a periodic fee. Typical examples of such services include data storage, off-device data processing, easy access to an internet-connected device from anywhere with an internet connection and synchronization between devices.

== Origin of the term ==
The term "cloud services" borrows from a term [[wikipedia:Cloud_computing|cloud computing]], which is vague to the point that FSF recommends avoiding it,<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-12-17 |title=Words to Avoid (or Use with Care) Because They Are Loaded or Confusing § “Cloud Computing” |url=https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/words-to-avoid.html#CloudComputing |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250310165359/https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/words-to-avoid#CloudComputing |archive-date=2025-03-10 |access-date=2026-03-24 |website=GNU Project - Free Software Foundation}}</ref> and in context of consumer technology the term inherits its vagueness. A typical defining feature of a cloud service is lack of information about the infrastructure that processes the data. It's true in cloud computing as well, but referring to the perspective of a service provider and a party that supplies them with computing infrastructure.

An important distinction is that "cloud service" in consumer marketing may refer to a data processing service provided by the manufacturer that is ''not'' based on cloud computing from the service provider's perspective. A service provider might be in complete physical possession of the infrastructure, hence it not being "cloud" for ''them'', but they might still advertise the service as "cloud service" to consumers because they're never informed how and through what the service is provided. This lack of information is what typically defines a service as "cloud".

In marketing the term "cloud" is meant to carry a positive association with convenience of not having to decide how a service is provided.

==How it works==
When features of a product rely on data processing outside of consumers' devices, there has to be another device responsible for these functions.

Cloud services function on devices provided by a service provider, with their specifics or even existence hidden from the user behind user interfaces in an effort to simplify user experience.

One adage is often quoted in relation to cloud services: "There is no cloud, it's just somebody else's computer"<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Vorobyov |first=Sergei |date=2023-05-25 |title=There is no cloud it’s just someone else’s computer |url=https://www.solita.fi/blogs/there-is-no-cloud-its-just-someone-elses-computer/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230921154351/https://www.solita.fi/web/20230921154351/https://www.solita.fi/blogs/there-is-no-cloud-its-just-someone-elses-computer/ |archive-date=2023-09-21 |website=Solita}}</ref>. This means that the failure of a device you know nothing about can result in your device/service not working.

==Why it is a problem==

===Economic non-sustainability===
Operating a cloud service requires ongoing expenses for the entire duration for which that service is provided. Marketing professionals realize that requiring an ongoing expense from the user for a given product reflects negatively on its perception, and sometimes try to hide this by doing any of the following:

*Offering additional features or service capacity for an additional fee
*Including a limited amount of service with the product purchase
*Withholding the information about cloud services being involved in some of the product's functionality and potentially introducing a subscription fee post-purchase for the product to function fully or at all
**This often happens after the company that previously offered a cloud service is acquired by another company that isn't as concerned with remaining in good standing with customers of the acquired company

In cases where a product does not provide the ability to choose a service it uses, shutdown of the pre-configured cloud service may cause [[discontinuation bricking]] or loss of product features.

===Service concentration within cloud computing companies===
Because cloud computing providers, which cloud services are often built upon, have to be '''large''' in order to offer competitive advantages to their customers (as pertains to this article, particularly product manufacturers), there are very few cloud computing providers in existence. Thus, every one of them operates the infrastructure under a large number of cloud services.

Some of the most famous cloud providers include Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud and Oracle Cloud.

While they take great care to ensure their smooth operation, they sometimes fail and cause widespread service disruptions because of the great number of companies relying on their services.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-10-21 |title=Amazon says AWS cloud service back to normal after outage disrupts businesses worldwide |url=https://www.reuters.com/business/retail-consumer/amazons-cloud-unit-reports-outage-several-websites-down-2025-10-20/ |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20251130041310/https://www.reuters.com/business/retail-consumer/amazons-cloud-unit-reports-outage-several-websites-down-2025-10-20/ |archive-date=30 Nov 2025|website=Reuters}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-10-09 |title=Kubernetes kicks down Azure Front Door |url=https://www.theregister.com/2025/10/09/kubernetes_azure_outage/ |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20251230215743/https://www.theregister.com/2025/10/09/kubernetes_azure_outage/ |archive-date=30 Dec 2025|website=The Register}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-10-24 |title=Multiple GCP services impacted in the europe-west3-c zone |url=https://status.cloud.google.com/incidents/e3yQSE1ysCGjCVEn2q1h |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241028011248/https://status.cloud.google.com/incidents/e3yQSE1ysCGjCVEn2q1h |archive-date=2024-10-28 |website=Google Cloud Service Health}}</ref>

===Ineffective access controls===
A service provider requires some level of access to the data it processes. Unless access to the service is engineered on consumer's side to minimize such access (e. g. end-to-end encryption), all of the processed data is visible to the service provider<ref name=":0" />, where it can be leaked as a result of a cybersecurity incident or used for purposes to which consumers did not consent (such as included in machine learning datasets{{Citation needed}} or sold to advertising companies{{Citation needed}}).

Providers may offer some access controls for the data they possess and process, but most of the time they are also the ones enforcing them, which renders them ineffective for restricting providers' access due to a conflict of interest. There may be legally binding promises of effectiveness of these controls in their [[terms of service]], but violations of policies established through these controls are difficult to detect and legal enforcement is difficult in general.

===Less legal protection===
In the United States, federal limits on gathering evidence mean you are not usually required to supply a password to unlock a device that you have, however others may be compelled to release your data.

===Loss of control===
Service company can deprive you of your data/services. For example if you lose login credentials, as might happen when a person dies, or your account is stolen, or the service provider terminates the account. (see for example, [[Microsoft account]], [[Google account]]).

==Alternatives==

===Generic protocols===
A lot of cloud services use needlessly specialized protocols, which allows service providers to maintain monopolies over their respective niches. Use of more generic protocols provides more choice to consumers, incentivizes competition between service providers and creates business opportunities for new service providers to emerge.

For example, the impact of [[Amazon PhotosPlus discontinuation]] would be minimal if it were to allow connection to generic file storage rather than relying on Amazon's specialized photo storage service.

===Self-hosting===
{{Main|Self-hosting}}
Some cloud services can be adequately replaced with self-hosted alternatives, where consumers run compatible software on hardware they control.

==Examples==
*File synchronization services like [[wikipedia:Dropbox|Dropbox]], [[wikipedia:Google_drive|Google Drive]], [[OneDrive]], [[ICloud]], [[Mega.io cloud storage service|Mega]].
*Remote device access, as in [[Wyze|Wyze cameras]] and [[Bosch Cloud Dishwasher Incident|select Bosch dishwashers]].
*[[Software as a service]] online applications, like Google Workspace, [[Microsoft Office 365]], [[Adobe creative cloud]], [[Games as a service]].
*AI compute (inference) servers which power AI chatbots and agents. (for example, [[Google Gemini]], [[ChatGPT]], [[Microsoft Copilot]]).

==Further reading==

*[[Self-hosting]]
*[[Internet of things]]

==References==
<references />
[[Category:Common terms]]

Talk:Forced cloud

2026-03-24T02:13:56Z

D-side: /* Overlap with Cloud (service) */ new section

Ad block

2026-03-24T01:33:32Z

D-side: More about ad blocking on the web and the manifest v3 story

{{Stub}}
'''Ad blocking''' is the practice of blocking advertisements, typically through automated means. Typical goals for doing this are reducing distractions, lowering the extent of data collection, decreasing resource usage (battery, network traffic, memory) and avoiding security threats that leverage advertising networks<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kan |first=Michael |date=2022-12-22 |title=FBI Recommends Installing An Ad Blocker To Dodge Scammers |url=https://www.pcmag.com/news/fbi-recommends-installing-an-ad-blocker-to-dodge-scammers |url-status=live}}</ref>.

==Consumer impact summary==
Ad blocking is the crux of one of the most prominent conflicts around [[Right to own|right of ownership]], where users feel justified in deciding what their devices do or don't, while platforms that rely on advertising, especially those that offer free services to users, argue that advertisements sustain the platform and must remain untouched. Some platforms [[Ad block#Ad block Countermeasures|even actively detect ad blocking]] in order to display a relevant notice or to degrade functions of a service. This has turned into an arms race between advertisers and consumers.

Advertisements are increasingly showing up in devices (e.g., [[Samsung ads in refrigerators|refrigerators]], [[Stellantis in-car advertisements|cars]], televisions) built right into their system software, making ad blocking difficult.

There are efforts to use copyright law (e.g., DMCA/spotify/revanced, and German court case) to force consumers to play ads or run other programs on devices.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Claburn |first=Thomas |date=2025-08-15 |title=No more Blocktoberfest? German court throws book at ad blockers |url=https://www.theregister.com/2025/08/15/german_court_ruling_ad_blocking/ |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20260113010801/https://www.theregister.com/2025/08/15/german_court_ruling_ad_blocking/ |archive-date=13 Jan 2026|website=The Register}}</ref>

==Technologies==
Diversity of advertisements has prompted the use of diverse technologies to block them.

===Web browsers===
Web browser extensions that block ads are some of the most popular extensions,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Top rated extensions |url=https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/search/?promoted=recommended&sort=rating&type=extension |url-status=live |access-date=2026-03-23 |website=Add-ons for Firefox}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Top charts |url=https://chromewebstore.google.com/top-charts/popular |url-status=live |access-date=2026-03-23 |website=Chrome Web Store}}</ref> some browsers even have ad blocking built in.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Vivaldi Browser Features |url=https://vivaldi.com/features/ |url-status=live |access-date=2026-03-23 |website=Vivaldi Browser}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=uazo/cromite |url=https://github.com/uazo/cromite |url-status=live |access-date=2026-03-23 |website=GitHub}}</ref> This is likely in response to [[advertising overload]] that has made the Web difficult to use prior to their inception. Obtrusive advertising has remained to be a problem to this day, and continuous evolution of ad blocking in web browsers in response has produced what is probably the most prolific ad blocking culture today, leveraging openness of the web platform.

Web's openness, however, is threatened by Google's dominance in the web browser market. A change to browser extension interfaces in Google Chrome browser, broadly known as "Manifest V3", and support for older interfaces phased out across 2024-2025<ref>{{Cite web |last=Li |first=David |date=2023-11-16 |title=Resuming the transition to Manifest V3 |url=https://developer.chrome.com/blog/resuming-the-transition-to-mv3#the_phase-out_timeline |url-status=live |website=Chrome for Developers |at=The phase-out timeline}}</ref>, has made Chrome incompatible with '''uBlock Origin''', one of the most popular ad blockers for the web, as well as hindering functionality of numerous other browser extensions. This act prompted the creators of uBlock Origin to develop '''uBlock Origin Lite''' with less comprehensive blocking features, but compatible with Chrome's new extension interface.<ref>{{Cite web |title=uBlock Origin - Free, open-source ad blocker extension |url=https://ublockorigin.com/ |url-status=live |access-date=2026-03-24 |website=uBlock Origin}}</ref> Electronic Frontier Foundation considers this change "another example of the inherent conflict of interest that comes from Google controlling both the dominant web browser and one of the largest internet advertising networks" and "outright harmful to privacy efforts".<ref>{{Cite web |last=Barnett |first=Daly |date=2021-12-09 |title=Chrome Users Beware: Manifest V3 is Deceitful and Threatening |url=https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2021/12/chrome-users-beware-manifest-v3-deceitful-and-threatening |website=Electronic Frontier Foundation}}</ref> Fully featured '''uBlock Origin''' remains available and in active development for other web browsers such as Firefox and Brave.

===Network level===
Installed by a network's administrator or into a device's operating system, such solutions provide access to the internet through a filter that blocks communication with ad platforms, forcing them to function as if access to the internet is unavailable. This typically prevents them from functioning, as ads have to be downloaded from the internet in order to be displayed.

This technology makes it possible to block ads even on devices where software does not allow this function, but does connect to the internet through means provided by the user. Control over the means of internet access is what makes this possible.

For example, [[wikipedia:Pi-hole|Pi-hole]] and [https://adguard.com/en/adguard-home/overview.html AdGuard Home] are installed as DNS servers for the local network (typically a single router at home), while [[wikipedia:AdGuard|AdGuard]] and [https://rethinkdns.com/ RethinkDNS] provide a similar effect on one device (and not the rest of the local network) where users can install applications of their choice.

It's not a perfect solution as it is only able to detect and block ads that are served through infrastructure that is separate from the rest of the application or service. Implementing it this way makes it easier to integrate ads into software, which is why this is often the case and a reason why this technique is effective.

===Application specific===
Some ad blocking technologies are limited to specific applications.

One of the most popular examples of this is [https://sponsor.ajay.app/ Sponsorblock for YouTube], which combats "ad integrations": advertising segments embedded by authors of the content directly into their YouTube videos, which makes ad detection (and consequently blocking) difficult.

Another technique, available where users are able to install applications of their choice, is partial reverse-engineering and modification of applications that include advertising functionality, to block or remove that functionality. This technique is strongly associated with piracy, since the same method can be used to force a commercial application to function without a license through removal of a license check.

==Ad Blocker Examples==
Some of the add-ons / extensions / plug-ins below are not necessarily ad-blocking software but do contribute to blocking advertisements or reduce or eliminate the amount of data you share online.

===<big>Internet Browsers</big>===
A for Android, i for iOS, L for Linux, W for Windows

Browser base: C for Chromium, F for Firefox

If a browser is not listed "officially" for an add-on in the table below but shares the "Based on" attribute with a browser that is, it may (but is not guaranteed to) work with that browser.
{| class="wikitable"
|+
!
!Based on
!"Do Not Track" feature
!DuckDuckGo Privacy Essentials
![[wikipedia:Noscript|NoScript]]
![[wikipedia:Privacy_Badger|Privacy Badger]]
![[wikipedia:UBlock_Origin|uBlock Origin]]
|-
|'''[[Brave browser|Brave]]'''
|C
|
|
|
|
|
|-
|'''[[Google Chrome|Chrome]]'''
|C
|
|
|L, W
|
|
|-
|'''[[wikipedia:DuckDuckGo_Private_Browser|DuckDuckGo]]'''
|C
|A
|
|
|
|
|-
|'''[[Microsoft Edge|Edge]]'''
|C
|
|
|L, W
|
|
|-
|'''[[Firefox]]'''
|F
|A, L, W
|A, L, W
|A, L, W
|A, L, W
|A, L, W
|-
|'''[https://www.firefox.com/an/channel/desktop/developer/ Firefox Developer Edition]'''
|F
|L, W
|L, W
|L, W
|L, W
|L, W
|-
|'''[[Mullvad]] Browser'''
|F
|L, W
|
|L, W
|
|L, W
|-
|'''[[Opera]]'''
|C
|
|
|
|
|
|-
|'''[[wikipedia:Safari_(web_browser)|Safari]]'''
| -
|
|
|
|
|
|-
|[[wikipedia:Tor_(network)#Tor_Browser|'''Tor Browser''']]
|F
|A, L, W
|
|A, L, W
|
|
|-
|'''[[wikipedia:Vivaldi_(web_browser)|Vivaldi]]'''
|C
|
|
|
|
|
|-
|'''[[wikipedia:Waterfox|Waterfox]]'''
|F
|L, W
|L, W
|L, W
|L, W
|L, W
|}

==Ad block Countermeasures==

===Dishonest countermeasures===

====1. Purposefully taking longer to load/not loading CSS portions of a website to shift the blame onto the ad blocker====

====2. Utilizing pop-ups & overlays to deter ad block usage====
Owners & developers of domains & websites can detect ad blockers & make it significantly harder to access content by putting in countermeasures such as Pop-Ups & Overlays. Sometimes they go as far as using techniques that somewhat resemble the [[Consent-or-pay]] method in order to encourage others to disable their ad filtering tool.
[[File:3840px-Ad blocker warning example.svg.png|thumb|Example of an anti ad block pop up resembling the "Consent-or-pay" tactic]]

==See also==
*[[Bloatware]]

==Further Reading==

*[[Advertising overload]]
*[[wikipedia:Ad_blocking|Ad blocking]] on Wikipedia

==References==
<references />

[[Category:Common terms]]

Talk:Ad block

2026-03-24T00:47:27Z

D-side: /* Relevance */ Reply

I propose a table for each type of ad blocking or privacy filter.

For example, one table should be web browsers and which add-ons and plug-ins work with it.

It should also have notation indicators for desktop vs mobile; OS may also be useful

Examples

Browsers:

Fire Fox

Firefox Dev Edition

Vivaldi

Waterfox

Add-ons/Extensions/Plug-ins:

Duck Duck Go Privacy Essentials

NoScript

Privacy Badger

uBlock Origin

I'm on mobile. Sorry.

==Relevance==

Wiki Policy specifically states that product recommendations are outside the scope of this wiki. A relevance notice has been added. [[User:Beanie Bo|Beanie Bo]] ([[User talk:Beanie Bo|talk]]) 02:16, 2 November 2025 (UTC)

:I think ad block is an appropriate theme article. Just as we have a lot of articles about anti-consumer practices, it is reasonable to cover some of the common pro-consumer alternatives.
:I guess if others really feel this is topic is irrelevant, maybe we could fold this into an article about advertising. (Which could cover advertising overload, and ad-block as sub-themes. If they got big enough they could be broken out to their own articles.)
:Is there a section relevance notice? It sounds like the relevance objection is to the section about ad blocking features, rather than the article as a whole?
:As far as the table about specific ad blocking features. Is there a similar table in Wikipedia we could link to? If not, could something like that fly there? (I have no objection to the content, just figure it might get broader audience there.) [[User:Drakeula|Drakeula]] ([[User talk:Drakeula|talk]]) 20:48, 2 November 2025 (UTC)
::It looks better now. Before it was written as if advertising ad blockers, so that was the issue. I still think the table is unnecessary though, and it would be better to link to external source rather than describing in detail the different ad blockers and browsers out there. Thanks for cleaning up the article [[User:Beanie Bo|Beanie Bo]] ([[User talk:Beanie Bo|talk]]) 14:24, 4 November 2025 (UTC)
:::Unfortunately, I haven't seen a comprehensive summary with this concise information on another wiki source. Otherwise, I would have just linked to that instead of creating one here. Presently, the table is incomplete. For example, Vivaldi exists for A, L, and Windows but I was unsure of iOS and need to research that as well as the mods for each browser. On my phone, I only have Chrome, Firefox, DuckDuckGo, and Vivaldi. Also, editing a wiki table is far easier when not on a phone (at least for me). [[Special:Contributions/2603:7081:1200:FB1D:82AA:2677:C186:2876|2603:7081:1200:FB1D:82AA:2677:C186:2876]] 20:50, 21 November 2025 (UTC)
:::Second it. I think the table needs to go. It's good information, just IMHO in the wrong place.
:::It can serve as supplementary/illustrative to the current bird's eye view of ad blocking, but at this time I fail to see to what. [[User:D-side|D-side]] ([[User talk:D-side|talk]]) 00:47, 24 March 2026 (UTC)

==Remove "Do Not Track" from the table==

The DNT header is [https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTTP/Reference/Headers/DNT deprecated] and enables websites to track users even more precisely, as it's yet another signal that only some clients send with their requests. There have been many arguments made against it, for example by the popular privacy-respecting analytics service GoatCounter[https://www.arp242.net/dnt.html]. It shouldn't be considered while choosing a browser for daily use at all, and I'd argue that it's beneficial to avoid it alltogether. [[User:Skybydy|Skybydy]] ([[User talk:Skybydy|talk]]) 01:42, 23 February 2026 (UTC)

Ad block

2026-03-23T18:53:53Z

D-side: Outlined the technological landscape of the practice

{{Stub}}
'''Ad blocking''' is the practice of blocking advertisements, typically through automated means. Typical goals for doing this are reducing distractions, lowering the extent of data collection, decreasing resource usage (battery, network traffic, memory) and avoiding security threats that leverage advertising networks<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kan |first=Michael |date=2022-12-22 |title=FBI Recommends Installing An Ad Blocker To Dodge Scammers |url=https://www.pcmag.com/news/fbi-recommends-installing-an-ad-blocker-to-dodge-scammers |url-status=live}}</ref>.

==Consumer impact summary==
Ad blocking is the crux of one of the most prominent conflicts around [[Right to own|right of ownership]], where users feel justified in deciding what their devices do or don't, while platforms that rely on advertising, especially those that offer free services to users, argue that advertisements sustain the platform and must remain untouched. Some platforms [[Ad block#Ad block Countermeasures|even actively detect ad blocking]] in order to display a relevant notice or to degrade functions of a service. This has turned into an arms race between advertisers and consumers.

Advertisements are increasingly showing up in devices (e.g., [[Samsung ads in refrigerators|refrigerators]], [[Stellantis in-car advertisements|cars]], televisions) built right into their system software, making ad blocking difficult.

There are efforts to use copyright law (e.g., DMCA/spotify/revanced, and German court case) to force consumers to play ads or run other programs on devices.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Claburn |first=Thomas |date=2025-08-15 |title=No more Blocktoberfest? German court throws book at ad blockers |url=https://www.theregister.com/2025/08/15/german_court_ruling_ad_blocking/ |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20260113010801/https://www.theregister.com/2025/08/15/german_court_ruling_ad_blocking/ |archive-date=13 Jan 2026|website=The Register}}</ref>

== Technologies ==
Diversity of advertisements has prompted the use of diverse technologies to block them.

=== Web browsers ===
Web browser extensions that block ads are some of the most popular extensions,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Top rated extensions |url=https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/search/?promoted=recommended&sort=rating&type=extension |url-status=live |access-date=2026-03-23 |website=Add-ons for Firefox}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Top charts |url=https://chromewebstore.google.com/top-charts/popular |url-status=live |access-date=2026-03-23 |website=Chrome Web Store}}</ref> some browsers even have ad blocking built in.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Vivaldi Browser Features |url=https://vivaldi.com/features/ |url-status=live |access-date=2026-03-23 |website=Vivaldi Browser}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=uazo/cromite |url=https://github.com/uazo/cromite |url-status=live |access-date=2026-03-23 |website=GitHub}}</ref> This is likely in response to [[advertising overload]] that has made the Web difficult to use prior to their inception, though the problem has remained to this day.

=== Network level ===
Installed by a network's administrator or into a device's operating system, such solutions provide access to the internet through a filter that blocks communication with ad platforms, forcing them to function as if access to the internet is unavailable. This typically prevents them from functioning, as ads have to be downloaded from the internet in order to be displayed.

This technology makes it possible to block ads even on devices where software does not allow this function, but does connect to the internet through means provided by the user. Control over the means of internet access is what makes this possible.

For example, [https://pi-hole.net/ Pi-hole] and [https://adguard.com/en/adguard-home/overview.html AdGuard Home] are installed as DNS servers for the local network (typically a single router at home), while [https://adguard.com/ AdGuard] and [https://rethinkdns.com/ RethinkDNS] provide a similar effect on one device (and not the rest of the local network) where users can install applications of their choice.

It's not a perfect solution as it is only able to detect and block ads that are served through infrastructure that is separate from the rest of the application or service. Implementing it this way makes it easier to integrate ads into software, which is why this is often the case and a reason why this technique is effective.

=== Application specific ===
Some ad blocking technologies are limited to specific applications.

One of the most popular examples of this is [https://sponsor.ajay.app/ Sponsorblock for YouTube], which combats "ad integrations": advertising segments embedded by authors of the content directly into their YouTube videos, which makes ad detection (and consequently blocking) difficult.

Another technique, available where users are able to install applications of their choice, is partial reverse-engineering and modification of applications that include advertising functionality, to block or remove that functionality. This technique is strongly associated with piracy, since the same method can be used to force a commercial application to function without a license through removal of a license check.

==Ad Blocker Examples==
Some of the add-ons / extensions / plug-ins below are not necessarily ad-blocking software but do contribute to blocking advertisements or reduce or eliminate the amount of data you share online.

===<big>Internet Browsers</big>===
A for Android, i for iOS, L for Linux, W for Windows

Browser base: C for Chromium, F for Firefox

If a browser is not listed "officially" for an add-on in the table below but shares the "Based on" attribute with a browser that is, it may (but is not guaranteed to) work with that browser.
{| class="wikitable"
|+
!
!Based on
!"Do Not Track" feature
!DuckDuckGo Privacy Essentials
![https://noscript.net/ NoScript]
![https://privacybadger.org/ Privacy Badger]
![https://ublockorigin.com/ uBlock Origin]
|-
|'''[https://brave.com/ Brave]'''
|C
|
|
|
|
|
|-
|'''[https://www.google.com/chrome/ Chrome]'''
|C
|
|
|L, W
|
|
|-
|'''[https://duckduckgo.com/app DuckDuckGo]'''
|C
|A
|
|
|
|
|-
|'''[https://microsoft.com/edge Edge]'''
|C
|
|
|L, W
|
|
|-
|'''[https://www.firefox.com/ Firefox]'''
|F
|A, L, W
|A, L, W
|A, L, W
|A, L, W
|A, L, W
|-
|'''[https://www.firefox.com/an/channel/desktop/developer/ Firefox Developer Edition]'''
|F
|L, W
|L, W
|L, W
|L, W
|L, W
|-
|[https://mullvad.net/en/browser Mullvad Browser]
|F
|L, W
|
|L, W
|
|L, W
|-
|'''[https://www.opera.com/ Opera]'''
|C
|
|
|
|
|
|-
|'''[https://www.apple.com/safari/ Safari]'''
| -
|
|
|
|
|
|-
|[https://www.torproject.org/ Tor Browser]
|F
|A, L, W
|
|A, L, W
|
|
|-
|'''[https://vivaldi.com/ Vivaldi]'''
|C
|
|
|
|
|
|-
|'''[https://www.waterfox.net/ Waterfox]'''
|F
|L, W
|L, W
|L, W
|L, W
|L, W
|}

==Ad block Countermeasures==

===Dishonest countermeasures===

====1. Purposefully taking longer to load/not loading CSS portions of a website to shift the blame onto the ad blocker====

====2. Utilizing pop-ups & overlays to deter ad block usage====
Owners & developers of domains & websites can detect ad blockers & make it significantly harder to access content by putting in countermeasures such as Pop-Ups & Overlays. Sometimes they go as far as using techniques that somewhat resemble the [[Consent-or-pay]] method in order to encourage others to disable their ad filtering tool.
[[File:3840px-Ad blocker warning example.svg.png|thumb|Example of an anti ad block pop up resembling the "Consent-or-pay" tactic]]

==See also==
*[[Bloatware]]

==Further Reading==

*[[Advertising overload]]
*[[wikipedia:Ad_blocking|Ad blocking]] on Wikipedia

==References==
<references />

[[Category:Common terms]]

Ad block

2026-03-23T16:15:08Z

D-side: Reworked the general overview of the problem into what the word means and not what laymen will see as Star Trek technobabble

Talk:Right to own

2026-03-14T16:19:24Z

D-side: /* Rename to "Erosion of ownership"? */ new section

I'm not finished completing this article and I promise to create the articles I've created Red Links for when I wake next.

If my changes are still here and are considered useful, that is. [[User:Webmistress|Webmistress]] ([[(User talk: Webmistress|talk]]) 05:38, 24 June 2025 (UTC)

:I started expanding on the definition of the problem and got a little carried away, in the end rewriting almost the whole thing, using prior revision as scaffolding. I left the red links in the security section be.
:Would appreciate a review of the new revision to see if I kept the intent and the scope in line with the article's purpose.
:Particularly, the new classification of ownership issues I established there seems a little blurry on the edges between them, but that seems to be inevitable, since they're kinda related. [[User:D-side|D-side]] ([[User talk:D-side|talk]]) 16:13, 14 March 2026 (UTC)

== Rename to "Erosion of ownership"? ==

Looking up "right to ownership" and "right to own" seems to commonly bring up the legal concept of "right to property". While absolutely related, it's a little too wide, the subject of the article is more about that ownership being subtly taken away.

I've added 3 citations that mention "erosion of ownership" in the same sense, and after fleshing out the "Common issues" section I started wondering if that should actually be the article's title, since that wording in particular seems to be more widespread in association with what's being discussed in the article. [[User:D-side|D-side]] ([[User talk:D-side|talk]]) 16:19, 14 March 2026 (UTC)

Talk:Right to own

2026-03-14T16:13:11Z

D-side: Reply

Right to own

2026-03-14T16:06:53Z

D-side: A complete rewrite in slightly more detail

{{StubNotice}}
The '''right to own''' (also '''right of ownership''') is the expectation of the buyer of a product to be its owner in a general sense. This concept is a response to various actions by product manufacturers that put buyer's ownership into question, such as designing a product to act against buyer's interests or actively interfering in product maintenance or modification by the buyer, who generally presumes to become a full legal owner of the product, to whom such actions should not be restricted. Such cases are examples of a process commonly recognized as '''erosion of ownership'''.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kamleitner |first=Bernadette |date=2018 |title=Blurring Boundaries and the Erosion of Ownership |url=https://research.wu.ac.at/en/publications/blurring-boundaries-and-the-erosion-of-ownership-7/ |url-status=live |website=WU Vienna University of Economics and Business}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Greene |first=Dan |date=2021-04-21 |title=The erosion of personal ownership |url=https://www.vox.com/the-goods/22387601/smart-fridge-car-personal-ownership-internet-things |url-status=live |website=Vox}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Moss |first=Sasha |date=2017-01-26 |title=The erosion of ownership in the digital age |url=https://www.rstreet.org/commentary/the-erosion-of-ownership-in-the-digital-age/ |url-status=live |website=R Street Institute}}</ref>

== The dispute over ownership ==
The extent of ownership is in dispute between manufacturers and buyers, where both sides seek to define it in their favor. This dispute emerged after technological advancements which have made products more complex and, in some cases, capable of being operated or altered remotely.

Defense against changes made forcibly by the manufacturer was previously provided by laws that establish physical security for a person and their property. Now that physical proximity is no longer required and changes can be made remotely, manufacturers have started to abuse the newly found freedom to unilaterally make changes to products beyond consumers' expectations, sometimes for the better, but sometimes also for the worse.{{Citation needed}}

Meanwhile, an increase in product complexity has made it difficult for users to fully understand the extent of control product manufacturer keeps after the purchase — manufacturers abuse this difficulty to coerce buyers into accepting the terms of purchase they do not fully understand and would presumably refuse if they did.{{Citation needed}}

==Common issues==
Product issues commonly associated with erosion of ownership can be roughly categorized into the following groups:

=== Remote access ===
Product designs that incorporate some form of remote access to a product for the manufacturer. This is especially prevalent in products that are designed to connect to the internet.

Manufacturers can build products to have not just remote access to user-facing product features, which they can provide to the user as a feature by itself (e. g. though mobile apps), but possibly with additional functions only available to the manufacturer, not the user. This connection allows the manufacturer to remotely reconfigure a device in a way that is detrimental to its owner, e. g. to [[Part pairing|detect a part replacement the manufacturer did not authorize]], to [[Retroactive policy enforcement|lock previously free function of a device under a new subscription]] or even [[Discontinuation bricking|brick the device entirely when it's discontinued]].

Centralized remote access infrastructure is also an attractive target for bad actors that seek to take control of many devices at once, one instance of security oversight on part of the manufacturer can potentially compromise entire product lines.

=== Maintenance impediments ===
{{Main|Right to repair}}
Prolonged functioning of products often requires maintenance, such as replacement of wear parts and repair. Some manufacturers impose artificial constraints on maintenance of their products in a way that either keeps them involved in the maintenance process after the purchase or discourages maintenance entirely in order to reduce devices' lifespans and boost sales.

Common techniques for this include deliberate use of non-standard parts, difficult procedure for wear part replacement, use of disposable parts (that are difficult to detach without breaking them), exclusivity agreements with parts manufacturers, restricted access to product schematics, part serialization and excessively restricted sale of spare parts (e. g. repair programs with excessive requirements, prohibitively high prices).

=== Conflict of interest ===
Products can be designed to protect the interests of parties other than the owner, most commonly the manufacturer and their business partners. The most common example of this is [[digital rights management]], which denies certain capabilities of a device to its owner under certain manufacturer-controlled circumstances, e. g. during playback of DRM-protected content.

Other examples include denying installation of software chosen by the owner (restrictions on [[sideloading]] and installation of aftermarket operating systems), locking the user into [[Cloud (service)|using manufacturer's services]] with no independent alternative and [[Right to own#Remote access|remotely controlling a device in ways its owner would not authorize]].

=== Poor security ===
{{Main|Security}}
Products that incorporate poor security measures can be exploited by unauthorized actors. Depending on the extent of access gained by circumventing security measures, consequences of this may range from misuse of product functions to effectively complete loss of ownership though theft.

A prominent example of this is [[car entry systems]], many of which did not use rolling code key systems and can be abused by devices like the [[Flipper Zero]] and other commonly available tools for security research.

=== Product-as-a-Service ===
Situations where a category of products is unavailable for purchase, with their functions only available as a service, despite the product's nature not necessitating it. Manufacturer of a product-as-a-service actively provides the product in this arrangement and may choose to stop doing so unilaterally at any time.

[[Software as a service|Initially popularized among software products]], companies have recently started to offer physical products in this way as well, e. g. [[electronics leasing]].

There is typically no expectation of ownership for products offered in this way, because instead of a purchase it happens through a [[subscription service]]. Which starts to become an ownership problem when a large part of a product ''category'' transitions to this format due to it being a much more lucrative and financially stable business model compared to selling products. This, however, comes at the expense of consumers — financial benefits of this business model for the manufacturer come straight from consumers' pockets.

Sometimes, however, a product is sold for a one-time cost [[Cloud (service)|with a service built-in]], conditioning its functioning (in whole or in part) on that service being provided, effectively making the initial purchase a gateway into a future service subscription.

'''Examples:''' [[Adobe]], [[Microsoft]], [[IoT]] Devices that rely on [[Cloud (service)|servers and services outside your home]], with or without subscriptions, [[Games as a service]]

==References==
<references />
[[Category:Common terms]]
[[Category:Positive practices]]
[[Category:Articles in need of additional work]]

Talk:Digital rights management

2026-03-09T02:54:45Z

D-side: /* XKCD #129 */ new section

==Don't most modern OSes come with DRM?==

I haven't done the proper research on this, but don't most OSes come with DRM baked in? That's how Apple's iOS system prevents you from installing 3rd party apps even if you have the files for what you want to download. I feel like I heard that the other OSes also use that too. We would need to have a source, but I feel like this should be a major element of the article if so. It can then be tied in to the app store restrictions and other limitations that are put in place by software products. A large reason these companies can get away with murder when it comes to enshittification is because they own a monopoly on interoperable software, since all their services are locked down with DRM. I feel the article should be written to reflect that. [[User:Riverpunk|Riverpunk]] ([[User talk:Riverpunk|talk]]) 05:58, 17 August 2025 (UTC)

:Engineering-wise an effective DRM has to span not just the software, but hardware as well. Because if you can install DRM-compatible software on hardware with sufficiently open interfaces that circumvent the restrictions, that defeats the purpose of the DRM..
:I don't believe this is the case on more open platforms such as PC and Android. More specifically, I've heard stories of mixed effectiveness of Google's Widevine DRM on Android, but I'd need further research to say anything more definitive.
:I like the monopoly angle though. I've thought before about describing the manufacturers of DRM-infested devices as ''cartels'' in function: a DRM that is sufficiently widespread in content distribution necessitates that new device manufacturers in the same space need to enter into a partnership with the vendor of the respective DRM. And this does not smell like market competition. [[User:D-side|D-side]] ([[User talk:D-side|talk]]) 17:40, 8 March 2026 (UTC)

==Louis Rossmann and different names for DRM==

A little while ago (~7 days ago as of adding this) Louis Rossmann added a post in the ‘Posts’ section on his Youtube channel where he talked about different names for DRM. The ones he selected were:
#Digital locks
#Technology protection measures (TPMs)
#Digital rights management (what we currently have)
#Software locks
#Access controls
#Digital barriers.
There were also some I read in the comments, like ‘Ownership Restrictions’. I wonder if we could incorporate this into the article? [[User:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|AnotherConsumerRightsPerson]] ([[User talk:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|talk]]) 11:17, 18 October 2025 (UTC)

:I think if one can find good citations for these alternative names for DRM, that'll also provide an angle for how they might be incorporated into the article. E. g. access controls and technological [protection] measures are mentioned in DMCA Section 1201 — suggesting a good place for those would be in a section about the legal framework around it. [[User:D-side|D-side]] ([[User talk:D-side|talk]]) 17:23, 8 March 2026 (UTC)

== XKCD #129 ==

The [https://xkcd.com/129/ "Content Protection" xkcd #129] just begs for a reference to concisely showcase the absurdity of the extent to which DRMs permeate the consumer media playback landscape, but I'm honestly not sure how to do this properly [[User:D-side|D-side]] ([[User talk:D-side|talk]]) 02:54, 9 March 2026 (UTC)

Digital rights management

2026-03-09T02:50:44Z

D-side: Tidied up the wording of the general problem that DRM sets out to solve

[[Category:Anti-consumer practices]]
[[Category:Common terms]]

[[wikipedia:Digital_rights_management|'''Digital rights management''']] (DRM), alternatively known as '''digital restrictions management'''<ref>{{Cite web |last=Stallman |first=Richard |title=Opposing Digital Rights Mismanagement |url=https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/opposing-drm.en.html |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20251009050044/https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/opposing-drm.en.html |archive-date=9 Oct 2025}}</ref>, broadly refers to any kind of access control technology that is used to deliberately restrict the usage of media content or devices after the sale. It is typically used by a seller to protect their digital rights through prevention of unauthorized distribution or replication of their product. Implementations of DRM can range from very simple (such as a basic disc check) to extremely complex executable binary obfuscation (such as Denuvo)

<blockquote>DRM creates a damaged good; it prevents you from doing what would be possible without it. – Defective by Design<ref>{{Cite web |title=What is DRM? |url=https://www.defectivebydesign.org/what_is_drm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260203202020/https://www.defectivebydesign.org/what_is_drm |archive-date=2026-02-03 |access-date=2026-02-06 |website=Defective by Design}}</ref></blockquote>

==Why it is a problem==
Any design of a device that allows it to act against the intention of its owner constitutes a case of [[Right to own|eroded ownership]] over the device.

A DRM technology is, by design, an artificial restriction of capabilities of a device, either in general or only for certain protected types of content. From a perspective of the rights holder (whose rights DRM protects), such restrictions need to be effective when the device or a copy of a creative work is in user's physical possession. And physical access inherently allows for many techniques of analysis and reverse engineering that may be used to devise a way to circumvent the restrictions. Therefore to be effective, a DRM technology needs to withstand the circumvention techniques available to consumers. This presents a significant engineering challenge, seemingly with no perfect solution, because solutions to date have failed or compromised various additional functions in different ways.

For example, Netflix requires HDCP DRM for playback of its video content in advertised quality. And on multi-monitor systems HDCP only works if ''all'' connected monitors support it, not just the one that displays the video.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-02-24 |title=Netflix requires all monitors to be HDCP 2.2. How can I get around this? |url=https://old.reddit.com/r/pcmasterrace/comments/1avkwtb/netflix_requires_all_monitors_to_be_hdcp_22_how/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250126224945/https://old.reddit.com/r/pcmasterrace/comments/1avkwtb/netflix_requires_all_monitors_to_be_hdcp_22_how/ |archive-date=2025-01-26 |access-date=20 Apr 2025 |website=Old Reddit}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-03-22 |title=How do I get Netflix working at 4k on my second monitor? |url=https://old.reddit.com/r/netflix/comments/mam2l9/how_do_i_get_netflix_working_at_4k_on_my_second/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250403054443/https://old.reddit.com/r/netflix/comments/mam2l9/how_do_i_get_netflix_working_at_4k_on_my_second/ |archive-date=2025-04-03 |access-date=20 Apr 2025 |website=Old Reddit}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=How to use Netflix on your Windows computer or tablet |url=https://help.netflix.com/en/node/23931 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260104160941/https://help.netflix.com/en/node/23931 |archive-date=2026-01-04 |access-date=20 Apr 2025 |website=Netflix Help Center}}</ref> This means that older but fully functional monitors cannot be used as secondary screens without causing HDCP to fail on that PC and thus causing Netflix to serve a version of the content much lower in quality than it advertises.

Requirements such as this are not always clearly disclosed. When they are, they are often buried in the Terms of Service or, in Netflix's case, require navigating through multiple FAQ pages. Furthermore, some content may surreptitiously install DRM without the knowledge or consent of the user, such as in the Sony Rootkit scandal.<ref>{{Cite web |date=31 Oct 2005 |title=Sony, Rootkits and Digital Rights Management Gone Too Far |url=https://blogs.technet.com/b/markrussinovich/archive/2005/10/31/sony-rootkits-and-digital-rights-management-gone-too-far.aspx |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150317040653/http://blogs.technet.com/b/markrussinovich/archive/2005/10/31/sony-rootkits-and-digital-rights-management-gone-too-far.aspx |archive-date=17 Mar 2015 |access-date=20 Apr 2025 |website=Mark Russinovich's Blog}}</ref> Such software may contain exploits that can compromise the security of the user's PC.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Krebs |first=Brian |date=10 Nov 2005 |title=Virus Writers Exploit Sony Anti-Piracy Software |url=https://blog.washingtonpost.com/securityfix/2005/11/virus_writers_exploit_sony_ant.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061116191907/http://blog.washingtonpost.com/securityfix/2005/11/virus_writers_exploit_sony_ant.html |archive-date=16 Nov 2006 |access-date=20 Apr 2025 |website=Washington Post}}</ref>

DRM in video games has frequently been implemented in an intrusive manner, hurting load times and performance.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kessler |first=Ana |date=25 May 2023 |title=Testing Reveals Games with Denuvo Launch Up to Four Times Slower |url=https://80.lv/articles/testing-reveals-games-with-denuvo-launch-up-to-four-times-slower/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250911084255/https://80.lv/articles/testing-reveals-games-with-denuvo-launch-up-to-four-times-slower |archive-date=2025-09-11 |access-date=20 Apr 2025 |website=80.lv}}</ref> This behavior has been more a result of negligent usage of the DRM rather than deliberate malicious intent. The detrimental effect of DRM on games appears to be known to their developers and publishers, seeing that DRM is removed from some games some time after the release,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Wesh |first=Oli |date=2009-07-09 |title=DRM removed, UGC in Witcher patch |url=https://www.eurogamer.net/drm-removed-ugc-added-in-witcher-patch |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241211070935/https://www.eurogamer.net/drm-removed-ugc-added-in-witcher-patch |archive-date=2024-12-11 |website=Eurogamer}}</ref> often with no announcement.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Grayson |first=Nathan |date=2016-12-08 |title=Doom Becomes Latest Game To Drop Anti-Piracy Tech Denuvo |url=https://kotaku.com/doom-becomes-latest-game-to-drop-anti-piracy-tech-denuv-1789838010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250821033141/https://kotaku.com/doom-becomes-latest-game-to-drop-anti-piracy-tech-denuv-1789838010 |archive-date=2025-08-21 |website=Kotaku}}</ref>

DRM failures can also come as a surprise. For example, with a YouTube Premium subscription, you can "Download videos to watch offline", but such videos are only available for 48 hours without an internet connection.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Watch videos offline on mobile in select countries & regions |url=https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/6141269 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260115091128/https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/6141269 |archive-date=2026-01-15 |access-date=20 Apr 2025 |website=YouTube Help}}</ref> This creates confusion and problems, as users may want to download videos in anticipation of a period without internet access.

===Ineffectiveness of audio and video DRM===
It is nearly impossible to prevent copying of non-interactive content such as audio and video once it is distributed to the consumer.

Macrovision DRM can be defeated using a widely available time base corrector,<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-02-09 |title=Bought this box back in the early 90s to eliminate Macrovision copy guard on tapes - cost $49.95 back then. Decided to see if it still works by recording my Red Label Star Wars set to DVD. Still working it’s magic! |url=https://old.reddit.com/r/VHS/comments/so4xs5/bought_this_box_back_in_the_early_90s_to/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250402200726/https://old.reddit.com/r/VHS/comments/so4xs5/bought_this_box_back_in_the_early_90s_to/ |archive-date=2025-04-02 |access-date=20 Apr 2025 |website=Old Reddit}}</ref> which strips out the signal that triggers the AGC on VCRs or Macrovision compliant devices.

Many HDMI splitters<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-01-23 |title=Bypassing HDCP in 2024 |url=https://old.reddit.com/r/PS3/comments/19dohrh/bypassing_hdcp_in_2024/lbtqiky/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250121093658/https://old.reddit.com/r/PS3/comments/19dohrh/bypassing_hdcp_in_2024/lbtqiky/ |archive-date=2025-01-21 |access-date=20 Apr 2025 |website=Old Reddit}}</ref> and capture cards<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-01-23 |title=I bought a $40 capture card off Amazon and it seems to have hdcp bypass because my PS3 works directly with it. |url=https://old.reddit.com/r/PS3/comments/19dohrh/bypassing_hdcp_in_2024/kj7cu60/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250803020254/https://old.reddit.com/r/PS3/comments/19dohrh/bypassing_hdcp_in_2024/kj7cu60/ |archive-date=2025-08-03 |access-date=20 Apr 2025 |website=Old Reddit}}</ref> are capable of decrypting HDCP and copying the video stream. As long as at least one bypass exists at the HDCP level, all streaming content can be trivially ripped.

Audio DRM is trivial to bypass, as the audio must be decrypted into a plain analog signal in order to drive physical speakers or headphones.

===DRM degradation===
The development of some forms of DRM, such as [[wikipedia:Games_for_Windows_–_Live|Games For Windows Live]], are reliant on special processes within some operating systems that end up becoming unsupported or deprecated as time goes on. Legacy [[SecuROM]]-protected titles (released roughly between 1998 and 2005) are notoriously known for not running on operating systems newer than Windows XP<ref>{{Cite web |last=D’Amico |first=Luca |date=5 May 2022 |title=Arabian Nights |url=https://www.lucadamico.dev/papers/drms/securom/ArabianNights.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260112055300/https://www.lucadamico.dev/papers/drms/securom/ArabianNights.pdf |archive-date=2026-01-12 |access-date=2026-02-06 |website=lucadamico.dev}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=@haggar |date=15 Oct 2006 |title=Unpacking SecuROM 4.xx |url=https://www.reversing.be/article.php?story=20061015153108847 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220226230919/http://www.reversing.be/article.php?story=20061015153108847 |archive-date=26 Feb 2022 |access-date=20 Apr 2025 |website=www.reversing.be}}</ref>. Customers must spend an extensive amount of time circumventing the DRM (or using more illicit methods) just to play content they legitimately purchased.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Baggs |first=Nathan |date=16 Jan 2025 |title=Hacking This Terrible DRM |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjkqI7dBDVg |url-status=live |archive-url=https://preservetube.com/watch?v=vjkqI7dBDVg |archive-date=2025-01-20 |access-date=20 Apr 2025 |website=[[YouTube]]}}</ref>

This DRM degradation has the worst effects on physical licenses of products, as unlike a digital installation, if a physical copy of a game's DRM stops being supported by modern hardware, developers cannot simply distribute a patch to directly modify the code on a disc, and online patches cannot last forever.

==DRM in video content==

Attempting to prevent the copying of video content is one of the most common and long-standing uses of DRM. The idea of using copy obstruction on video content predates the term "DRM", one early example being the "Automatic Gain Control" requirement in VCRs used to enforce the "Macrovision" copy-protection scheme.<ref>{{Cite web |date=1999-11-29 |title=17 U.S. Code § 1201 - Circumvention of copyright protection systems |url=https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/17/1201#k_1_A |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260201101756/https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/17/1201#k_1_A |archive-date=2026-02-01 |access-date=2026-02-06 |website=Cornell Law School}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2018 |title=Macrovision Demystified |url=https://cs.stanford.edu/people/eroberts/courses/cs181/projects/1999-00/dmca-2k/macrovision.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251212001352/https://cs.stanford.edu/people/eroberts/courses/cs181/projects/1999-00/dmca-2k/macrovision.html |archive-date=2025-12-12 |access-date=2026-02-06 |website=Stanford Engineering Computer Science}} </ref> This requirement resulted in VCRs and compliant analog to DV capture cards not being able to record commercial VHS tapes{{citation needed}}.

From 1996, DVDs began to feature the "Content Scramble System" (CSS), an encryption based DRM. CSS was successfully circumvented as early as 1999, less than five years after its introduction, partly due to the limited length of the 40-bit encryption key, which was used to comply with US government export regulations of the time.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Stevenson |first=Frank Andrew |date=27 Oct 1999 |title=[Livid-dev] Successfull attack on CSS algorithm |url=https://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/DeCSS/FrankStevenson/mail1.txt |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260114031245/https://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/DeCSS/FrankStevenson/mail1.txt |archive-date=2026-01-14 |access-date=2026-02-06 |website=Carnegie Mellon University School of Computer Science}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Stevenson |first=Frank A. |date=8 November 1999 |title=Cryptanalysis of Contents Scrambling System |url=http://www.dvd-copy.com/news/cryptanalysis_of_contents_scrambling_system.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000302000206/http://www.dvd-copy.com/news/cryptanalysis_of_contents_scrambling_system.htm |archive-date=2000-03-02 |access-date=2026-02-06 |website=DVD-Copy}}</ref> Following this, DVDs as well as HD-DVDs and Blu-Rays would implement other types of DRM, one of them being the "Advanced Access Content System".<ref>{{Cite web |title=Advanced Access Content System (AACS) |url=https://www.aacsla.com/specifications/specs091/AACS_Spec_Common_0.91.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070302130221/http://www.aacsla.com/specifications/specs091/AACS_Spec_Common_0.91.pdf |archive-date=2 Mar 2007 |access-date=20 Apr 2025}}
</ref> When the first AACS processing key was similarly extracted, the AACS Licensing Administrator began issuing cease-and-desist letters to websites where the key was posted.<ref>{{Cite web |date=17 Apr 2007 |title=AACS licensor complains of posted key |url=https://lumendatabase.org/notices/21725 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251207212919/https://lumendatabase.org/notices/21725 |archive-date=2025-12-07 |access-date=20 Apr 2025 |website=Lumen}}</ref> Another form of Blu-Ray DRM, [[Cinavia]], uses a form of audio watermarking that makes certain releases unplayable in devices that are not equipped to recognize it, a notable example being Sony's Playstation 3.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ganesh |first=T. S. |date=21 Mar 2012 |title=Cinavia DRM: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Blu-ray’s Self-Destruction |url=https://www.anandtech.com/show/5693/cinavia-drm-how-i-learned-to-stop-worrying-and-love-blurays-selfdestruction/2 |url-status=live |access-date=20 Apr 2025 |website=AnandTech |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20250708174835/https://www.anandtech.com/show/5693/cinavia-drm-how-i-learned-to-stop-worrying-and-love-blurays-selfdestruction/2 |archive-date=8 Jul 2025}}</ref>

In the attempt of preventing video ripping via a capture card, modern displays, optical disc players, and computers use the [[wikipedia:High-bandwidth_Digital_Content_Protection|High-Definition Content Protection]] system to encrypt display signals.<ref>{{Cite web |title=About DCP |url=https://www.digital-cp.com/about_dcp |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260104104231/https://www.digital-cp.com/about_dcp |archive-date=2026-01-04 |access-date=20 Apr 2025 |website=Digital CP}}</ref> For example, [[Netflix stream-quality controversy|Netflix will refuse]] to stream content at the full resolution advertised for the plan if the user is not streaming through an HDCP compliant video card and display.

For terrestrial over-the-air broadcast, in 2023 [[ATSC 3.0]] pilot stations across the United States started to encrypt their signals,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Seidman |first=Lon |date=15 May 2023 |title=Broadcasters Roll Out Restrictive DRM Encryption on ATSC 3.0 Broadcasts |url=https://blog.lon.tv/2023/05/15/broadcasters-roll-out-restrictive-drm-encryption-on-atsc-3-0-broadcasts/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260104092252/https://blog.lon.tv/2023/05/15/broadcasters-roll-out-restrictive-drm-encryption-on-atsc-3-0-broadcasts/ |archive-date=2026-01-04 |access-date=20 Apr 2025 |website=Lon.tv}}</ref> leaving those that bought ATSC 3.0 tuners that could not decrypt broadcasts unable to watch the newly encrypted channels. Those tuners that were later certified by the A3SA authority to decrypt signals also had potential restrictions placed as part of the DRM scheme, such as blocking recordings and remote tuner access.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Newman |first=Jared |date=28 Jul 2023 |title=NextGen TV’s DRM puts future of the over-the-air DVR in doubt |url=https://www.techhive.com/article/2009693/nextgen-tv-drm-puts-future-of-the-over-the-air-dvr-in-doubt.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251213194219/https://www.techhive.com/article/2009693/nextgen-tv-drm-puts-future-of-the-over-the-air-dvr-in-doubt.html |archive-date=2025-12-13 |access-date=20 Apr 2025 |website=TechHive}}</ref>

==DRM in audio content==
Another place DRMs were used in was audio content, which was rarely implemented due to audio's analog nature (compared to video and software), making it questionable whether it could effectively block data replication. The most notable application of audio DRM was [[wikipedia:MediaMax|MediaMax]], which essentially functioned as malware to prevent users from simply playing these audio discs on Windows and macOS. There was also the less-notable [[wikipedia:Extended_Copy_Protection|Extended Copy Protection]] (XCP) DRM, however it did leave [[Sony]] in hot water<ref>{{Cite web |last= |date=1 February 2026 |title=Sony BMG copy protection rootkit scandal |url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sony_BMG_copy_protection_rootkit_scandal |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260204145529/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sony_BMG_copy_protection_rootkit_scandal |archive-date=2026-02-04 |access-date=20 Apr 2025 |website=Wikipedia}}</ref>, dubbing this form of DRM also as the Sony Rootkit.

==DRM in software==
Most discussions about DRM often associate its use with some form of software restriction, from the simple product key, to the infamous [[Denuvo]] DRM. Historically, DRM started off with simpler physical techniques, such as decoder wheels and [[wikipedia:Lenslok|LensLok]]. The effectiveness of these systems varied, and many cracking groups simply found ways around them, especially since second-hand copies of software that used these primitive forms of DRM could easily become lost, damaged, or worse, fail to function with certain hardware.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Whitehead |first=Ben |date=15 Apr 2010 |title=Banging the DRM |url=https://www.eurogamer.net/banging-the-drm-article?page=2 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251118190312/https://www.eurogamer.net/banging-the-drm-article?page=2 |archive-date=2025-11-18 |access-date=20 Apr 2025 |website=EuroGamer}}</ref> This has essentially sparked a game of cat and mouse that continues to fester, especially for the gaming community, to this day.

===Always-online DRM===
Some DRM requires a constant internet connection. While this may make sense in something that inherently requires an internet connection such as a streaming service or multiplayer-only video game, this has also been employed in games with single-player content, rendering customers unable to use their purchase if they do not have an active internet connection.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kain |first=Erik |date=17 May 2012 |title='Diablo III' Fans Should Stay Angry About Always-Online DRM |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2012/05/17/diablo-iii-fans-should-stay-angry-about-always-online-drm/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251024065743/https://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2012/05/17/diablo-iii-fans-should-stay-angry-about-always-online-drm/ |archive-date=2025-10-24 |access-date=20 Apr 2025 |website=Forbes}}</ref> Conversely, if operations for these services are shut down, user, even those with legitimate copies of software and internet access, cannot run their games without resorting to hacking them first.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Vitor |first=João |date=12 Jul 2024 |title=Rewriting completely the GameSpy support from 2000 to 2004 using Reverse Engineering on EA and Bungie Games |url=https://keowu.re/posts/Rewriting-completely-the-GameSpy-support-from-2000-to-2004-using-Reverse-Engineering-on-EA-and-Bungie-Games/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251216155905/https://keowu.re/posts/Rewriting-completely-the-GameSpy-support-from-2000-to-2004-using-Reverse-Engineering-on-EA-and-Bungie-Games |archive-date=2025-12-16 |access-date=20 Apr 2025 |website=Keowu Blog's}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Burns |first=Chris |date=4 Apr 2014 |title=GameSpy Shuts Down May 31: Will Your Game Be Affected? |url=https://www.slashgear.com/gamespy-shuts-down-may-31-will-your-game-be-affected-04323788/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251024204157/https://www.slashgear.com/gamespy-shuts-down-may-31-will-your-game-be-affected-04323788/ |archive-date=2025-10-24 |access-date=20 Apr 2025 |website=SlashGear}}</ref> [[Ubisoft]] has historically been known for server shutdowns and transfers cutting off access to games for many players.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Sharkey |first=Mike |date=2012-02-08 |title=Ubisoft DRM Locks Out Paying Customers |url=https://pc.gamespy.com/articles/121/1218211p1.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150906130332/http://pc.gamespy.com/articles/121/1218211p1.html |archive-date=2015-09-06 |access-date=20 Apr 2025 |website=IGN Entertainment}}</ref> Encrypted [[ATSC 3.0]] channels cannot be tuned to without a persistent internet connection.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Seidman |first=Lon |date=3 Sep 2023 |title=The ADTH Nextgen TV Box Shows Us Just How Bad ATSC 3.0 Encryption Will Be.. |url=https://blog.lon.tv/2023/09/03/the-adth-nextgen-tv-box-shows-us-just-how-bad-atsc-3-0-encrpytion-will-be/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251214005506/https://blog.lon.tv/2023/09/03/the-adth-nextgen-tv-box-shows-us-just-how-bad-atsc-3-0-encrpytion-will-be/ |archive-date=2025-12-14 |access-date=20 Apr 2025 |website=Lon.tv}}</ref>

==DRM present elsewhere==

===Network-Attached Storage Units===
''See also: [[Synology requiring proprietary-branded drives to be used with its NAS]]''

In 2025, certain models of pre-built network attached storage units produced by [[Synology]] contained DRM in order to prevent the usage of non-Synology branded hard drives.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Morales |first=Jowi |date=2025-04-16 |title=Synology requires self-branded drives for some consumer NAS systems, drops full functionality and support for third-party HDDs |url=https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-components/nas/synology-requires-self-branded-drives-for-some-consumer-nas-systems-drops-full-functionality-and-support-for-third-party-hdds |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260107215841/https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-components/nas/synology-requires-self-branded-drives-for-some-consumer-nas-systems-drops-full-functionality-and-support-for-third-party-hdds |archive-date=2026-01-07 |access-date=2026-02-06 |website=Tom's Hardware}}</ref> This decision recieved a lot of backlash and was reverted in October 2025.

===Printer Ink===
''See also: [[HP Dynamic Security]]''

Companies such as [[HP]] only allow printers to only use ink sold by the same brand. There are a number of DRM systems employed by different companies to this end, an example of which is HP Dynamic Security, which has caught controversy during recent years. Similarly, [[Dymo]] engages in this practice with their paper products using RFID tags.

===Air Filters===
''See also: [[Molekule threatens to remotely shut down devices used with third party air filters]]''

Some companies, namely Molekule and [[Xiaomi]], use NFC-based DRM systems to ensure that replacement air filters which are inserted in air purifying devices are made by the brand. Molekule additionally threatened to permanently shut down any devices which used third-party filters, essentially [[Device bricking|bricking]] them.

===Water Filters===
''See also: [[GE Refrigerator water filter DRM]]''

Certain models of refrigerators manufactured by General Electric contain DRM in order to prevent customers from purchasing generic water filters and to instead force their own water filters which are more expensive. <ref>{{Cite web |last=Bode |first=Karl |date=2020-01-23 |title=These Fridges Won’t Dispense Filtered Water Unless You Pay Extra for ‘Official’ Filters With RFID Chips |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/these-fridges-wont-dispense-filtered-water-unless-you-pay-extra-for-official-filters-with-rfid-chips/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251021063650/https://www.vice.com/en/article/these-fridges-wont-dispense-filtered-water-unless-you-pay-extra-for-official-filters-with-rfid-chips/ |archive-date=2025-10-21 |access-date=2026-02-06 |website=VICE}}</ref>

==Further reading==
*[[Automotive digital restrictions management]]

==References==
<references />
[[Category:Digital rights management]]

Digital rights management

2026-03-08T17:56:51Z

D-side: On removal of DRM from videogames post-release

[[Category:Anti-consumer practices]]
[[Category:Common terms]]

[[wikipedia:Digital_rights_management|'''Digital rights management''']] (DRM), alternatively known as '''digital restrictions management'''<ref>{{Cite web |last=Stallman |first=Richard |title=Opposing Digital Rights Mismanagement |url=https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/opposing-drm.en.html |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20251009050044/https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/opposing-drm.en.html |archive-date=9 Oct 2025}}</ref>, broadly refers to any kind of access control technology that is used to deliberately restrict the usage of media content or devices after the sale. It is typically used by a seller to protect their digital rights through prevention of unauthorized distribution or replication of their product. Implementations of DRM can range from very simple (such as a basic disc check) to extremely complex executable binary obfuscation (such as Denuvo)

<blockquote>DRM creates a damaged good; it prevents you from doing what would be possible without it. – Defective by Design<ref>{{Cite web |title=What is DRM? |url=https://www.defectivebydesign.org/what_is_drm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260203202020/https://www.defectivebydesign.org/what_is_drm |archive-date=2026-02-03 |access-date=2026-02-06 |website=Defective by Design}}</ref></blockquote>

==Why it is a problem==
A device in user's legal possession designed to act against their owner's intention constitutes a case of [[Right to own|eroded ownership]].

A DRM technology is, by design, an artificial restriction of capabilities of a device, either in general or only for certain protected types of content. Such restrictions need to be effective when the device or a copy of a creative work is in user's physical possession. And physical access allows for many techniques of analysis and reverse engineering that may be used to devise a way to circumvent the restrictions. Therefore to be effective, a DRM technology needs to withstand the techniques available to consumers. This presents a serious engineering challenge, seemingly with no perfect solution, because solutions to date have failed or compromised various additional functions in different ways.

For example, Netflix requires HDCP DRM for playback of its video content in advertised quality. And on multi-monitor systems HDCP only works if ''all'' connected monitors support it, not just the one that displays the video.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-02-24 |title=Netflix requires all monitors to be HDCP 2.2. How can I get around this? |url=https://old.reddit.com/r/pcmasterrace/comments/1avkwtb/netflix_requires_all_monitors_to_be_hdcp_22_how/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250126224945/https://old.reddit.com/r/pcmasterrace/comments/1avkwtb/netflix_requires_all_monitors_to_be_hdcp_22_how/ |archive-date=2025-01-26 |access-date=20 Apr 2025 |website=Old Reddit}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-03-22 |title=How do I get Netflix working at 4k on my second monitor? |url=https://old.reddit.com/r/netflix/comments/mam2l9/how_do_i_get_netflix_working_at_4k_on_my_second/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250403054443/https://old.reddit.com/r/netflix/comments/mam2l9/how_do_i_get_netflix_working_at_4k_on_my_second/ |archive-date=2025-04-03 |access-date=20 Apr 2025 |website=Old Reddit}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=How to use Netflix on your Windows computer or tablet |url=https://help.netflix.com/en/node/23931 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260104160941/https://help.netflix.com/en/node/23931 |archive-date=2026-01-04 |access-date=20 Apr 2025 |website=Netflix Help Center}}</ref> This means that older but fully functional monitors cannot be used as secondary screens without causing HDCP to fail on that PC and thus causing Netflix to serve a version of the content much lower in quality than it advertises.

Requirements such as this are not always clearly disclosed. When they are, they are often buried in the Terms of Service or, in Netflix's case, require navigating through multiple FAQ pages. Furthermore, some content may surreptitiously install DRM without the knowledge or consent of the user, such as in the Sony Rootkit scandal.<ref>{{Cite web |date=31 Oct 2005 |title=Sony, Rootkits and Digital Rights Management Gone Too Far |url=https://blogs.technet.com/b/markrussinovich/archive/2005/10/31/sony-rootkits-and-digital-rights-management-gone-too-far.aspx |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150317040653/http://blogs.technet.com/b/markrussinovich/archive/2005/10/31/sony-rootkits-and-digital-rights-management-gone-too-far.aspx |archive-date=17 Mar 2015 |access-date=20 Apr 2025 |website=Mark Russinovich's Blog}}</ref> Such software may contain exploits that can compromise the security of the user's PC.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Krebs |first=Brian |date=10 Nov 2005 |title=Virus Writers Exploit Sony Anti-Piracy Software |url=https://blog.washingtonpost.com/securityfix/2005/11/virus_writers_exploit_sony_ant.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061116191907/http://blog.washingtonpost.com/securityfix/2005/11/virus_writers_exploit_sony_ant.html |archive-date=16 Nov 2006 |access-date=20 Apr 2025 |website=Washington Post}}</ref>

DRM in video games has frequently been implemented in an intrusive manner, hurting load times and performance.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kessler |first=Ana |date=25 May 2023 |title=Testing Reveals Games with Denuvo Launch Up to Four Times Slower |url=https://80.lv/articles/testing-reveals-games-with-denuvo-launch-up-to-four-times-slower/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250911084255/https://80.lv/articles/testing-reveals-games-with-denuvo-launch-up-to-four-times-slower |archive-date=2025-09-11 |access-date=20 Apr 2025 |website=80.lv}}</ref> This behavior has been more a result of negligent usage of the DRM rather than deliberate malicious intent. The detrimental effect of DRM on games appears to be known to their developers and publishers, seeing that DRM is removed from some games some time after the release,<ref>{{Cite web |date=2009-07-09 |title=DRM removed, UGC in Witcher patch |url=https://www.eurogamer.net/drm-removed-ugc-added-in-witcher-patch |website=Eurogamer}}</ref> often with no announcement.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2016-12-08 |title=Doom Becomes Latest Game To Drop Anti-Piracy Tech Denuvo |url=https://kotaku.com/doom-becomes-latest-game-to-drop-anti-piracy-tech-denuv-1789838010 |website=Kotaku}}</ref>

DRM failures can also come as a surprise. For example, with a YouTube Premium subscription, you can "Download videos to watch offline", but such videos are only available for 48 hours without an internet connection.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Watch videos offline on mobile in select countries & regions |url=https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/6141269 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260115091128/https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/6141269 |archive-date=2026-01-15 |access-date=20 Apr 2025 |website=YouTube Help}}</ref> This creates confusion and problems, as users may want to download videos in anticipation of a period without internet access.

===Ineffectiveness of audio and video DRM===
It is nearly impossible to prevent copying of non-interactive content such as audio and video once it is distributed to the consumer.

Macrovision DRM can be defeated using a widely available time base corrector,<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-02-09 |title=Bought this box back in the early 90s to eliminate Macrovision copy guard on tapes - cost $49.95 back then. Decided to see if it still works by recording my Red Label Star Wars set to DVD. Still working it’s magic! |url=https://old.reddit.com/r/VHS/comments/so4xs5/bought_this_box_back_in_the_early_90s_to/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250402200726/https://old.reddit.com/r/VHS/comments/so4xs5/bought_this_box_back_in_the_early_90s_to/ |archive-date=2025-04-02 |access-date=20 Apr 2025 |website=Old Reddit}}</ref> which strips out the signal that triggers the AGC on VCRs or Macrovision compliant devices.

Many HDMI splitters<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-01-23 |title=Bypassing HDCP in 2024 |url=https://old.reddit.com/r/PS3/comments/19dohrh/bypassing_hdcp_in_2024/lbtqiky/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250121093658/https://old.reddit.com/r/PS3/comments/19dohrh/bypassing_hdcp_in_2024/lbtqiky/ |archive-date=2025-01-21 |access-date=20 Apr 2025 |website=Old Reddit}}</ref> and capture cards<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-01-23 |title=I bought a $40 capture card off Amazon and it seems to have hdcp bypass because my PS3 works directly with it. |url=https://old.reddit.com/r/PS3/comments/19dohrh/bypassing_hdcp_in_2024/kj7cu60/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250803020254/https://old.reddit.com/r/PS3/comments/19dohrh/bypassing_hdcp_in_2024/kj7cu60/ |archive-date=2025-08-03 |access-date=20 Apr 2025 |website=Old Reddit}}</ref> are capable of decrypting HDCP and copying the video stream. As long as at least one bypass exists at the HDCP level, all streaming content can be trivially ripped.

Audio DRM is trivial to bypass, as the audio must be decrypted into a plain analog signal in order to drive physical speakers or headphones.

===DRM degradation===
The development of some forms of DRM, such as [[wikipedia:Games_for_Windows_–_Live|Games For Windows Live]], are reliant on special processes within some operating systems that end up becoming unsupported or deprecated as time goes on. Legacy [[SecuROM]]-protected titles (released roughly between 1998 and 2005) are notoriously known for not running on operating systems newer than Windows XP<ref>{{Cite web |last=D’Amico |first=Luca |date=5 May 2022 |title=Arabian Nights |url=https://www.lucadamico.dev/papers/drms/securom/ArabianNights.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260112055300/https://www.lucadamico.dev/papers/drms/securom/ArabianNights.pdf |archive-date=2026-01-12 |access-date=2026-02-06 |website=lucadamico.dev}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=@haggar |date=15 Oct 2006 |title=Unpacking SecuROM 4.xx |url=https://www.reversing.be/article.php?story=20061015153108847 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220226230919/http://www.reversing.be/article.php?story=20061015153108847 |archive-date=26 Feb 2022 |access-date=20 Apr 2025 |website=www.reversing.be}}</ref>. Customers must spend an extensive amount of time circumventing the DRM (or using more illicit methods) just to play content they legitimately purchased.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Baggs |first=Nathan |date=16 Jan 2025 |title=Hacking This Terrible DRM |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjkqI7dBDVg |url-status=live |archive-url=https://preservetube.com/watch?v=vjkqI7dBDVg |archive-date=2025-01-20 |access-date=20 Apr 2025 |website=[[YouTube]]}}</ref>

This DRM degradation has the worst effects on physical licenses of products, as unlike a digital installation, if a physical copy of a game's DRM stops being supported by modern hardware, developers cannot simply distribute a patch to directly modify the code on a disc, and online patches cannot last forever.

==DRM in video content==

Attempting to prevent the copying of video content is one of the most common and long-standing uses of DRM. The idea of using copy obstruction on video content predates the term "DRM", one early example being the "Automatic Gain Control" requirement in VCRs used to enforce the "Macrovision" copy-protection scheme.<ref>{{Cite web |date=1999-11-29 |title=17 U.S. Code § 1201 - Circumvention of copyright protection systems |url=https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/17/1201#k_1_A |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260201101756/https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/17/1201#k_1_A |archive-date=2026-02-01 |access-date=2026-02-06 |website=Cornell Law School}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2018 |title=Macrovision Demystified |url=https://cs.stanford.edu/people/eroberts/courses/cs181/projects/1999-00/dmca-2k/macrovision.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251212001352/https://cs.stanford.edu/people/eroberts/courses/cs181/projects/1999-00/dmca-2k/macrovision.html |archive-date=2025-12-12 |access-date=2026-02-06 |website=Stanford Engineering Computer Science}} </ref> This requirement resulted in VCRs and compliant analog to DV capture cards not being able to record commercial VHS tapes{{citation needed}}.

From 1996, DVDs began to feature the "Content Scramble System" (CSS), an encryption based DRM. CSS was successfully circumvented as early as 1999, less than five years after its introduction, partly due to the limited length of the 40-bit encryption key, which was used to comply with US government export regulations of the time.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Stevenson |first=Frank Andrew |date=27 Oct 1999 |title=[Livid-dev] Successfull attack on CSS algorithm |url=https://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/DeCSS/FrankStevenson/mail1.txt |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260114031245/https://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/DeCSS/FrankStevenson/mail1.txt |archive-date=2026-01-14 |access-date=2026-02-06 |website=Carnegie Mellon University School of Computer Science}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Stevenson |first=Frank A. |date=8 November 1999 |title=Cryptanalysis of Contents Scrambling System |url=http://www.dvd-copy.com/news/cryptanalysis_of_contents_scrambling_system.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000302000206/http://www.dvd-copy.com/news/cryptanalysis_of_contents_scrambling_system.htm |archive-date=2000-03-02 |access-date=2026-02-06 |website=DVD-Copy}}</ref> Following this, DVDs as well as HD-DVDs and Blu-Rays would implement other types of DRM, one of them being the "Advanced Access Content System".<ref>{{Cite web |title=Advanced Access Content System (AACS) |url=https://www.aacsla.com/specifications/specs091/AACS_Spec_Common_0.91.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070302130221/http://www.aacsla.com/specifications/specs091/AACS_Spec_Common_0.91.pdf |archive-date=2 Mar 2007 |access-date=20 Apr 2025}}
</ref> When the first AACS processing key was similarly extracted, the AACS Licensing Administrator began issuing cease-and-desist letters to websites where the key was posted.<ref>{{Cite web |date=17 Apr 2007 |title=AACS licensor complains of posted key |url=https://lumendatabase.org/notices/21725 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251207212919/https://lumendatabase.org/notices/21725 |archive-date=2025-12-07 |access-date=20 Apr 2025 |website=Lumen}}</ref> Another form of Blu-Ray DRM, [[Cinavia]], uses a form of audio watermarking that makes certain releases unplayable in devices that are not equipped to recognize it, a notable example being Sony's Playstation 3.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ganesh |first=T. S. |date=21 Mar 2012 |title=Cinavia DRM: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Blu-ray’s Self-Destruction |url=https://www.anandtech.com/show/5693/cinavia-drm-how-i-learned-to-stop-worrying-and-love-blurays-selfdestruction/2 |url-status=live |access-date=20 Apr 2025 |website=AnandTech |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20250708174835/https://www.anandtech.com/show/5693/cinavia-drm-how-i-learned-to-stop-worrying-and-love-blurays-selfdestruction/2 |archive-date=8 Jul 2025}}</ref>

In the attempt of preventing video ripping via a capture card, modern displays, optical disc players, and computers use the [[wikipedia:High-bandwidth_Digital_Content_Protection|High-Definition Content Protection]] system to encrypt display signals.<ref>{{Cite web |title=About DCP |url=https://www.digital-cp.com/about_dcp |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260104104231/https://www.digital-cp.com/about_dcp |archive-date=2026-01-04 |access-date=20 Apr 2025 |website=Digital CP}}</ref> For example, [[Netflix stream-quality controversy|Netflix will refuse]] to stream content at the full resolution advertised for the plan if the user is not streaming through an HDCP compliant video card and display.

For terrestrial over-the-air broadcast, in 2023 [[ATSC 3.0]] pilot stations across the United States started to encrypt their signals,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Seidman |first=Lon |date=15 May 2023 |title=Broadcasters Roll Out Restrictive DRM Encryption on ATSC 3.0 Broadcasts |url=https://blog.lon.tv/2023/05/15/broadcasters-roll-out-restrictive-drm-encryption-on-atsc-3-0-broadcasts/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260104092252/https://blog.lon.tv/2023/05/15/broadcasters-roll-out-restrictive-drm-encryption-on-atsc-3-0-broadcasts/ |archive-date=2026-01-04 |access-date=20 Apr 2025 |website=Lon.tv}}</ref> leaving those that bought ATSC 3.0 tuners that could not decrypt broadcasts unable to watch the newly encrypted channels. Those tuners that were later certified by the A3SA authority to decrypt signals also had potential restrictions placed as part of the DRM scheme, such as blocking recordings and remote tuner access.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Newman |first=Jared |date=28 Jul 2023 |title=NextGen TV’s DRM puts future of the over-the-air DVR in doubt |url=https://www.techhive.com/article/2009693/nextgen-tv-drm-puts-future-of-the-over-the-air-dvr-in-doubt.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251213194219/https://www.techhive.com/article/2009693/nextgen-tv-drm-puts-future-of-the-over-the-air-dvr-in-doubt.html |archive-date=2025-12-13 |access-date=20 Apr 2025 |website=TechHive}}</ref>

==DRM in audio content==
Another place DRMs were used in was audio content, which was rarely implemented due to audio's analog nature (compared to video and software), making it questionable whether it could effectively block data replication. The most notable application of audio DRM was [[wikipedia:MediaMax|MediaMax]], which essentially functioned as malware to prevent users from simply playing these audio discs on Windows and macOS. There was also the less-notable [[wikipedia:Extended_Copy_Protection|Extended Copy Protection]] (XCP) DRM, however it did leave [[Sony]] in hot water<ref>{{Cite web |last= |date=1 February 2026 |title=Sony BMG copy protection rootkit scandal |url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sony_BMG_copy_protection_rootkit_scandal |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260204145529/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sony_BMG_copy_protection_rootkit_scandal |archive-date=2026-02-04 |access-date=20 Apr 2025 |website=Wikipedia}}</ref>, dubbing this form of DRM also as the Sony Rootkit.

==DRM in software==
Most discussions about DRM often associate its use with some form of software restriction, from the simple product key, to the infamous [[Denuvo]] DRM. Historically, DRM started off with simpler physical techniques, such as decoder wheels and [[wikipedia:Lenslok|LensLok]]. The effectiveness of these systems varied, and many cracking groups simply found ways around them, especially since second-hand copies of software that used these primitive forms of DRM could easily become lost, damaged, or worse, fail to function with certain hardware.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Whitehead |first=Ben |date=15 Apr 2010 |title=Banging the DRM |url=https://www.eurogamer.net/banging-the-drm-article?page=2 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251118190312/https://www.eurogamer.net/banging-the-drm-article?page=2 |archive-date=2025-11-18 |access-date=20 Apr 2025 |website=EuroGamer}}</ref> This has essentially sparked a game of cat and mouse that continues to fester, especially for the gaming community, to this day.

===Always-online DRM===
Some DRM requires a constant internet connection. While this may make sense in something that inherently requires an internet connection such as a streaming service or multiplayer-only video game, this has also been employed in games with single-player content, rendering customers unable to use their purchase if they do not have an active internet connection.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kain |first=Erik |date=17 May 2012 |title='Diablo III' Fans Should Stay Angry About Always-Online DRM |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2012/05/17/diablo-iii-fans-should-stay-angry-about-always-online-drm/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251024065743/https://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2012/05/17/diablo-iii-fans-should-stay-angry-about-always-online-drm/ |archive-date=2025-10-24 |access-date=20 Apr 2025 |website=Forbes}}</ref> Conversely, if operations for these services are shut down, user, even those with legitimate copies of software and internet access, cannot run their games without resorting to hacking them first.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Vitor |first=João |date=12 Jul 2024 |title=Rewriting completely the GameSpy support from 2000 to 2004 using Reverse Engineering on EA and Bungie Games |url=https://keowu.re/posts/Rewriting-completely-the-GameSpy-support-from-2000-to-2004-using-Reverse-Engineering-on-EA-and-Bungie-Games/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251216155905/https://keowu.re/posts/Rewriting-completely-the-GameSpy-support-from-2000-to-2004-using-Reverse-Engineering-on-EA-and-Bungie-Games |archive-date=2025-12-16 |access-date=20 Apr 2025 |website=Keowu Blog's}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Burns |first=Chris |date=4 Apr 2014 |title=GameSpy Shuts Down May 31: Will Your Game Be Affected? |url=https://www.slashgear.com/gamespy-shuts-down-may-31-will-your-game-be-affected-04323788/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251024204157/https://www.slashgear.com/gamespy-shuts-down-may-31-will-your-game-be-affected-04323788/ |archive-date=2025-10-24 |access-date=20 Apr 2025 |website=SlashGear}}</ref> [[Ubisoft]] has historically been known for server shutdowns and transfers cutting off access to games for many players.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Sharkey |first=Mike |date=2012-02-08 |title=Ubisoft DRM Locks Out Paying Customers |url=https://pc.gamespy.com/articles/121/1218211p1.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150906130332/http://pc.gamespy.com/articles/121/1218211p1.html |archive-date=2015-09-06 |access-date=20 Apr 2025 |website=IGN Entertainment}}</ref> Encrypted [[ATSC 3.0]] channels cannot be tuned to without a persistent internet connection.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Seidman |first=Lon |date=3 Sep 2023 |title=The ADTH Nextgen TV Box Shows Us Just How Bad ATSC 3.0 Encryption Will Be.. |url=https://blog.lon.tv/2023/09/03/the-adth-nextgen-tv-box-shows-us-just-how-bad-atsc-3-0-encrpytion-will-be/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251214005506/https://blog.lon.tv/2023/09/03/the-adth-nextgen-tv-box-shows-us-just-how-bad-atsc-3-0-encrpytion-will-be/ |archive-date=2025-12-14 |access-date=20 Apr 2025 |website=Lon.tv}}</ref>

==DRM present elsewhere==

===Network-Attached Storage Units===
''See also: [[Synology requiring proprietary-branded drives to be used with its NAS]]''

In 2025, certain models of pre-built network attached storage units produced by [[Synology]] contained DRM in order to prevent the usage of non-Synology branded hard drives.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Morales |first=Jowi |date=2025-04-16 |title=Synology requires self-branded drives for some consumer NAS systems, drops full functionality and support for third-party HDDs |url=https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-components/nas/synology-requires-self-branded-drives-for-some-consumer-nas-systems-drops-full-functionality-and-support-for-third-party-hdds |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260107215841/https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-components/nas/synology-requires-self-branded-drives-for-some-consumer-nas-systems-drops-full-functionality-and-support-for-third-party-hdds |archive-date=2026-01-07 |access-date=2026-02-06 |website=Tom's Hardware}}</ref> This decision recieved a lot of backlash and was reverted in October 2025.

===Printer Ink===
''See also: [[HP Dynamic Security]]''

Companies such as [[HP]] only allow printers to only use ink sold by the same brand. There are a number of DRM systems employed by different companies to this end, an example of which is HP Dynamic Security, which has caught controversy during recent years. Similarly, [[Dymo]] engages in this practice with their paper products using RFID tags.

===Air Filters===
''See also: [[Molekule threatens to remotely shut down devices used with third party air filters]]''

Some companies, namely Molekule and [[Xiaomi]], use NFC-based DRM systems to ensure that replacement air filters which are inserted in air purifying devices are made by the brand. Molekule additionally threatened to permanently shut down any devices which used third-party filters, essentially [[Device bricking|bricking]] them.

===Water Filters===
''See also: [[GE Refrigerator water filter DRM]]''

Certain models of refrigerators manufactured by General Electric contain DRM in order to prevent customers from purchasing generic water filters and to instead force their own water filters which are more expensive. <ref>{{Cite web |last=Bode |first=Karl |date=2020-01-23 |title=These Fridges Won’t Dispense Filtered Water Unless You Pay Extra for ‘Official’ Filters With RFID Chips |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/these-fridges-wont-dispense-filtered-water-unless-you-pay-extra-for-official-filters-with-rfid-chips/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251021063650/https://www.vice.com/en/article/these-fridges-wont-dispense-filtered-water-unless-you-pay-extra-for-official-filters-with-rfid-chips/ |archive-date=2025-10-21 |access-date=2026-02-06 |website=VICE}}</ref>

==Further reading==
*[[Automotive digital restrictions management]]

==References==
<references />
[[Category:Digital rights management]]

Talk:Digital rights management

2026-03-08T17:40:55Z

D-side: /* Don't most modern OSes come with DRM? */ Reply

Talk:Digital rights management

2026-03-08T17:23:26Z

D-side: /* Louis Rossmann and different names for DRM */ Reply

Digital rights management

2026-03-08T17:15:05Z

D-side: Expanded the conceptual problem with DRMs, reworded the Netflix HDCP example

[[Category:Anti-consumer practices]]
[[Category:Common terms]]

[[wikipedia:Digital_rights_management|'''Digital rights management''']] (DRM), alternatively known as '''digital restrictions management'''<ref>{{Cite web |last=Stallman |first=Richard |title=Opposing Digital Rights Mismanagement |url=https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/opposing-drm.en.html |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20251009050044/https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/opposing-drm.en.html |archive-date=9 Oct 2025}}</ref>, broadly refers to any kind of access control technology that is used to deliberately restrict the usage of media content or devices after the sale. It is typically used by a seller to protect their digital rights through prevention of unauthorized distribution or replication of their product. Implementations of DRM can range from very simple (such as a basic disc check) to extremely complex executable binary obfuscation (such as Denuvo).

<blockquote>DRM creates a damaged good; it prevents you from doing what would be possible without it. – Defective by Design<ref>{{Cite web |title=What is DRM? |url=https://www.defectivebydesign.org/what_is_drm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260203202020/https://www.defectivebydesign.org/what_is_drm |archive-date=2026-02-03 |access-date=2026-02-06 |website=Defective by Design}}</ref></blockquote>

==Why it is a problem==
A device in user's legal possession designed to act against their owner's intention constitutes a case of [[Right to own|eroded ownership]].

A DRM technology is, by design, an artificial restriction of capabilities of a device, either in general or only for certain protected types of content. Such restrictions need to be effective when the device or a copy of a creative work is in user's physical possession. And physical access allows for many techniques of analysis and reverse engineering that may be used to devise a way to circumvent the restrictions. Therefore to be effective, a DRM technology needs to withstand the techniques available to consumers. This presents a serious engineering challenge, seemingly with no perfect solution, because solutions to date have failed or compromised various additional functions in different ways.

For example, Netflix requires HDCP DRM for playback of its video content in advertised quality. And on multi-monitor systems HDCP only works if ''all'' connected monitors support it, not just the one that displays the video.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-02-24 |title=Netflix requires all monitors to be HDCP 2.2. How can I get around this? |url=https://old.reddit.com/r/pcmasterrace/comments/1avkwtb/netflix_requires_all_monitors_to_be_hdcp_22_how/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250126224945/https://old.reddit.com/r/pcmasterrace/comments/1avkwtb/netflix_requires_all_monitors_to_be_hdcp_22_how/ |archive-date=2025-01-26 |access-date=20 Apr 2025 |website=Old Reddit}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-03-22 |title=How do I get Netflix working at 4k on my second monitor? |url=https://old.reddit.com/r/netflix/comments/mam2l9/how_do_i_get_netflix_working_at_4k_on_my_second/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250403054443/https://old.reddit.com/r/netflix/comments/mam2l9/how_do_i_get_netflix_working_at_4k_on_my_second/ |archive-date=2025-04-03 |access-date=20 Apr 2025 |website=Old Reddit}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=How to use Netflix on your Windows computer or tablet |url=https://help.netflix.com/en/node/23931 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260104160941/https://help.netflix.com/en/node/23931 |archive-date=2026-01-04 |access-date=20 Apr 2025 |website=Netflix Help Center}}</ref> This means that older but fully functional monitors cannot be used as secondary screens without causing HDCP to fail on that PC and thus causing Netflix to serve a version of the content much lower in quality than it advertises.

Requirements such as this are not always clearly disclosed. When they are, they are often buried in the Terms of Service or, in Netflix's case, require navigating through multiple FAQ pages. Furthermore, some content may surreptitiously install DRM without the knowledge or consent of the user, such as in the Sony Rootkit scandal.<ref>{{Cite web |date=31 Oct 2005 |title=Sony, Rootkits and Digital Rights Management Gone Too Far |url=https://blogs.technet.com/b/markrussinovich/archive/2005/10/31/sony-rootkits-and-digital-rights-management-gone-too-far.aspx |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150317040653/http://blogs.technet.com/b/markrussinovich/archive/2005/10/31/sony-rootkits-and-digital-rights-management-gone-too-far.aspx |archive-date=17 Mar 2015 |access-date=20 Apr 2025 |website=Mark Russinovich's Blog}}</ref> Such software may contain exploits that can compromise the security of the user's PC.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Krebs |first=Brian |date=10 Nov 2005 |title=Virus Writers Exploit Sony Anti-Piracy Software |url=https://blog.washingtonpost.com/securityfix/2005/11/virus_writers_exploit_sony_ant.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061116191907/http://blog.washingtonpost.com/securityfix/2005/11/virus_writers_exploit_sony_ant.html |archive-date=16 Nov 2006 |access-date=20 Apr 2025 |website=Washington Post}}</ref>

DRM in video games has frequently been implemented in an intrusive manner, hurting load times and performance.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kessler |first=Ana |date=25 May 2023 |title=Testing Reveals Games with Denuvo Launch Up to Four Times Slower |url=https://80.lv/articles/testing-reveals-games-with-denuvo-launch-up-to-four-times-slower/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250911084255/https://80.lv/articles/testing-reveals-games-with-denuvo-launch-up-to-four-times-slower |archive-date=2025-09-11 |access-date=20 Apr 2025 |website=80.lv}}</ref> This behavior has been more a result of negligent usage of the DRM rather than deliberate malicious intent.

DRM failures can also come as a surprise. For example, with a YouTube Premium subscription, you can "Download videos to watch offline", but such videos are only available for 48 hours without an internet connection.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Watch videos offline on mobile in select countries & regions |url=https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/6141269 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260115091128/https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/6141269 |archive-date=2026-01-15 |access-date=20 Apr 2025 |website=YouTube Help}}</ref> This creates confusion and problems, as users may want to download videos in anticipation of a period without internet access.

===Ineffectiveness of audio and video DRM===
It is nearly impossible to prevent copying of non-interactive content such as audio and video once it is distributed to the consumer.

Macrovision DRM can be defeated using a widely available time base corrector,<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-02-09 |title=Bought this box back in the early 90s to eliminate Macrovision copy guard on tapes - cost $49.95 back then. Decided to see if it still works by recording my Red Label Star Wars set to DVD. Still working it’s magic! |url=https://old.reddit.com/r/VHS/comments/so4xs5/bought_this_box_back_in_the_early_90s_to/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250402200726/https://old.reddit.com/r/VHS/comments/so4xs5/bought_this_box_back_in_the_early_90s_to/ |archive-date=2025-04-02 |access-date=20 Apr 2025 |website=Old Reddit}}</ref> which strips out the signal that triggers the AGC on VCRs or Macrovision compliant devices.

Many HDMI splitters<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-01-23 |title=Bypassing HDCP in 2024 |url=https://old.reddit.com/r/PS3/comments/19dohrh/bypassing_hdcp_in_2024/lbtqiky/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250121093658/https://old.reddit.com/r/PS3/comments/19dohrh/bypassing_hdcp_in_2024/lbtqiky/ |archive-date=2025-01-21 |access-date=20 Apr 2025 |website=Old Reddit}}</ref> and capture cards<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-01-23 |title=I bought a $40 capture card off Amazon and it seems to have hdcp bypass because my PS3 works directly with it. |url=https://old.reddit.com/r/PS3/comments/19dohrh/bypassing_hdcp_in_2024/kj7cu60/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250803020254/https://old.reddit.com/r/PS3/comments/19dohrh/bypassing_hdcp_in_2024/kj7cu60/ |archive-date=2025-08-03 |access-date=20 Apr 2025 |website=Old Reddit}}</ref> are capable of decrypting HDCP and copying the video stream. As long as at least one bypass exists at the HDCP level, all streaming content can be trivially ripped.

Audio DRM is trivial to bypass, as the audio must be decrypted into a plain analog signal in order to drive physical speakers or headphones.

===DRM degradation===
The development of some forms of DRM, such as [[wikipedia:Games_for_Windows_–_Live|Games For Windows Live]], are reliant on special processes within some operating systems that end up becoming unsupported or deprecated as time goes on. Legacy [[SecuROM]]-protected titles (released roughly between 1998 and 2005) are notoriously known for not running on operating systems newer than Windows XP<ref>{{Cite web |last=D’Amico |first=Luca |date=5 May 2022 |title=Arabian Nights |url=https://www.lucadamico.dev/papers/drms/securom/ArabianNights.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260112055300/https://www.lucadamico.dev/papers/drms/securom/ArabianNights.pdf |archive-date=2026-01-12 |access-date=2026-02-06 |website=lucadamico.dev}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=@haggar |date=15 Oct 2006 |title=Unpacking SecuROM 4.xx |url=https://www.reversing.be/article.php?story=20061015153108847 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220226230919/http://www.reversing.be/article.php?story=20061015153108847 |archive-date=26 Feb 2022 |access-date=20 Apr 2025 |website=www.reversing.be}}</ref>. Customers must spend an extensive amount of time circumventing the DRM (or using more illicit methods) just to play content they legitimately purchased.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Baggs |first=Nathan |date=16 Jan 2025 |title=Hacking This Terrible DRM |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjkqI7dBDVg |url-status=live |archive-url=https://preservetube.com/watch?v=vjkqI7dBDVg |archive-date=2025-01-20 |access-date=20 Apr 2025 |website=[[YouTube]]}}</ref>

This DRM degradation has the worst effects on physical licenses of products, as unlike a digital installation, if a physical copy of a game's DRM stops being supported by modern hardware, developers cannot simply distribute a patch to directly modify the code on a disc, and online patches cannot last forever.

==DRM in video content==

Attempting to prevent the copying of video content is one of the most common and long-standing uses of DRM. The idea of using copy obstruction on video content predates the term "DRM", one early example being the "Automatic Gain Control" requirement in VCRs used to enforce the "Macrovision" copy-protection scheme.<ref>{{Cite web |date=1999-11-29 |title=17 U.S. Code § 1201 - Circumvention of copyright protection systems |url=https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/17/1201#k_1_A |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260201101756/https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/17/1201#k_1_A |archive-date=2026-02-01 |access-date=2026-02-06 |website=Cornell Law School}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2018 |title=Macrovision Demystified |url=https://cs.stanford.edu/people/eroberts/courses/cs181/projects/1999-00/dmca-2k/macrovision.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251212001352/https://cs.stanford.edu/people/eroberts/courses/cs181/projects/1999-00/dmca-2k/macrovision.html |archive-date=2025-12-12 |access-date=2026-02-06 |website=Stanford Engineering Computer Science}} </ref> This requirement resulted in VCRs and compliant analog to DV capture cards not being able to record commercial VHS tapes{{citation needed}}.

From 1996, DVDs began to feature the "Content Scramble System" (CSS), an encryption based DRM. CSS was successfully circumvented as early as 1999, less than five years after its introduction, partly due to the limited length of the 40-bit encryption key, which was used to comply with US government export regulations of the time.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Stevenson |first=Frank Andrew |date=27 Oct 1999 |title=[Livid-dev] Successfull attack on CSS algorithm |url=https://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/DeCSS/FrankStevenson/mail1.txt |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260114031245/https://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/DeCSS/FrankStevenson/mail1.txt |archive-date=2026-01-14 |access-date=2026-02-06 |website=Carnegie Mellon University School of Computer Science}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Stevenson |first=Frank A. |date=8 November 1999 |title=Cryptanalysis of Contents Scrambling System |url=http://www.dvd-copy.com/news/cryptanalysis_of_contents_scrambling_system.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000302000206/http://www.dvd-copy.com/news/cryptanalysis_of_contents_scrambling_system.htm |archive-date=2000-03-02 |access-date=2026-02-06 |website=DVD-Copy}}</ref> Following this, DVDs as well as HD-DVDs and Blu-Rays would implement other types of DRM, one of them being the "Advanced Access Content System".<ref>{{Cite web |title=Advanced Access Content System (AACS) |url=https://www.aacsla.com/specifications/specs091/AACS_Spec_Common_0.91.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070302130221/http://www.aacsla.com/specifications/specs091/AACS_Spec_Common_0.91.pdf |archive-date=2 Mar 2007 |access-date=20 Apr 2025}}
</ref> When the first AACS processing key was similarly extracted, the AACS Licensing Administrator began issuing cease-and-desist letters to websites where the key was posted.<ref>{{Cite web |date=17 Apr 2007 |title=AACS licensor complains of posted key |url=https://lumendatabase.org/notices/21725 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251207212919/https://lumendatabase.org/notices/21725 |archive-date=2025-12-07 |access-date=20 Apr 2025 |website=Lumen}}</ref> Another form of Blu-Ray DRM, [[Cinavia]], uses a form of audio watermarking that makes certain releases unplayable in devices that are not equipped to recognize it, a notable example being Sony's Playstation 3.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ganesh |first=T. S. |date=21 Mar 2012 |title=Cinavia DRM: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Blu-ray’s Self-Destruction |url=https://www.anandtech.com/show/5693/cinavia-drm-how-i-learned-to-stop-worrying-and-love-blurays-selfdestruction/2 |url-status=live |access-date=20 Apr 2025 |website=AnandTech |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20250708174835/https://www.anandtech.com/show/5693/cinavia-drm-how-i-learned-to-stop-worrying-and-love-blurays-selfdestruction/2 |archive-date=8 Jul 2025}}</ref>

In the attempt of preventing video ripping via a capture card, modern displays, optical disc players, and computers use the [[wikipedia:High-bandwidth_Digital_Content_Protection|High-Definition Content Protection]] system to encrypt display signals.<ref>{{Cite web |title=About DCP |url=https://www.digital-cp.com/about_dcp |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260104104231/https://www.digital-cp.com/about_dcp |archive-date=2026-01-04 |access-date=20 Apr 2025 |website=Digital CP}}</ref> For example, [[Netflix stream-quality controversy|Netflix will refuse]] to stream content at the full resolution advertised for the plan if the user is not streaming through an HDCP compliant video card and display.

For terrestrial over-the-air broadcast, in 2023 [[ATSC 3.0]] pilot stations across the United States started to encrypt their signals,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Seidman |first=Lon |date=15 May 2023 |title=Broadcasters Roll Out Restrictive DRM Encryption on ATSC 3.0 Broadcasts |url=https://blog.lon.tv/2023/05/15/broadcasters-roll-out-restrictive-drm-encryption-on-atsc-3-0-broadcasts/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260104092252/https://blog.lon.tv/2023/05/15/broadcasters-roll-out-restrictive-drm-encryption-on-atsc-3-0-broadcasts/ |archive-date=2026-01-04 |access-date=20 Apr 2025 |website=Lon.tv}}</ref> leaving those that bought ATSC 3.0 tuners that could not decrypt broadcasts unable to watch the newly encrypted channels. Those tuners that were later certified by the A3SA authority to decrypt signals also had potential restrictions placed as part of the DRM scheme, such as blocking recordings and remote tuner access.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Newman |first=Jared |date=28 Jul 2023 |title=NextGen TV’s DRM puts future of the over-the-air DVR in doubt |url=https://www.techhive.com/article/2009693/nextgen-tv-drm-puts-future-of-the-over-the-air-dvr-in-doubt.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251213194219/https://www.techhive.com/article/2009693/nextgen-tv-drm-puts-future-of-the-over-the-air-dvr-in-doubt.html |archive-date=2025-12-13 |access-date=20 Apr 2025 |website=TechHive}}</ref>

==DRM in audio content==
Another place DRMs were used in was audio content, which was rarely implemented due to audio's analog nature (compared to video and software), making it questionable whether it could effectively block data replication. The most notable application of audio DRM was [[wikipedia:MediaMax|MediaMax]], which essentially functioned as malware to prevent users from simply playing these audio discs on Windows and macOS. There was also the less-notable [[wikipedia:Extended_Copy_Protection|Extended Copy Protection]] (XCP) DRM, however it did leave [[Sony]] in hot water<ref>{{Cite web |last= |date=1 February 2026 |title=Sony BMG copy protection rootkit scandal |url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sony_BMG_copy_protection_rootkit_scandal |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260204145529/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sony_BMG_copy_protection_rootkit_scandal |archive-date=2026-02-04 |access-date=20 Apr 2025 |website=Wikipedia}}</ref>, dubbing this form of DRM also as the Sony Rootkit.

==DRM in software==
Most discussions about DRM often associate its use with some form of software restriction, from the simple product key, to the infamous [[Denuvo]] DRM. Historically, DRM started off with simpler physical techniques, such as decoder wheels and [[wikipedia:Lenslok|LensLok]]. The effectiveness of these systems varied, and many cracking groups simply found ways around them, especially since second-hand copies of software that used these primitive forms of DRM could easily become lost, damaged, or worse, fail to function with certain hardware.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Whitehead |first=Ben |date=15 Apr 2010 |title=Banging the DRM |url=https://www.eurogamer.net/banging-the-drm-article?page=2 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251118190312/https://www.eurogamer.net/banging-the-drm-article?page=2 |archive-date=2025-11-18 |access-date=20 Apr 2025 |website=EuroGamer}}</ref> This has essentially sparked a game of cat and mouse that continues to fester, especially for the gaming community, to this day.

===Always-online DRM===
Some DRM requires a constant internet connection. While this may make sense in something that inherently requires an internet connection such as a streaming service or multiplayer-only video game, this has also been employed in games with single-player content, rendering customers unable to use their purchase if they do not have an active internet connection.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kain |first=Erik |date=17 May 2012 |title='Diablo III' Fans Should Stay Angry About Always-Online DRM |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2012/05/17/diablo-iii-fans-should-stay-angry-about-always-online-drm/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251024065743/https://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2012/05/17/diablo-iii-fans-should-stay-angry-about-always-online-drm/ |archive-date=2025-10-24 |access-date=20 Apr 2025 |website=Forbes}}</ref> Conversely, if operations for these services are shut down, user, even those with legitimate copies of software and internet access, cannot run their games without resorting to hacking them first.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Vitor |first=João |date=12 Jul 2024 |title=Rewriting completely the GameSpy support from 2000 to 2004 using Reverse Engineering on EA and Bungie Games |url=https://keowu.re/posts/Rewriting-completely-the-GameSpy-support-from-2000-to-2004-using-Reverse-Engineering-on-EA-and-Bungie-Games/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251216155905/https://keowu.re/posts/Rewriting-completely-the-GameSpy-support-from-2000-to-2004-using-Reverse-Engineering-on-EA-and-Bungie-Games |archive-date=2025-12-16 |access-date=20 Apr 2025 |website=Keowu Blog's}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Burns |first=Chris |date=4 Apr 2014 |title=GameSpy Shuts Down May 31: Will Your Game Be Affected? |url=https://www.slashgear.com/gamespy-shuts-down-may-31-will-your-game-be-affected-04323788/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251024204157/https://www.slashgear.com/gamespy-shuts-down-may-31-will-your-game-be-affected-04323788/ |archive-date=2025-10-24 |access-date=20 Apr 2025 |website=SlashGear}}</ref> [[Ubisoft]] has historically been known for server shutdowns and transfers cutting off access to games for many players.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Sharkey |first=Mike |date=2012-02-08 |title=Ubisoft DRM Locks Out Paying Customers |url=https://pc.gamespy.com/articles/121/1218211p1.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150906130332/http://pc.gamespy.com/articles/121/1218211p1.html |archive-date=2015-09-06 |access-date=20 Apr 2025 |website=IGN Entertainment}}</ref> Encrypted [[ATSC 3.0]] channels cannot be tuned to without a persistent internet connection.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Seidman |first=Lon |date=3 Sep 2023 |title=The ADTH Nextgen TV Box Shows Us Just How Bad ATSC 3.0 Encryption Will Be.. |url=https://blog.lon.tv/2023/09/03/the-adth-nextgen-tv-box-shows-us-just-how-bad-atsc-3-0-encrpytion-will-be/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251214005506/https://blog.lon.tv/2023/09/03/the-adth-nextgen-tv-box-shows-us-just-how-bad-atsc-3-0-encrpytion-will-be/ |archive-date=2025-12-14 |access-date=20 Apr 2025 |website=Lon.tv}}</ref>

==DRM present elsewhere==

===Network-Attached Storage Units===
''See also: [[Synology requiring proprietary-branded drives to be used with its NAS]]''

In 2025, certain models of pre-built network attached storage units produced by [[Synology]] contained DRM in order to prevent the usage of non-Synology branded hard drives.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Morales |first=Jowi |date=2025-04-16 |title=Synology requires self-branded drives for some consumer NAS systems, drops full functionality and support for third-party HDDs |url=https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-components/nas/synology-requires-self-branded-drives-for-some-consumer-nas-systems-drops-full-functionality-and-support-for-third-party-hdds |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260107215841/https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-components/nas/synology-requires-self-branded-drives-for-some-consumer-nas-systems-drops-full-functionality-and-support-for-third-party-hdds |archive-date=2026-01-07 |access-date=2026-02-06 |website=Tom's Hardware}}</ref> This decision recieved a lot of backlash and was reverted in October 2025.

===Printer Ink===
''See also: [[HP Dynamic Security]]''

Companies such as [[HP]] only allow printers to only use ink sold by the same brand. There are a number of DRM systems employed by different companies to this end, an example of which is HP Dynamic Security, which has caught controversy during recent years. Similarly, [[Dymo]] engages in this practice with their paper products using RFID tags.

===Air Filters===
''See also: [[Molekule threatens to remotely shut down devices used with third party air filters]]''

Some companies, namely Molekule and [[Xiaomi]], use NFC-based DRM systems to ensure that replacement air filters which are inserted in air purifying devices are made by the brand. Molekule additionally threatened to permanently shut down any devices which used third-party filters, essentially [[Device bricking|bricking]] them.

===Water Filters===
''See also: [[GE Refrigerator water filter DRM]]''

Certain models of refrigerators manufactured by General Electric contain DRM in order to prevent customers from purchasing generic water filters and to instead force their own water filters which are more expensive. <ref>{{Cite web |last=Bode |first=Karl |date=2020-01-23 |title=These Fridges Won’t Dispense Filtered Water Unless You Pay Extra for ‘Official’ Filters With RFID Chips |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/these-fridges-wont-dispense-filtered-water-unless-you-pay-extra-for-official-filters-with-rfid-chips/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251021063650/https://www.vice.com/en/article/these-fridges-wont-dispense-filtered-water-unless-you-pay-extra-for-official-filters-with-rfid-chips/ |archive-date=2025-10-21 |access-date=2026-02-06 |website=VICE}}</ref>

==Further reading==
*[[Automotive digital restrictions management]]

==References==
<references />
[[Category:Digital rights management]]

Self-hosting

2026-03-08T12:57:14Z

D-side: Added a section for network-wide ad blockers

'''Self-hosting''' is the practice of implementing digital services with server applications under one's own control. This is opposed to relying on large public services or [[Cloud (service)|cloud services]], compared to which it provides significantly more control over how the services are provided at the cost of responsibility for setting them up and keeping them operational over time.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=About self-hosting |url=https://doc.yunohost.org/en/admin/about_self_hosting/ |url-status=live |access-date=2026-02-25 |website=Yunohost}}</ref>

It is typically taken up as a hobby, but enthusiasts report practical benefits as reasons to do this too, such as lower costs, less privacy concerns and greater flexibility.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Sholly |first=Ethan |date=2025-11-21 |title=2025 Self-Host User Survey Results |url=https://selfh.st/survey/2025-results/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251121125437/https://selfh.st/survey/2025-results/ |archive-date=21 Nov 2025 |website=selfh.st}}</ref> Some enjoy the feeling of independence and a sense of autonomy it brings, for some it's an alternative to digital services offered on worse terms than self-hosting can provide, and sometimes it's a viable alternative when commercial service providers make sudden significant changes detrimental to their users.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kehayias |first=John |date=2021-09-02 |title=Meet the Self-Hosters, Taking Back the Internet One Server at a Time |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/meet-the-self-hosters-taking-back-the-internet-one-server-at-a-time/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240816174958/https://www.vice.com/en/article/meet-the-self-hosters-taking-back-the-internet-one-server-at-a-time/ |archive-date=16 Aug 2024 |access-date=2025-08-12 |website=VICE}}</ref>

==Origin of the practice==
Self-hosting typically refers to usage of digital services '''hosted''' by a person for just themselves (hence the '''self-''' prefix), but they're often made available also to a circle of family and friends, especially services that feature collaboration. Before self-hosting rose to prominence similar installations were typically limited to organizations and housed internal tools, such as company chats and internal knowledge bases.{{Citation needed}} This is still common in organizations, only partially supplanted by [[Software as a service|software-as-a-service (SaaS)]].

Today, there are numerous free and open-source server applications available to everyone with an internet connection<ref>{{Cite web |title=Free software |url=https://awesome-selfhosted.net/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260213070029/https://awesome-selfhosted.net/ |archive-date=13 Feb 2026 |website=Awesome-Selfhosted}}</ref>. Companies commonly employ dedicated system administrators to run such applications, due to some specialized knowledge required to set them up. But over the years the amount of knowledge required for this has been reducing, which has allowed more people to install such server applications by themselves.{{Citation needed}}

Because both organizations and self-hosters largely use the same methods and software, most of the same risks and mistakes that companies have to deal with are present in some form in self-hosting as well. What can be configured poorly in a self-hosted setup can be configured poorly in professional installations as well.

==Use cases==

===Standalone digital services===
Messaging (such as e-mail, social networks and instant messengers), publishing (blogs, wikis, etc.), [[software as a service]], most forms of continuous data synchronization between devices and remote access of other devices are examples of services that can provide value to users by themselves, with clients widely available or unnecessary.

Self-hosting such services can be useful for privacy: for those that do not wish for their activity on these services to be transmitted to the internet at all to reduce the number of ways it can leak.

Self-hosting can also provide additional resilience: the service can remain fully functional in a [[Local area network|local network]] where it's deployed — which is useful in case the [[internet service provider]] (ISP) has an outage or if an alternative public service falls under new legal restrictions (e. g. censorship) and becomes inaccessible.

Self-hosting can also be a viable alternative when an existing service changes in an undesirable way (e. g. changes its [[terms of service]] in a controversial way, changes existing features, gets acquired or taken over), providing a baseline against which service providers could be forced to compete in serving the needs of their users.

===Digital services for "connected" products===
Various products in addition to (or instead of) autonomous functioning are increasingly relying on a service elsewhere for some of their features, often marketed as "smart" or "connected".

Most of the time, product manufacturers do not allow users to specify their own servers for these services. In such cases manufacturers' infrastructure becomes integral to the product and often gives manufacturer complete access to the product post-purchase through software updates, allowing for a number of anti-consumer actions such as [[retroactively amended purchase]] (manufacturer changing the way the product functions) and [[discontinuation bricking]] (manufacturer shutting down their server, reducing functionality of the product or rendering it entirely inoperable). When using a self-hosted server these such actions can be prevented by cutting access to manufacturer's servers while preserving product functionality; however, most of the time it's not officially supported.

This isn't limited to just physical products, it affects software as well. For instance, [[games as a service]] typically require a server to fully function, and server software for such games is not made available to users, making self-hosting for such games impossible and requiring manufacturer's active involvement in order to maintain full game functionality. There are, however, many multiplayer games, especially older ones, that do support self-hosting of servers through dedicated server software<ref>{{Cite web |title=Dedicated Servers List |url=https://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/Dedicated_Servers_List |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260116200846/https://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/Dedicated_Servers_List |archive-date=16 Jan 2026 |access-date=2025-10-12 |website=Valve Developer Community}}</ref>.

==Typical arrangements==

===Consumer-grade PC===
A lot of server software is capable of running on "normal" (consumer-grade) computers as well. So it is common to start self-hosting by installing server software on an unused computer that can be run continuously or whenever access to its services may be needed.

Because most self-hosted servers are typically used by only a few users in practice<ref name=":1" />, hardware requirements for some of the most popular services can be meager<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=System Requirements |url=https://docs.nextcloud.com/server/stable/admin_manual/installation/system_requirements.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251115134906/https://docs.nextcloud.com/server/stable/admin_manual/installation/system_requirements.html |archive-date=15 Nov 2025 |access-date=2025-10-12 |website=Nextcloud Administration Manual}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=FAQ - Docker Mailserver |url=https://docker-mailserver.github.io/docker-mailserver/latest/faq/#what-are-the-system-requirements |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251014171111/https://docker-mailserver.github.io/docker-mailserver/latest/faq/#what-are-the-system-requirements |archive-date=14 Oct 2025 |access-date=2025-10-12 |website=Docker-mailserver}}</ref> and can be satisfied by very old or cheap computers, which can be seen as a step towards [[circular economy]].

Software-wise, depending on requirements and the level of technical expertise, one might opt for a generic server OS such as [https://www.debian.org/ Debian], [https://ubuntu.com/server Ubuntu Server], and [https://www.freebsd.org/ FreeBSD] for a more do-it-yourself experience, or an OS purpose-built for self-hosting such as [https://yunohost.org/ YunoHost] or [https://umbrel.com/ UmbrelOS] which guides its users through some of the complexities of the process. In some more niche circumstances, [https://www.openbsd.org/ OpenBSD] might be preferred to other options as a server operating system due to its focus on security and simplicity.

===Network-attached storage (NAS)===
Companies such as [[Synology]], [[QNap|QNAP]], [[UGreen|UGREEN]] and others offer commercial hardware products called NAS (Network Attached Storage) that expose disks to a network for shared access to files on them<ref>{{Cite web |last=Susnjara |first=Stephanie |last2=Smalley |first2=Ian |title=What is network attached storage (NAS)? |url=https://www.ibm.com/think/topics/network-attached-storage |url-status=live |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20251114021534/https://www.ibm.com/think/topics/network-attached-storage |archive-date=14 Nov 2025|access-date=2025-11-22 |website=IBM |series=Think}}</ref> in form of a "network drive", "file share" or "shared folder". As an additional function, many such devices can also run server software, and may even offer user-friendly graphical interfaces for this out-of-the-box.

Such devices are typically optimized for file management, and applications using the files stored by a NAS are expected to run on ''other'' devices on the same network (e. g. a PC running heavy video editing software utilizing video files stored on a NAS). As such, NAS devices, especially budget ones, often do not have much capacity for server applications. For a small number of users, however, as is common in self-hosting, they can be sufficient.

A consumer NAS is typically more expensive than self-built solutions or second hand server-grade hardware, but due to better power management, the higher costs can be worth it in regions with high electricity prices.

===Server hosting provider===
Rather than purchasing, configuring, running and maintaining physical hardware, a user can instead delegate most "hardware" aspects of self-hosting to a server hosting provider, which provides almost complete control of a general-purpose computer to a user for a subscription fee.

Control over not just the ''service'' but also the ''platform'' it runs on (the computer) provides the user with significantly more control over data that it processes compared to just using a service hosted by another party.

===Specialized server hardware===
An expensive high-end option that most closely resembles professional setups, with all the perks and downsides of professional setups: professional server hardware is designed to be more reliable and easily serviceable, but also can be very noisy, which may not matter much inside a proper server room or a data center, but for an apartment might be completely unacceptable.

These are commonly set up for services with high hardware requirements or maintained as a hobby by those who'd like to practice business-grade system administration at home. For the vast majority of services this is unnecessary and is sometimes mocked as such.<ref>{{Cite web |title=You are all a bunch of sick freaks : selfhosted |url=https://old.reddit.com/r/selfhosted/comments/1igr2l7/you_are_all_a_bunch_of_sick_freaks/ |archive-url=https://selfh.st/sick-freaks/ |archive-date=2025-02-03 |website=Reddit}}</ref>

==Self-hosted applications relevant to consumer rights==
{{Incomplete section}}

===[https://www.home-assistant.io/ Home Assistant]===
One of the most prominent free & open source projects in self-hosted home automation space.

Because it provides an unofficial self-hosted interface to and between "connected" products of many brands, it prominently announces anti-consumer actions by supported brands aimed at reducing or disabling that capability, bringing them to attention. Some vendors reconsider their plans afterwards, providing alternative solutions or entirely cancelling their plans for such changes, which Home Assistant reflects in their announcement posts as well.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2018-12-17 |title=Logitech Harmony removes local API |url=https://www.home-assistant.io/blog/2018/12/17/logitech-harmony-removes-local-api/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190915093907/https://www.home-assistant.io/blog/2018/12/17/logitech-harmony-removes-local-api/ |archive-date=15 Sep 2019 |access-date= |website=Home Assistant}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-11-23 |title=TP-Link offers way to add local API back |url=https://www.home-assistant.io/blog/2020/11/23/tplink-local-access/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201124190144/https://www.home-assistant.io/blog/2020/11/23/tplink-local-access/ |archive-date=24 Nov 2020 |website=Home Assistant}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-10-13 |title=Removal of Mazda Connected Services integration |url=https://www.home-assistant.io/blog/2023/10/13/removal-of-mazda-connected-services-integration/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231013215225/https://www.home-assistant.io/blog/2023/10/13/removal-of-mazda-connected-services-integration/ |archive-date=13 Oct 2023 |access-date= |website=Home Assistant}}</ref>

Counters consumer rights issues such as [[discontinuation bricking]], [[retroactive policy enforcement]] and [[post-purchase EULA modification]], mostly in regards to "connected" devices and smart homes.

===[https://nextcloud.com/ Nextcloud]===
Provides remote file storage and sharing as a core function and numerous other functions available for easy installation: synchronization of contacts and calendars, a full-fledged browser-based editor for contacts and calendars, collaborative document editing, chat, video conferencing and more. Many of these are functions commonly seen as available only from large commercial providers, and Nextcloud serves as an example that disproves this notion.

In addition to offering a comprehensive interface for the browser and a suite of first-party mobile apps, some third-party applications allow the use of Nextcloud for storing user data. Some such applications are:

*[https://www.davx5.com/ DAVx⁵], a synchronization app for calendars, contacts and tasks on Android over the standard DAV protocols that Nextcloud implements
*[https://www.onlyoffice.com/ OnlyOffice], an in-browser document editor within Nextcloud's interface and a desktop editor that connects to a Nextcloud account, both allowing access to files in Nextcloud and collaborative editing with other users
*[https://floccus.org/ Floccus], a synchronization service for browser bookmarks and tabs, available across many browsers and as a mobile app, and synchronizing with a server chosen by the user, Nextcloud being only one of several supported options
*[https://github.com/scubajeff/lespas Les Pas], a photo album Android app, automating photo uploads and browsing both local and remote photo albums
*Apps that rely entirely on files for storage and can access Nextcloud through the operating system's interfaces and a Nextcloud client

In numerous alternatives, particularly among mobile apps, similar functions are only provided by the app's developer or affiliated parties, and often for a fee, with no alternatives,{{Citation needed|reason=needs examples}} resulting in a [[vendor lock-in]].

=== Network-wide ad blockers ===
{{Main|Ad block}}
Software suites that block access to advertising platforms to devices on the local network.

While limited in what kinds of ads they are capable of blocking, they work where installing a more advanced ad blocker is more difficult or impossible, such as on devices with heavily locked down software or within individual applications.

Examples: [https://pi-hole.net/ PiHole], [https://adguard.com/en/adguard-home/overview.html AdGuard Home].

===Other useful tools===

*[https://www.truenas.com/ TrueNAS], [https://www.openmediavault.org/ OpenMediaVault], [https://unraid.net/ Unraid]: Stores files on a server and makes them available to multiple devices
*[https://casaos.io/ CasaOS], [https://umbrel.com/umbrelos Umbrel], [https://yunohost.org/ YunoHost]: Systems that aim to make it easy for non-technical users to run their own server and install services on it using a familiar app store paradigm
*[https://www.proxmox.com/ Proxmox VE]: Allows users to host multiple services isolated from each other on one server
*[https://mailcow.email/ Mailcow], [https://mailu.io/2024.06/# Mailu], [https://modoboa.org/en/ Modoboa]: Email servers that allow users to send and receive emails without the data collection of free mail services or the price of paid mail services
*[https://jitsi.org/jitsi-meet/ Jitsi Meet], [https://bigbluebutton.org/ BigBlueButton]: Video conferencing without relying on third party servers
*[https://matrix.org/ Matrix], [https://xmpp.org/ XMPP]: Federated messaging platforms
*[https://jellyfin.org/ Jellyfin]: Allows for media hosting with various clients for different devices to access the server

==Further reading==

*[[Cloud (service)]]
*[[Local Area Network]]
*[[Right to own]]
*[[Software as a service]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}
[[Category:Common terms]]

Talk:Enshittification

2026-02-27T13:13:58Z

D-side: /* Some stuff to expand on/include? Keep to the narrow definition on the page? */ Reply

==Some stuff to expand on/include? Keep to the narrow definition on the page?==

When companies gradually make their existing products less functional to push sales of new ones, and avoid providing customer service to customers, is that enshittification? What are some other good terms for that?

While enshittification is the trendy term for this decay in digital services, there are several other established and more specific terms for the practices you described:

1. [[Planned obsolescence|Planned Obsolescence]]

This is the most common term for deliberately designing products with a limited lifespan to force consumers to buy newer models. It includes several sub-types:

*'''Functional Obsolescence:''' Engineering products with technical limitations or using inferior materials so they break or fail sooner than they naturally should.
*'''Systemic Obsolescence:''' Using software updates to make older hardware incompatible or slower (often called "software bloating" or "throttling").
*'''Contrived Fragility:''' Choosing fragile materials or suboptimal layouts specifically to increase wear and tear.

2. Service Degradation

This refers to the intentional lowering of quality or accessibility in customer support and services.

*'''Support Decay:''' When companies eliminate human support for everyone except high-paying "enterprise" tiers, leaving regular customers to deal with chatbots or non-existent service.
*'''Customer Irrelevance:''' A hallmark of late-stage capitalism where companies feel they no longer need to compete for customer satisfaction because they have achieved a monopoly or "lock-in".

3. Other Descriptive Terms

*'''Platform Decay:''' A more polite or academic synonym for enshittification, used to describe the systematic decline in quality of major internet platforms.
*'''Crapification:''' Another synonym used interchangeably with enshittification to describe once-useful products becoming "crap" as they prioritize rent-seeking over value.
*'''Adversarial Commercialization:''' A term used to describe when a company stops treating customers as peers and starts treating them as a "leash to be yanked" for more money.
*'''Rent-Seeking:''' When a company focuses on extracting value from existing users (through fees, subscriptions, or gated features) rather than creating new wealth or value.

[[User:CrookKilla|CrookKilla]] ([[User talk:CrookKilla|talk]]) 19:43, 19 February 2026 (UTC)

:Enshittification per Cory Doctorow is a higher-level pattern that ''composes'' these practices into a pattern of major development stages of a whole bunch of different services (lock-in end-users, exploit end-users for the benefit of business customers, exploit business customers for the benefit of the platform — platform becomes a pile of shit, hence enshittification).
:And while I distinctly remember him approving broader use of the term for cases that don't strictly fit that pattern but fit the "sense" of the word about technology getting worse — this is the page about the word and its definition. Sticking to the canonical interpretation makes sense to me. Especially when this wiki has (or can/should have) pages on more specific issues where only they apply. [[User:D-side|D-side]] ([[User talk:D-side|talk]]) 13:13, 27 February 2026 (UTC)

Talk:Self-hosting

2026-02-27T12:58:15Z

D-side: /* Fellow self-hosting enthusiasts, let's remember this is Consumer Rights Wiki */ new section

==TODO?==

Things I wanted to cover in the article but haven't so far gotten around to incorporating these ideas into the article, feel free to take a stab at it or question if those need to be in the article at all:

*Manufacturers understandably provide some service themselves for ease of use, for consumer rights protection regarding connected products self-hosted service needs to be an '''option''', not the only way; and this particular way should probably be a last resort when manufacturer is being uncooperative (ignorant, malicious, underfunded, defunct, bankrupt or any combination of those)
*^+ Maybe showcase this from a service monopoly perspective, where vendor lock-in is effectively a monopoly on a service enforced through anti-competitive choices of proprietary APIs and protocols
*Being deployed by enthusiasts, self-hosted services may not adhere as often to best deployment practices very rigorously compared to professional setups; such as having a reliable backup process, which is not strictly necessary for the service to ''function'', and self-hosters aren't typically bound by legal restrictions on ensuring data safety that could incentivize that (nor should they be); that said, companies can make similar mistakes, and legal punishment for them hinges on the consumers' ability to prove those mistakes being made in order to invoke said legal punishment

[[User:D-side|D-side]] ([[User talk:D-side|talk]]) 15:47, 18 October 2025 (UTC)

==Definition of "server"==

The paragraph defining "server" as a piece of software providing a service rather than a machine that runs such software 24x7 kinda sticks out of the rest of the article, being about the article itself rather than article's subject (self-hosting). Maybe needs to be moved or placed in a block of some kind, maybe needs its own page even. WDYT? [[User:D-side|D-side]] ([[User talk:D-side|talk]]) 15:50, 18 October 2025 (UTC)

:Reviewed the use of the term "server" throughout the article and noticed that in most places it's already qualified like "server application" and "server hardware" and tossed the paragraph (in a revision I accidentally left without a description). [[User:D-side|D-side]] ([[User talk:D-side|talk]]) 03:46, 26 February 2026 (UTC)

==Applications in the Nextcloud section==

@[[User:Dosjdhdjdjdhdjdjdj|Dosjdhdjdjdhdjdjdj]] hi, I rolled back your last formatting update: I meant to showcase the variety of function-specific clients for Nextcloud, they are not standalone self-hostable apps, which is why they are formatted within the Nextcloud section, it's intentional.

Outside of that, thank you!

I'm completely out of the loop regarding the use of BSD other than knowing it exists and that some prefer that. I try to keep the deeper technical aspects out of scope due to the scope of the wiki, but OS diversity probably contributes to the message that self-hosting landscape is diverse but decently cohesive despite that. [[User:D-side|D-side]] ([[User talk:D-side|talk]]) 07:10, 26 February 2026 (UTC)

:Thanks for clarifying [[User:Dosjdhdjdjdhdjdjdj|Dosjdhdjdjdhdjdjdj]] ([[User talk:Dosjdhdjdjdhdjdjdj|talk]]) 00:24, 27 February 2026 (UTC)

== Fellow self-hosting enthusiasts, let's remember this is Consumer Rights Wiki ==

As much as I understand the desire to share the cool stuff with the world, the scope of this wiki is '''consumer rights'''. The page already links to awesome-selfhosted for a comprehensive list of self-hostable apps and relevant tools for those looking for ''that''. We don't need to duplicate it. We'd have to maintain it and I don't think we (CRW's editors collectively) have the capacity for this.

The intended audience of this wiki is ''conscious consumers'', out of which I'd expect very few to want to mess with this. The point is to be convincing that products need to support this, and apps can serve as examples for specific points, e. g. to illustrate that this already happens in a number of categories, that demanding that from manufacturers is reasonable and provides an important last resort to keep the product useful if the manufacturer goes bust or gets malicious ideas. This is why the apps section was originally so short: other than smart home peripherals and personal data lock-in I couldn't think of other consumer rights problems self-hosting solves.

I'm not gonna remove anything since I don't feel like an authority on this wiki's mission. But as it stands now, I don't think the entire "Other useful tools" section contributes to the article's overall message. Some of the projects there have potential though. PiHole and AdGuard could be expanded into a whole section on [[Ad block]] (that page could use some love too btw).

cc @[[User:Dosjdhdjdjdhdjdjdj|Dosjdhdjdjdhdjdjdj]] [[User:D-side|D-side]] ([[User talk:D-side|talk]]) 12:58, 27 February 2026 (UTC)

Talk:Self-hosting

2026-02-26T07:10:55Z

D-side: /* Applications in the Nextcloud section */ new section

Self-hosting

2026-02-26T06:54:39Z

D-side: Undo revision 39860 by Dosjdhdjdjdhdjdjdj (talk)

'''Self-hosting''' is the practice of implementing digital services with server applications under one's own control. This is opposed to relying on large public services or [[Cloud (service)|cloud services]], compared to which it provides significantly more control over how the services are provided at the cost of responsibility for setting them up and keeping them operational over time.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=About self-hosting |url=https://doc.yunohost.org/en/admin/about_self_hosting/ |url-status=live |access-date=2026-02-25 |website=Yunohost}}</ref>

It is typically taken up as a hobby, but enthusiasts report practical benefits as reasons to do this too, such as lower costs, less privacy concerns and greater flexibility.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Sholly |first=Ethan |date=2025-11-21 |title=2025 Self-Host User Survey Results |url=https://selfh.st/survey/2025-results/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251121125437/https://selfh.st/survey/2025-results/ |archive-date=21 Nov 2025 |website=selfh.st}}</ref> Some enjoy the feeling of independence and a sense of autonomy it brings, for some it's an alternative to digital services offered on worse terms than self-hosting can provide, and sometimes it's a viable alternative when commercial service providers make sudden significant changes detrimental to their users.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kehayias |first=John |date=2021-09-02 |title=Meet the Self-Hosters, Taking Back the Internet One Server at a Time |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/meet-the-self-hosters-taking-back-the-internet-one-server-at-a-time/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240816174958/https://www.vice.com/en/article/meet-the-self-hosters-taking-back-the-internet-one-server-at-a-time/ |archive-date=16 Aug 2024 |access-date=2025-08-12 |website=VICE}}</ref>

==Origin of the practice==
Self-hosting typically refers to usage of digital services '''hosted''' by a person for just themselves (hence the '''self-''' prefix), but they're often made available also to a circle of family and friends, especially services that feature collaboration. Before self-hosting rose to prominence similar installations were typically limited to organizations and housed internal tools, such as company chats and internal knowledge bases.{{Citation needed}} This is still common in organizations, only partially supplanted by [[Software as a service|software-as-a-service (SaaS)]].

Today, there are numerous free and open-source server applications available to everyone with an internet connection<ref>{{Cite web |title=Free software |url=https://awesome-selfhosted.net/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260213070029/https://awesome-selfhosted.net/ |archive-date=13 Feb 2026 |website=Awesome-Selfhosted}}</ref>. Companies commonly employ dedicated system administrators to run such applications, due to some specialized knowledge required to set them up. But over the years the amount of knowledge required for this has been reducing, which has allowed more people to install such server applications by themselves.{{Citation needed}}

Because both organizations and self-hosters largely use the same methods and software, most of the same risks and mistakes that companies have to deal with are present in some form in self-hosting as well. What can be configured poorly in a self-hosted setup can be configured poorly in professional installations as well.

==Use cases==

===Standalone digital services===
Messaging (such as e-mail, social networks and instant messengers), publishing (blogs, wikis, etc.), [[software as a service]], most forms of continuous data synchronization between devices and remote access of other devices are examples of services that can provide value to users by themselves, with clients widely available or unnecessary.

Self-hosting such services can be useful for privacy: for those that do not wish for their activity on these services to be transmitted to the internet at all to reduce the number of ways it can leak.

Self-hosting can also provide additional resilience: the service can remain fully functional in a [[Local area network|local network]] where it's deployed — which is useful in case the [[internet service provider]] (ISP) has an outage or if an alternative public service falls under new legal restrictions (e. g. censorship) and becomes inaccessible.

Self-hosting can also be a viable alternative when an existing service changes in an undesirable way (e. g. changes its [[terms of service]] in a controversial way, changes existing features, gets acquired or taken over), providing a baseline against which service providers could be forced to compete in serving the needs of their users.

===Digital services for "connected" products===
Various products in addition to (or instead of) autonomous functioning are increasingly relying on a service elsewhere for some of their features, often marketed as "smart" or "connected".

Most of the time, product manufacturers do not allow users to specify their own servers for these services. In such cases manufacturers' infrastructure becomes integral to the product and often gives manufacturer complete access to the product post-purchase through software updates, allowing for a number of anti-consumer actions such as [[retroactively amended purchase]] (manufacturer changing the way the product functions) and [[discontinuation bricking]] (manufacturer shutting down their server, reducing functionality of the product or rendering it entirely inoperable). When using a self-hosted server these such actions can be prevented by cutting access to manufacturer's servers while preserving product functionality; however, most of the time it's not officially supported.

This isn't limited to just physical products, it affects software as well. For instance, [[games as a service]] typically require a server to fully function, and server software for such games is not made available to users, making self-hosting for such games impossible and requiring manufacturer's active involvement in order to maintain full game functionality. There are, however, many multiplayer games, especially older ones, that do support self-hosting of servers through dedicated server software<ref>{{Cite web |title=Dedicated Servers List |url=https://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/Dedicated_Servers_List |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260116200846/https://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/Dedicated_Servers_List |archive-date=16 Jan 2026 |access-date=2025-10-12 |website=Valve Developer Community}}</ref>.

==Typical arrangements==

===Consumer-grade PC===
A lot of server software is capable of running on "normal" (consumer-grade) computers as well. So it is common to start self-hosting by installing server software on an unused computer that can be run continuously or whenever access to its services may be needed.

Because most self-hosted servers are typically used by only a few users in practice<ref name=":1" />, hardware requirements for some of the most popular services can be meager<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=System Requirements |url=https://docs.nextcloud.com/server/stable/admin_manual/installation/system_requirements.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251115134906/https://docs.nextcloud.com/server/stable/admin_manual/installation/system_requirements.html |archive-date=15 Nov 2025 |access-date=2025-10-12 |website=Nextcloud Administration Manual}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=FAQ - Docker Mailserver |url=https://docker-mailserver.github.io/docker-mailserver/latest/faq/#what-are-the-system-requirements |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251014171111/https://docker-mailserver.github.io/docker-mailserver/latest/faq/#what-are-the-system-requirements |archive-date=14 Oct 2025 |access-date=2025-10-12 |website=Docker-mailserver}}</ref> and can be satisfied by very old or cheap computers, which can be seen as a step towards [[circular economy]].

Software-wise, depending on requirements and the level of technical expertise, one might opt for a generic server OS such as [https://www.debian.org/ Debian], [https://ubuntu.com/server Ubuntu Server], and [https://www.freebsd.org/ FreeBSD] for a more do-it-yourself experience, or an OS purpose-built for self-hosting such as [https://yunohost.org/ YunoHost] or [https://umbrel.com/ UmbrelOS] which guides its users through some of the complexities of the process. In some more niche circumstances, [https://www.openbsd.org/ OpenBSD] might be preferred to other options as a server operating system due to its focus on security and simplicity.

===Network-attached storage (NAS)===
Companies such as [[Synology]], [[QNap|QNAP]], [[UGreen|UGREEN]] and others offer commercial hardware products called NAS (Network Attached Storage) that expose disks to a network for shared access to files on them<ref>{{Cite web |last=Susnjara |first=Stephanie |last2=Smalley |first2=Ian |title=What is network attached storage (NAS)? |url=https://www.ibm.com/think/topics/network-attached-storage |url-status=live |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20251114021534/https://www.ibm.com/think/topics/network-attached-storage |archive-date=14 Nov 2025|access-date=2025-11-22 |website=IBM |series=Think}}</ref> in form of a "network drive", "file share" or "shared folder". As an additional function, many such devices can also run server software, and may even offer user-friendly graphical interfaces for this out-of-the-box.

Such devices are typically optimized for file management, and applications using the files stored by a NAS are expected to run on ''other'' devices on the same network (e. g. a PC running heavy video editing software utilizing video files stored on a NAS). As such, NAS devices, especially budget ones, often do not have much capacity for server applications. For a small number of users, however, as is common in self-hosting, they can be sufficient.

A consumer NAS is typically more expensive than self-built solutions or second hand server-grade hardware, but due to better power management, the higher costs can be worth it in regions with high electricity prices.

===Server hosting provider===
Rather than purchasing, configuring, running and maintaining physical hardware, a user can instead delegate most "hardware" aspects of self-hosting to a server hosting provider, which provides almost complete control of a general-purpose computer to a user for a subscription fee.

Control over not just the ''service'' but also the ''platform'' it runs on (the computer) provides the user with significantly more control over data that it processes compared to just using a service hosted by another party.

===Specialized server hardware===
An expensive high-end option that most closely resembles professional setups, with all the perks and downsides of professional setups: professional server hardware is designed to be more reliable and easily serviceable, but also can be very noisy, which may not matter much inside a proper server room or a data center, but for an apartment might be completely unacceptable.

These are commonly set up for services with high hardware requirements or maintained as a hobby by those who'd like to practice business-grade system administration at home. For the vast majority of services this is unnecessary and is sometimes mocked as such.<ref>{{Cite web |title=You are all a bunch of sick freaks : selfhosted |url=https://old.reddit.com/r/selfhosted/comments/1igr2l7/you_are_all_a_bunch_of_sick_freaks/ |archive-url=https://selfh.st/sick-freaks/ |archive-date=2025-02-03 |website=Reddit}}</ref>

==Self-hosted applications relevant to consumer rights==
{{Incomplete section}}

===[https://www.home-assistant.io/ Home Assistant]===
One of the most prominent free & open source projects in self-hosted home automation space.

Because it provides an unofficial self-hosted interface to and between "connected" products of many brands, it prominently announces anti-consumer actions by supported brands aimed at reducing or disabling that capability, bringing them to attention. Some vendors reconsider their plans afterwards, providing alternative solutions or entirely cancelling their plans for such changes, which Home Assistant reflects in their announcement posts as well.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2018-12-17 |title=Logitech Harmony removes local API |url=https://www.home-assistant.io/blog/2018/12/17/logitech-harmony-removes-local-api/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190915093907/https://www.home-assistant.io/blog/2018/12/17/logitech-harmony-removes-local-api/ |archive-date=15 Sep 2019 |access-date= |website=Home Assistant}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-11-23 |title=TP-Link offers way to add local API back |url=https://www.home-assistant.io/blog/2020/11/23/tplink-local-access/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201124190144/https://www.home-assistant.io/blog/2020/11/23/tplink-local-access/ |archive-date=24 Nov 2020 |website=Home Assistant}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-10-13 |title=Removal of Mazda Connected Services integration |url=https://www.home-assistant.io/blog/2023/10/13/removal-of-mazda-connected-services-integration/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231013215225/https://www.home-assistant.io/blog/2023/10/13/removal-of-mazda-connected-services-integration/ |archive-date=13 Oct 2023 |access-date= |website=Home Assistant}}</ref>

Counters consumer rights issues such as [[discontinuation bricking]], [[retroactive policy enforcement]] and [[post-purchase EULA modification]], mostly in regards to "connected" devices and smart homes.

===[https://nextcloud.com/ Nextcloud]===
Provides remote file storage and sharing as a core function and numerous other functions available for easy installation: synchronization of contacts and calendars, a full-fledged browser-based editor for contacts and calendars, collaborative document editing, chat, video conferencing and more. Many of these are functions commonly seen as available only from large commercial providers, and Nextcloud serves as an example that disproves this notion.

In addition to offering a comprehensive interface for the browser and a suite of first-party mobile apps, some third-party applications allow the use of Nextcloud for storing user data. Some such applications are:

*[https://www.davx5.com/ DAVx⁵], a synchronization app for calendars, contacts and tasks on Android over the standard DAV protocols that Nextcloud implements
*[https://www.onlyoffice.com/ OnlyOffice], an in-browser document editor within Nextcloud's interface and a desktop editor that connects to a Nextcloud account, both allowing access to files in Nextcloud and collaborative editing with other users
*[https://floccus.org/ Floccus], a synchronization service for browser bookmarks and tabs, available across many browsers and as a mobile app, and synchronizing with a server chosen by the user, Nextcloud being only one of several supported options
*[https://github.com/scubajeff/lespas Les Pas], a photo album Android app, automating photo uploads and browsing both local and remote photo albums
*Apps that rely entirely on files for storage and can access Nextcloud through the operating system's interfaces and a Nextcloud client

In numerous alternatives, particularly among mobile apps, similar functions are only provided by the app's developer or affiliated parties, and often for a fee, with no alternatives,{{Citation needed|reason=needs examples}} resulting in a [[vendor lock-in]].

===Other useful tools===

*[https://www.truenas.com/ TrueNAS], [https://www.openmediavault.org/ OpenMediaVault]: Stores files on a server and makes them available to multiple devices
*[https://casaos.io/ CasaOS], [https://umbrel.com/umbrelos Umbrel], [https://yunohost.org/ YunoHost]: Systems that aim to make it easy for non-technical users to run their own server and install services on it using a familiar app store paradigm
*[https://www.proxmox.com/ Proxmox]: Allows advanced users to host multiple services isolated from each other on one server
*[https://jitsi.org/jitsi-meet/ Jitsi Meet], [https://bigbluebutton.org/ BigBlueButton]: Video conferencing without relying on third party servers
*[https://pi-hole.net/ PiHole], [https://adguard.com/en/adguard-home/overview.html AdGuard Home]: Ad blocking for devices on the network level

==Further reading==

*[[Cloud (service)]]
*[[Local Area Network]]
*[[Right to own]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}
[[Category:Common terms]]

Talk:Self-hosting

2026-02-26T03:46:12Z

D-side: /* Definition of "server" */ Reply

Self-hosting

2026-02-25T16:47:37Z

D-side: (incl. previous edit without a description) Simplified the user of the term "server" across the article to not require a specific definition

'''Self-hosting''' is the practice of implementing digital services with server applications under one's own control. This is opposed to relying on large public services or [[Cloud (service)|cloud services]], compared to which it provides significantly more control over how the services are provided at the cost of responsibility for setting them up and keeping them operational over time.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=About self-hosting |url=https://doc.yunohost.org/en/admin/about_self_hosting/ |url-status=live |access-date=2026-02-25 |website=Yunohost}}</ref>

It is typically taken up as a hobby, but enthusiasts report practical benefits as reasons to do this too, such as lower costs, less privacy concerns and greater flexibility.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Sholly |first=Ethan |date=2025-11-21 |title=2025 Self-Host User Survey Results |url=https://selfh.st/survey/2025-results/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251121125437/https://selfh.st/survey/2025-results/ |archive-date=21 Nov 2025 |website=selfh.st}}</ref> Some enjoy the feeling of independence and a sense of autonomy it brings, for some it's an alternative to digital services offered on worse terms than self-hosting can provide, and sometimes it's a viable alternative when commercial service providers make sudden significant changes detrimental to their users.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kehayias |first=John |date=2021-09-02 |title=Meet the Self-Hosters, Taking Back the Internet One Server at a Time |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/meet-the-self-hosters-taking-back-the-internet-one-server-at-a-time/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240816174958/https://www.vice.com/en/article/meet-the-self-hosters-taking-back-the-internet-one-server-at-a-time/ |archive-date=16 Aug 2024 |access-date=2025-08-12 |website=VICE}}</ref>

==Origin of the practice==
Self-hosting typically refers to usage of digital services '''hosted''' by a person for just themselves (hence the '''self-''' prefix), but they're often made available also to a circle of family and friends, especially services that feature collaboration. Before self-hosting rose to prominence similar installations were typically limited to organizations and housed internal tools, such as company chats and internal knowledge bases.{{Citation needed}} This is still common in organizations, only partially supplanted by [[Software as a service|software-as-a-service (SaaS)]].

Today, there are numerous free and open-source server applications available to everyone with an internet connection<ref>{{Cite web |title=Free software |url=https://awesome-selfhosted.net/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260213070029/https://awesome-selfhosted.net/ |archive-date=13 Feb 2026 |website=Awesome-Selfhosted}}</ref>. Companies commonly employ dedicated system administrators to run such applications, due to some specialized knowledge required to set them up. But over the years the amount of knowledge required for this has been reducing, which has allowed more people to install such server applications by themselves.{{Citation needed}}

Because both organizations and self-hosters largely use the same methods and software, most of the same risks and mistakes that companies have to deal with are present in some form in self-hosting as well. What can be configured poorly in a self-hosted setup can be configured poorly in professional installations as well.

==Use cases==

===Standalone digital services===
Messaging (such as e-mail, social networks and instant messengers), publishing (blogs, wikis, etc.), [[software as a service]], most forms of continuous data synchronization between devices and remote access of other devices are examples of services that can provide value to users by themselves, with clients widely available or unnecessary.

Self-hosting such services can be useful for privacy: for those that do not wish for their activity on these services to be transmitted to the internet at all to reduce the number of ways it can leak.

Self-hosting can also provide additional resilience: the service can remain fully functional in a [[Local area network|local network]] where it's deployed — which is useful in case the [[internet service provider]] (ISP) has an outage or if an alternative public service falls under new legal restrictions (e. g. censorship) and becomes inaccessible.

Self-hosting can also be a viable alternative when an existing service changes in an undesirable way (e. g. changes its [[terms of service]] in a controversial way, changes existing features, gets acquired or taken over), providing a baseline against which service providers could be forced to compete in serving the needs of their users.

===Digital services for "connected" products===
Various products in addition to (or instead of) autonomous functioning are increasingly relying on a service elsewhere for some of their features, often marketed as "smart" or "connected".

Most of the time, product manufacturers do not allow users to specify their own servers for these services. In such cases manufacturers' infrastructure becomes integral to the product and often gives manufacturer complete access to the product post-purchase through software updates, allowing for a number of anti-consumer actions such as [[retroactively amended purchase]] (manufacturer changing the way the product functions) and [[discontinuation bricking]] (manufacturer shutting down their server, reducing functionality of the product or rendering it entirely inoperable). When using a self-hosted server these such actions can be prevented by cutting access to manufacturer's servers while preserving product functionality; however, most of the time it's not officially supported.

This isn't limited to just physical products, it affects software as well. For instance, [[games as a service]] typically require a server to fully function, and server software for such games is not made available to users, making self-hosting for such games impossible and requiring manufacturer's active involvement in order to maintain full game functionality. There are, however, many multiplayer games, especially older ones, that do support self-hosting of servers through dedicated server software<ref>{{Cite web |title=Dedicated Servers List |url=https://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/Dedicated_Servers_List |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260116200846/https://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/Dedicated_Servers_List |archive-date=16 Jan 2026 |access-date=2025-10-12 |website=Valve Developer Community}}</ref>.

==Typical arrangements==

===Consumer-grade PC===
A lot of server software is capable of running on "normal" (consumer-grade) computers as well. So it is common to start self-hosting by installing server software on an unused computer that can be run continuously or whenever access to its services may be needed.

Because most self-hosted servers are typically used by only a few users in practice<ref name=":1" />, hardware requirements for some of the most popular services can be meager<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=System Requirements |url=https://docs.nextcloud.com/server/stable/admin_manual/installation/system_requirements.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251115134906/https://docs.nextcloud.com/server/stable/admin_manual/installation/system_requirements.html |archive-date=15 Nov 2025 |access-date=2025-10-12 |website=Nextcloud Administration Manual}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=FAQ - Docker Mailserver |url=https://docker-mailserver.github.io/docker-mailserver/latest/faq/#what-are-the-system-requirements |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251014171111/https://docker-mailserver.github.io/docker-mailserver/latest/faq/#what-are-the-system-requirements |archive-date=14 Oct 2025 |access-date=2025-10-12 |website=Docker-mailserver}}</ref> and can be satisfied by very old or cheap computers, which can be seen as a step towards [[circular economy]].

Software-wise, depending on requirements and the level of technical expertise, one might opt for a generic server OS such as [https://www.debian.org/ Debian] or [https://ubuntu.com/server Ubuntu Server] for a more do-it-yourself experience, or an OS purpose-built for self-hosting such as [https://yunohost.org/ YunoHost] which guides its users through some of the complexities of the process.

===Network-attached storage (NAS)===
Companies such as [[Synology]], [[QNap|QNAP]], [[UGreen|UGREEN]] and others offer commercial hardware products called NAS (Network Attached Storage) that expose disks to a network for shared access to files on them<ref>{{Cite web |last=Susnjara |first=Stephanie |last2=Smalley |first2=Ian |title=What is network attached storage (NAS)? |url=https://www.ibm.com/think/topics/network-attached-storage |url-status=live |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20251114021534/https://www.ibm.com/think/topics/network-attached-storage |archive-date=14 Nov 2025|access-date=2025-11-22 |website=IBM |series=Think}}</ref> in form of a "network drive", "file share" or "shared folder". As an additional function, many such devices can also run server software, and may even offer user-friendly graphical interfaces for this out-of-the-box.

Such devices are typically optimized for file management, and applications using the files stored by a NAS are expected to run on ''other'' devices on the same network (e. g. a PC running heavy video editing software utilizing video files stored on a NAS). As such, NAS devices, especially budget ones, often do not have much capacity for server applications. For a small number of users, however, as is common in self-hosting, they can be sufficient.

A consumer NAS is typically more expensive than self-built solutions or second hand server-grade hardware, but due to better power management, the higher costs can be worth it in regions with high electricity prices.

===Server hosting provider===
Rather than purchasing, configuring, running and maintaining physical hardware, a user can instead delegate most "hardware" aspects of self-hosting to a server hosting provider, which provides almost complete control of a general-purpose computer to a user for a subscription fee.

Control over not just the ''service'' but also the ''platform'' it runs on (the computer) provides the user with significantly more control over data that it processes compared to just using a service hosted by another party.

===Specialized server hardware===
An expensive high-end option that most closely resembles professional setups, with all the perks and downsides of professional setups: professional server hardware is designed to be more reliable and easily serviceable, but also can be very noisy, which may not matter much inside a proper server room or a data center, but for an apartment might be completely unacceptable.

These are commonly set up for services with high hardware requirements or maintained as a hobby by those who'd like to practice business-grade system administration at home. For the vast majority of services this is unnecessary and is sometimes mocked as such<ref>{{Cite web |title=You are all a bunch of sick freaks : selfhosted |url=https://old.reddit.com/r/selfhosted/comments/1igr2l7/you_are_all_a_bunch_of_sick_freaks/ |archive-url=https://selfh.st/sick-freaks/ |archive-date=2025-02-03 |website=Reddit}}</ref>.

==Self-hosted applications relevant to consumer rights==
{{Incomplete section}}

===[https://www.home-assistant.io/ Home Assistant]===
One of the most prominent free & open source projects in self-hosted home automation space.

Because it provides an unofficial self-hosted interface to and between "connected" products of many brands, it prominently announces anti-consumer actions by supported brands aimed at reducing or disabling that capability, bringing them to attention. Some vendors reconsider their plans afterwards, providing alternative solutions or entirely cancelling their plans for such changes, which Home Assistant reflects in their announcement posts as well.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2018-12-17 |title=Logitech Harmony removes local API |url=https://www.home-assistant.io/blog/2018/12/17/logitech-harmony-removes-local-api/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190915093907/https://www.home-assistant.io/blog/2018/12/17/logitech-harmony-removes-local-api/ |archive-date=15 Sep 2019 |access-date= |website=Home Assistant}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-11-23 |title=TP-Link offers way to add local API back |url=https://www.home-assistant.io/blog/2020/11/23/tplink-local-access/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201124190144/https://www.home-assistant.io/blog/2020/11/23/tplink-local-access/ |archive-date=24 Nov 2020 |website=Home Assistant}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-10-13 |title=Removal of Mazda Connected Services integration |url=https://www.home-assistant.io/blog/2023/10/13/removal-of-mazda-connected-services-integration/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231013215225/https://www.home-assistant.io/blog/2023/10/13/removal-of-mazda-connected-services-integration/ |archive-date=13 Oct 2023 |access-date= |website=Home Assistant}}</ref>

Counters consumer rights issues such as [[discontinuation bricking]], [[retroactive policy enforcement]] and [[post-purchase EULA modification]], mostly in regards to "connected" devices and smart homes.

===[https://nextcloud.com/ Nextcloud]===
Provides remote file storage and sharing as a core function and numerous other functions available for easy installation: synchronization of contacts and calendars, a full-fledged browser-based editor for contacts and calendars, collaborative document editing, chat, video conferencing and more. Many of these are functions commonly seen as available only from large commercial providers, and Nextcloud serves as an example that disproves this notion.

In addition to offering a comprehensive interface for the browser and a suite of first-party mobile apps, some third-party applications allow the use of Nextcloud for storing user data. Some such applications are:

*[https://www.davx5.com/ DAVx⁵], a synchronization app for calendars, contacts and tasks on Android over the standard DAV protocols that Nextcloud implements
*[https://www.onlyoffice.com/ OnlyOffice], an in-browser document editor within Nextcloud's interface and a desktop editor that connects to a Nextcloud account, both allowing access to files in Nextcloud and collaborative editing with other users
*[https://floccus.org/ Floccus], a synchronization service for browser bookmarks and tabs, available across many browsers and as a mobile app, and synchronizing with a server chosen by the user, Nextcloud being only one of several supported options
*[https://github.com/scubajeff/lespas Les Pas], a photo album Android app, automating photo uploads and browsing both local and remote photo albums
*Apps that rely entirely on files for storage and can access Nextcloud through the operating system's interfaces and a Nextcloud client

In numerous alternatives, particularly among mobile apps, similar functions are only provided by the app's developer or affiliated parties, and often for a fee, with no alternatives,{{Citation needed|reason=needs examples}} resulting in a [[vendor lock-in]].

===Other useful tools===

*[https://www.truenas.com/ TrueNAS], [https://www.openmediavault.org/ OpenMediaVault]: Stores files on a server and makes them available to multiple devices
*[https://casaos.io/ CasaOS], [https://umbrel.com/umbrelos Umbrel], [https://yunohost.org/ YunoHost]: Systems that aim to make it easy for non-technical users to run their own server and install services on it using a familiar app store paradigm
*[https://www.proxmox.com/ Proxmox]: Allows advanced users to host multiple services isolated from each other on one server
*[https://jitsi.org/jitsi-meet/ Jitsi Meet], [https://bigbluebutton.org/ BigBlueButton]: Video conferencing without relying on third party servers
*[https://pi-hole.net/ PiHole], [https://adguard.com/en/adguard-home/overview.html AdGuard Home]: Ad blocking for devices on the network level

==Further reading==

*[[Cloud (service)]]
*[[Local Area Network]]
*[[Right to own]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}
[[Category:Common terms]]

Self-hosting

2026-02-25T16:39:11Z

D-side:

'''Self-hosting''' is the practice of implementing digital services with server applications under one's own control. This is opposed to relying on large public services or [[Cloud (service)|cloud services]], compared to which it provides significantly more control over how the services are provided at the cost of responsibility for setting them up and keeping them operational over time.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=About self-hosting |url=https://doc.yunohost.org/en/admin/about_self_hosting/ |url-status=live |access-date=2026-02-25 |website=Yunohost}}</ref>

It is typically taken up as a hobby, but enthusiasts report practical benefits as reasons to do this too, such as lower costs, less privacy concerns and greater flexibility.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Sholly |first=Ethan |date=2025-11-21 |title=2025 Self-Host User Survey Results |url=https://selfh.st/survey/2025-results/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251121125437/https://selfh.st/survey/2025-results/ |archive-date=21 Nov 2025 |website=selfh.st}}</ref> Some enjoy the feeling of independence and a sense of autonomy it brings, for some it's an alternative to digital services offered on worse terms than self-hosting can provide, and sometimes it's a viable alternative when commercial service providers make sudden significant changes detrimental to their users.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kehayias |first=John |date=2021-09-02 |title=Meet the Self-Hosters, Taking Back the Internet One Server at a Time |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/meet-the-self-hosters-taking-back-the-internet-one-server-at-a-time/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240816174958/https://www.vice.com/en/article/meet-the-self-hosters-taking-back-the-internet-one-server-at-a-time/ |archive-date=16 Aug 2024 |access-date=2025-08-12 |website=VICE}}</ref>

==Origin of the practice==
Self-hosting typically refers to usage of digital services '''hosted''' by a person for just themselves (hence the '''self-''' prefix), but they're often made available also to a circle of family and friends, especially services that feature collaboration. Before self-hosting rose to prominence similar installations were typically limited to organizations and housed internal tools, such as company chats and internal knowledge bases.{{Citation needed}} This is still common in organizations, only partially supplanted by [[Software as a service|software-as-a-service (SaaS)]].

Today, there are numerous free and open-source server applications available to everyone with an internet connection<ref>{{Cite web |title=Free software |url=https://awesome-selfhosted.net/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260213070029/https://awesome-selfhosted.net/ |archive-date=13 Feb 2026 |website=Awesome-Selfhosted}}</ref>. Companies commonly employ dedicated system administrators to run such applications, due to some specialized knowledge required to set them up. But over the years the amount of knowledge required for this has been reducing, which has allowed more people to install such server applications by themselves.{{Citation needed}}

Because both organizations and self-hosters largely use the same methods and software, most of the same risks and mistakes that companies have to deal with are present in some form in self-hosting as well. What can be configured poorly in a self-hosted setup can be configured poorly in professional installations as well.

==Use cases==

===Standalone digital services===
Messaging (such as e-mail, social networks and instant messengers), publishing (blogs, wikis, etc.), [[software as a service]], most forms of continuous data synchronization between devices and remote access of other devices are examples of services that can provide value to users by themselves, with clients widely available or unnecessary.

Self-hosting such services can be useful for privacy: for those that do not wish for their activity on these services to be transmitted to the internet at all to reduce the number of ways it can leak.

Self-hosting can also provide additional resilience: the service can remain fully functional in a [[Local area network|local network]] where it's deployed — which is useful in case the [[internet service provider]] (ISP) has an outage or if an alternative public service falls under new legal restrictions (e. g. censorship) and becomes inaccessible.

Self-hosting can also be a viable alternative when an existing service changes in an undesirable way (e. g. changes its [[terms of service]] in a controversial way, changes existing features, gets acquired or taken over), providing a baseline against which service providers could be forced to compete in serving the needs of their users.

===Digital services for "connected" products===
Various products in addition to (or instead of) autonomous functioning are increasingly relying on a service elsewhere for some of their features, often marketed as "smart" or "connected".

Most of the time, product manufacturers do not allow users to specify their own servers for these services. In such cases manufacturers' infrastructure becomes integral to the product and often gives manufacturer complete access to the product post-purchase through software updates, allowing for a number of anti-consumer actions such as [[retroactively amended purchase]] (manufacturer changing the way the product functions) and [[discontinuation bricking]] (manufacturer shutting down their server, reducing functionality of the product or rendering it entirely inoperable). When using a self-hosted server these such actions can be prevented but cutting access to manufacturer's servers while preserving product functionality; however, most of the time it's not officially supported.

This isn't limited to just physical products, it affects software as well. For instance, [[games as a service]] typically require a server to fully function, and server software for such games is not made available to users, making self-hosting for such games impossible and requiring manufacturer's active involvement in order to maintain full game functionality. There are, however, many multiplayer games, especially older ones, that do support self-hosting of servers through dedicated server software<ref>{{Cite web |title=Dedicated Servers List |url=https://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/Dedicated_Servers_List |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260116200846/https://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/Dedicated_Servers_List |archive-date=16 Jan 2026 |access-date=2025-10-12 |website=Valve Developer Community}}</ref>.

==Typical arrangements==

===Consumer-grade PC===
A lot of server software is capable of running on "normal" (consumer-grade) computers as well. So it is common to start self-hosting by installing server software on an unused computer that can be run continuously or whenever access to its services may be needed.

Because most self-hosted servers are typically used by only a few users in practice<ref name=":1" />, hardware requirements for some of the most popular services can be meager<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=System Requirements |url=https://docs.nextcloud.com/server/stable/admin_manual/installation/system_requirements.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251115134906/https://docs.nextcloud.com/server/stable/admin_manual/installation/system_requirements.html |archive-date=15 Nov 2025 |access-date=2025-10-12 |website=Nextcloud Administration Manual}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=FAQ - Docker Mailserver |url=https://docker-mailserver.github.io/docker-mailserver/latest/faq/#what-are-the-system-requirements |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251014171111/https://docker-mailserver.github.io/docker-mailserver/latest/faq/#what-are-the-system-requirements |archive-date=14 Oct 2025 |access-date=2025-10-12 |website=Docker-mailserver}}</ref> and can be satisfied by very old or cheap computers, which can be seen as a step towards [[circular economy]].

Software-wise, depending on requirements and the level of technical expertise, one might opt for a generic server OS such as [https://www.debian.org/ Debian] or [https://ubuntu.com/server Ubuntu Server] for a more do-it-yourself experience, or an OS purpose-built for self-hosting such as [https://yunohost.org/ YunoHost] which guides its users through some of the complexities of the process.

===Network-attached storage (NAS)===
Companies such as [[Synology]], [[QNap|QNAP]], [[UGreen|UGREEN]] and others offer commercial hardware products called NAS (Network Attached Storage) that expose disks to a network for shared access to files on them<ref>{{Cite web |last=Susnjara |first=Stephanie |last2=Smalley |first2=Ian |title=What is network attached storage (NAS)? |url=https://www.ibm.com/think/topics/network-attached-storage |url-status=live |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20251114021534/https://www.ibm.com/think/topics/network-attached-storage |archive-date=14 Nov 2025|access-date=2025-11-22 |website=IBM |series=Think}}</ref> in form of a "network drive", "file share" or "shared folder". As an additional function, many such devices can also run server software, and may even offer user-friendly graphical interfaces for this out-of-the-box.

Such devices are typically optimized for file management, and applications using the files stored by a NAS are expected to run on ''other'' devices on the same network (e. g. a PC running heavy video editing software utilizing video files stored on a NAS). As such, NAS devices, especially budget ones, often do not have much capacity for server applications. For a small number of users, however, as is common in self-hosting, they can be sufficient.

A consumer NAS is typically more expensive than self-built solutions or second hand server-grade hardware, but due to better power management, the higher costs can be worth it in regions with high electricity prices.

===Server hosting provider===
Rather than purchasing, configuring, running and maintaining physical hardware, a user can instead delegate most "hardware" aspects of self-hosting to a server hosting provider, which provides almost complete control of a general-purpose computer to a user for a subscription fee.

Control over not just the ''service'' but also the ''platform'' it runs on (the computer) provides the user with significantly more control over data that it processes compared to just using a service hosted by another party.

===Specialized server hardware===
An expensive high-end option that most closely resembles professional setups, with all the perks and downsides of professional setups: professional server hardware is designed to be more reliable and easily serviceable, but also can be very noisy, which may not matter much inside a proper server room or a data center, but for an apartment might be completely unacceptable.

These are commonly set up for services with high hardware requirements or maintained as a hobby by those who'd like to practice business-grade system administration at home. For the vast majority of services this is unnecessary and is sometimes mocked as such<ref>{{Cite web |title=You are all a bunch of sick freaks : selfhosted |url=https://old.reddit.com/r/selfhosted/comments/1igr2l7/you_are_all_a_bunch_of_sick_freaks/ |archive-url=https://selfh.st/sick-freaks/ |archive-date=2025-02-03 |website=Reddit}}</ref>.

==Self-hosted applications relevant to consumer rights==
{{Incomplete section}}

===[https://www.home-assistant.io/ Home Assistant]===
One of the most prominent free & open source projects in self-hosted home automation space.

Because it provides an unofficial self-hosted interface to and between "connected" products of many brands, it prominently announces anti-consumer actions by supported brands aimed at reducing or disabling that capability, bringing them to attention. Some vendors reconsider their plans afterwards, providing alternative solutions or entirely cancelling their plans for such changes, which Home Assistant reflects in their announcement posts as well.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2018-12-17 |title=Logitech Harmony removes local API |url=https://www.home-assistant.io/blog/2018/12/17/logitech-harmony-removes-local-api/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190915093907/https://www.home-assistant.io/blog/2018/12/17/logitech-harmony-removes-local-api/ |archive-date=15 Sep 2019 |access-date= |website=Home Assistant}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-11-23 |title=TP-Link offers way to add local API back |url=https://www.home-assistant.io/blog/2020/11/23/tplink-local-access/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201124190144/https://www.home-assistant.io/blog/2020/11/23/tplink-local-access/ |archive-date=24 Nov 2020 |website=Home Assistant}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-10-13 |title=Removal of Mazda Connected Services integration |url=https://www.home-assistant.io/blog/2023/10/13/removal-of-mazda-connected-services-integration/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231013215225/https://www.home-assistant.io/blog/2023/10/13/removal-of-mazda-connected-services-integration/ |archive-date=13 Oct 2023 |access-date= |website=Home Assistant}}</ref>

Counters consumer rights issues such as [[discontinuation bricking]], [[retroactive policy enforcement]] and [[post-purchase EULA modification]], mostly in regards to "connected" devices and smart homes.

===[https://nextcloud.com/ Nextcloud]===
Provides remote file storage and sharing as a core function and numerous other functions available for easy installation: synchronization of contacts and calendars, a full-fledged browser-based editor for contacts and calendars, collaborative document editing, chat, video conferencing and more. Many of these are functions commonly seen as available only from large commercial providers, and Nextcloud serves as an example that disproves this notion.

In addition to offering a comprehensive interface for the browser and a suite of first-party mobile apps, some third-party applications allow the use of Nextcloud for storing user data. Some such applications are:

*[https://www.davx5.com/ DAVx⁵], a synchronization app for calendars, contacts and tasks on Android over the standard DAV protocols that Nextcloud implements
*[https://www.onlyoffice.com/ OnlyOffice], an in-browser document editor within Nextcloud's interface and a desktop editor that connects to a Nextcloud account, both allowing access to files in Nextcloud and collaborative editing with other users
*[https://floccus.org/ Floccus], a synchronization service for browser bookmarks and tabs, available across many browsers and as a mobile app, and synchronizing with a server chosen by the user, Nextcloud being only one of several supported options
*[https://github.com/scubajeff/lespas Les Pas], a photo album Android app, automating photo uploads and browsing both local and remote photo albums
*Apps that rely entirely on files for storage and can access Nextcloud through the operating system's interfaces and a Nextcloud client

In numerous alternatives, particularly among mobile apps, similar functions are only provided by the app's developer or affiliated parties, and often for a fee, with no alternatives,{{Citation needed|reason=needs examples}} resulting in a [[vendor lock-in]].

===Other useful tools===

*[https://www.truenas.com/ TrueNAS], [https://www.openmediavault.org/ OpenMediaVault]: Stores files on a server computer and makes them available to multiple devices
*[https://casaos.io/ CasaOS], [https://umbrel.com/umbrelos Umbrel], [https://yunohost.org/ YunoHost]: Systems that aim to make it easy for non-technical users to run their own home server and install services on it using a familiar app store paradigm
*[https://www.proxmox.com/ Proxmox]: Allows advanced users to host multiple services isolated from each other on one server computer
*[https://jitsi.org/jitsi-meet/ Jitsi Meet], [https://bigbluebutton.org/ BigBlueButton]: Video conferencing without relying on third party servers
*[https://pi-hole.net/ PiHole], [https://adguard.com/en/adguard-home/overview.html AdGuard Home]: Ad blocking for devices on the network level

==Further reading==

*[[Cloud (service)]]
*[[Local Area Network]]
*[[Right to own]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}
[[Category:Common terms]]

Self-hosting

2026-02-25T14:00:00Z

D-side: Rewrote the introduction, incorporating common reasons to do this and referred to a basic explainer by Yunohost

'''Self-hosting''' is the practice of implementing digital services with server applications under one's own control. This is opposed to relying on large public services or [[Cloud (service)|cloud services]], compared to which it provides significantly more control over how the services are provided at the cost of responsibility for setting them up and keeping them operational over time.<ref>{{Cite web |title=About self-hosting |url=https://doc.yunohost.org/en/admin/about_self_hosting/ |url-status=live |access-date=2026-02-25 |website=Yunohost}}</ref>

It is typically taken up as a hobby, but enthusiasts report practical benefits as reasons to do this too, such as lower costs, less privacy concerns and greater flexibility.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Sholly |first=Ethan |date=2025-11-21 |title=2025 Self-Host User Survey Results |url=https://selfh.st/survey/2025-results/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251121125437/https://selfh.st/survey/2025-results/ |archive-date=21 Nov 2025 |website=selfh.st}}</ref> Some enjoy the feeling of independence and a sense of autonomy it brings, for some it's an alternative to digital services offered on worse terms than self-hosting can provide, and sometimes it's a viable alternative when commercial service providers make sudden significant changes detrimental to their users.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kehayias |first=John |date=2021-09-02 |title=Meet the Self-Hosters, Taking Back the Internet One Server at a Time |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/meet-the-self-hosters-taking-back-the-internet-one-server-at-a-time/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240816174958/https://www.vice.com/en/article/meet-the-self-hosters-taking-back-the-internet-one-server-at-a-time/ |archive-date=16 Aug 2024 |access-date=2025-08-12 |website=VICE}}</ref>

The term "server" has several popular definitions in computing. Throughout this article it will refer to "a computer program that controls or supplies information to several computers connected in a network"<ref>{{Cite web |title=server (noun) |url=https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/server |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240424230254/https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/server |archive-date=24 Apr 2024 |access-date=2025-10-12 |website=Oxford Learner's Dictionaries}}</ref> and not comparably common "hosts that have software installed that enable them to provide information, like email or web pages, to other hosts on the network"<ref>{{Cite web |title=1.1.2.2 Clients and Servers |url=https://cisco.num.edu.mn/CCNA_R&S1/course/module1/1.1.2.2/1.1.2.2.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240407111300/https://cisco.num.edu.mn/CCNA_R&S1/course/module1/1.1.2.2/1.1.2.2.html |archive-date=2024-04-07 |website=Cisco Networking Academy}}</ref>.

==Origin of the practice==
Self-hosting typically refers to usage of digital services '''hosted''' by a person for just themselves (hence the '''self-''' prefix), but they're often made available also to a circle of family and friends, especially services that feature collaboration. Before self-hosting rose to prominence similar installations were typically limited to organizations and housed internal tools, such as company chats and internal knowledge bases.{{Citation needed}} This is still common in organizations, only partially supplanted by [[Software as a service|software-as-a-service (SaaS)]].

Today, there are numerous free and open-source server applications available to everyone with an internet connection<ref>{{Cite web |title=Free software |url=https://awesome-selfhosted.net/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260213070029/https://awesome-selfhosted.net/ |archive-date=13 Feb 2026 |website=Awesome-Selfhosted}}</ref>. Companies commonly employ dedicated system administrators to run such applications, due to some specialized knowledge required to set them up. But over the years the amount of knowledge required for this has been reducing, which has allowed more people to install such server applications by themselves.{{Citation needed}}

Because both organizations and self-hosters largely use the same methods and software, most of the same risks and mistakes that companies have to deal with are present in some form in self-hosting as well. What can be configured poorly in a self-hosted setup can be configured poorly in professional installations as well.

==Use cases==

===Standalone digital services===
Messaging (such as e-mail, social networks and instant messengers), publishing (blogs, wikis, etc.), [[software as a service]], most forms of continuous data synchronization between devices and remote access of other devices are examples of services that can provide value to users by themselves, with clients widely available or unnecessary.

Self-hosting such services can be useful for privacy: for those that do not wish for their activity on these services to be transmitted to the internet at all to reduce the number of ways it can leak.

Self-hosting can also provide additional resilience: the service can remain fully functional in a [[Local area network|local network]] where it's deployed — which is useful in case the [[internet service provider]] (ISP) has an outage or if an alternative public service falls under new legal restrictions (e. g. censorship) and becomes inaccessible.

Self-hosting can also be a viable alternative when an existing service changes in an undesirable way (e. g. changes its [[terms of service]] in a controversial way, changes existing features, gets acquired or taken over), providing a baseline against which service providers could be forced to compete in serving the needs of their users.

===Digital services for "connected" products===
Various products in addition to (or instead of) autonomous functioning are increasingly relying on a service elsewhere for some of their features, often marketed as "smart" or "connected". For consumer products the way manufacturers commonly arrange this is through deployment of their own server for the product on their own infrastructure.

Most of the time, product manufacturers do not provide controls for users that would allow them to use their own servers. In such cases manufacturers' infrastructure becomes integral to the product and often gives manufacturer complete access to the product post-purchase through software updates, allowing for a number of anti-consumer actions such as [[retroactively amended purchase]] (manufacturer changing the way the product functions) and [[discontinuation bricking]] (manufacturer shutting down their server, reducing functionality of the product or rendering it entirely inoperable). Self-hosting a server for the product makes these practices impossible; however, most of the time it's not officially supported.

This isn't limited to just physical products, it affects software as well. For instance, [[games as a service]] typically require a server to fully function, and server software for such games is not made available to users, making self-hosting for such games impossible and requiring manufacturer's active involvement in order to maintain full game functionality. There are, however, many multiplayer games, especially older ones, that do support self-hosting of servers through dedicated server software<ref>{{Cite web |title=Dedicated Servers List |url=https://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/Dedicated_Servers_List |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260116200846/https://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/Dedicated_Servers_List |archive-date=16 Jan 2026 |access-date=2025-10-12 |website=Valve Developer Community}}</ref>, proving that the technology for this already exists.

==Typical arrangements==

===Consumer-grade PC===
A lot of server software is capable of running on "normal" (consumer-grade) computers as well. So it is common to start self-hosting by installing server software on an unused computer that can be run continuously or whenever access to its services may be needed.

Because private servers are typically used by only a few users in practice, hardware requirements for some of the most popular services can be meager<ref>{{Cite web |title=System Requirements |url=https://docs.nextcloud.com/server/stable/admin_manual/installation/system_requirements.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251115134906/https://docs.nextcloud.com/server/stable/admin_manual/installation/system_requirements.html |archive-date=15 Nov 2025 |access-date=2025-10-12 |website=Nextcloud Administration Manual}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=FAQ - Docker Mailserver |url=https://docker-mailserver.github.io/docker-mailserver/latest/faq/#what-are-the-system-requirements |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251014171111/https://docker-mailserver.github.io/docker-mailserver/latest/faq/#what-are-the-system-requirements |archive-date=14 Oct 2025 |access-date=2025-10-12 |website=Docker-mailserver}}</ref> and can be satisfied by very old computers, which can be seen as a step towards [[circular economy]].

Software-wise, depending on requirements and the level of technical expertise, one might opt for a generic server OS such as [https://www.debian.org/ Debian] or [https://ubuntu.com/server Ubuntu Server] for a more do-it-yourself experience, or an OS purpose-built for self-hosting such as [https://yunohost.org/ YunoHost] which guides its users through some of the complexities of the process.

===Network-attached storage (NAS)===
Companies such as [[Synology]], [[QNap|QNAP]], [[UGreen|UGREEN]] and others offer commercial hardware products called NAS (Network Attached Storage) that expose disks to a network for shared access to files on them<ref>{{Cite web |last=Susnjara |first=Stephanie |last2=Smalley |first2=Ian |title=What is network attached storage (NAS)? |url=https://www.ibm.com/think/topics/network-attached-storage |url-status=live |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20251114021534/https://www.ibm.com/think/topics/network-attached-storage |archive-date=14 Nov 2025|access-date=2025-11-22 |website=IBM |series=Think}}</ref> in form of a "network drive", "file share" or "shared folder". As an additional function, many such devices can also run server software, and may even offer user-friendly graphical interfaces for this out-of-the-box.

Such devices are typically optimized for file management, and applications using the files stored by a NAS are expected to run on ''other'' devices on the same network (e. g. a PC running heavy video editing software utilizing video files stored on a NAS). As such, NAS devices, especially budget ones, often do not have much capacity for server applications. For a small number of users, however, as is common in self-hosting, they can be sufficient.

A consumer NAS is typically more expensive than self-built solutions or second hand server-grade hardware, but due to better power management, the higher costs can be worth it in regions with high electricity prices.

===Server hosting provider===
Rather than purchasing, configuring, running and maintaining physical hardware, a user can instead delegate most "hardware" aspects of self-hosting to a server hosting provider, which provides almost complete control of a general-purpose computer to a user for a subscription fee.

Control over not just the ''service'' but also the ''platform'' it runs on (the computer) provides the user with significantly more control over data that it processes compared to just using a service hosted by another party.

===Specialized server hardware===
An expensive high-end option that most closely resembles professional setups, with all the perks and downsides of professional setups: professional server hardware is designed to be more reliable and easily serviceable, but also can be very noisy, which may not matter much inside a proper server room or a data center, but for an apartment might be completely unacceptable.

These are commonly set up for services with high hardware requirements or maintained as a hobby by those who'd like to practice business-grade system administration at home. For the vast majority of services this is unnecessary and is sometimes mocked as such<ref>{{Cite web |title=You are all a bunch of sick freaks : selfhosted |url=https://old.reddit.com/r/selfhosted/comments/1igr2l7/you_are_all_a_bunch_of_sick_freaks/ |archive-url=https://selfh.st/sick-freaks/ |archive-date=2025-02-03 |website=Reddit}}</ref>.

==Self-hosted applications relevant to consumer rights==
{{Incomplete section}}

===[https://www.home-assistant.io/ Home Assistant]===
One of the most prominent free & open source projects in self-hosted home automation space.

Because it provides an unofficial self-hosted interface to and between "connected" products of many brands, it prominently announces anti-consumer actions by supported brands aimed at reducing or disabling that capability, bringing them to attention. Some vendors reconsider their plans afterwards, providing alternative solutions or entirely cancelling their plans for such changes, which Home Assistant reflects in their announcement posts as well.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2018-12-17 |title=Logitech Harmony removes local API |url=https://www.home-assistant.io/blog/2018/12/17/logitech-harmony-removes-local-api/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190915093907/https://www.home-assistant.io/blog/2018/12/17/logitech-harmony-removes-local-api/ |archive-date=15 Sep 2019 |access-date= |website=Home Assistant}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-11-23 |title=TP-Link offers way to add local API back |url=https://www.home-assistant.io/blog/2020/11/23/tplink-local-access/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201124190144/https://www.home-assistant.io/blog/2020/11/23/tplink-local-access/ |archive-date=24 Nov 2020 |website=Home Assistant}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-10-13 |title=Removal of Mazda Connected Services integration |url=https://www.home-assistant.io/blog/2023/10/13/removal-of-mazda-connected-services-integration/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231013215225/https://www.home-assistant.io/blog/2023/10/13/removal-of-mazda-connected-services-integration/ |archive-date=13 Oct 2023 |access-date= |website=Home Assistant}}</ref>

Counters consumer rights issues such as [[discontinuation bricking]], [[retroactive policy enforcement]] and [[post-purchase EULA modification]], mostly in regards to "connected" devices and smart homes.

===[https://nextcloud.com/ Nextcloud]===
Provides remote file storage and sharing as a core function and numerous other functions available for easy installation: synchronization of contacts and calendars, a full-fledged browser-based editor for contacts and calendars, collaborative document editing, chat, video conferencing and more. Many of these are functions commonly seen as available only from large commercial providers, and Nextcloud serves as an example that disproves this notion.

In addition to offering a comprehensive interface for the browser and a suite of first-party mobile apps, some third-party applications allow the use of Nextcloud for storing user data. Some such applications are:

*[https://www.davx5.com/ DAVx⁵], a synchronization app for calendars, contacts and tasks on Android over the standard DAV protocols that Nextcloud implements
*[https://www.onlyoffice.com/ OnlyOffice], an in-browser document editor within Nextcloud's interface and a desktop editor that connects to a Nextcloud account, both allowing access to files in Nextcloud and collaborative editing with other users
*[https://floccus.org/ Floccus], a synchronization service for browser bookmarks and tabs, available across many browsers and as a mobile app, and synchronizing with a server chosen by the user, Nextcloud being only one of several supported options
*[https://github.com/scubajeff/lespas Les Pas], a photo album Android app, automating photo uploads and browsing both local and remote photo albums
*Apps that rely entirely on files for storage and can access Nextcloud through the operating system's interfaces and a Nextcloud client

In numerous alternatives, particularly among mobile apps, similar functions are only provided by the app's developer or affiliated parties, and often for a fee, with no alternatives,{{Citation needed|reason=needs examples}} resulting in a [[vendor lock-in]].

===Other useful tools===

*[https://www.truenas.com/ TrueNAS], [https://www.openmediavault.org/ OpenMediaVault]: Stores files on a server computer and makes them available to multiple devices
*[https://casaos.io/ CasaOS], [https://umbrel.com/umbrelos Umbrel], [https://yunohost.org/ YunoHost]: Systems that aim to make it easy for non-technical users to run their own home server and install services on it using a familiar app store paradigm
*[https://www.proxmox.com/ Proxmox]: Allows advanced users to host multiple services isolated from each other on one server computer
*[https://jitsi.org/jitsi-meet/ Jitsi Meet], [https://bigbluebutton.org/ BigBlueButton]: Video conferencing without relying on third party servers
*[https://pi-hole.net/ PiHole], [https://adguard.com/en/adguard-home/overview.html AdGuard Home]: Ad blocking for devices on the network level

==Further reading==

*[[Cloud (service)]]
*[[Local Area Network]]
*[[Right to own]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}
[[Category:Common terms]]

Self-hosting

2025-11-25T11:57:26Z

D-side: Drafted relevance of specific apps to consumer rights issues

{{Incomplete}}
'''Self-hosting''' is the practice of implementing digital services with server applications under one's own control. This is opposed to relying on large public services or [[Cloud (service)|cloud services]].

Self-hosting is typically done for several reasons, including to enable users to have more control over the services they use, or to allow the user to have more control over their privacy<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kehayias |first=John |date=2021-09-02 |title=Meet the Self-Hosters, Taking Back the Internet One Server at a Time |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/meet-the-self-hosters-taking-back-the-internet-one-server-at-a-time/ |url-status=live |archive-url= |archive-date= |access-date=2025-08-12 |website=VICE}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Sholly |first=Ethan |date=2025-11-21 |title=2025 Self-Host User Survey Results |url=https://selfh.st/survey/2025-results/ |url-status=live |website=selfh.st}}</ref>. As self-hosting gives the user more control over their data, it is often used by people to avoid companies from using their data in ways the user does not want or consent to.

The term "server" has several popular definitions in computing. Throughout this article it will refer to "a computer program that controls or supplies information to several computers connected in a network"<ref>{{Cite web |title=server (noun) |url=https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/server |access-date=2025-10-12 |website=Oxford Learner's Dictionaries}}</ref> and not comparably common "hosts that have software installed that enable them to provide information, like email or web pages, to other hosts on the network"<ref>{{Cite web |title=1.1.2.2 Clients and Servers |url=http://cisco.num.edu.mn/CCNA_R&S1/course/module1/1.1.2.2/1.1.2.2.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240407111300/http://cisco.num.edu.mn/CCNA_R&S1/course/module1/1.1.2.2/1.1.2.2.html |archive-date=2024-04-07 |website=Cisco Networking Academy}}</ref>.

==Origin of the practice==
Self-hosting typically refers to usage of digital services '''hosted''' by a person for just themselves (hence the '''self-''' prefix), but they're often made available also to a circle of family and friends, especially services that feature collaboration. Before self-hosting rose to prominence similar installations were typically limited to organizations and housed internal tools, such as company chats and internal knowledge bases.{{Citation needed}} This is still common in organizations, only partially supplanted by [[Software as a service|software-as-a-service (SaaS)]].

Today, there are numerous free and open-source server applications available to everyone with an internet connection<ref>{{Cite web |title=Free software |url=https://awesome-selfhosted.net/ |website=Awesome-Selfhosted}}</ref>. Companies commonly employ dedicated system administrators to run such applications, due to some specialized knowledge required to set them up. But over the years the amount of knowledge required for this has been reducing, which has allowed more people to install such server applications by themselves.{{Citation needed}}

Because both organizations and self-hosters largely use the same methods and software, most of the same risks and mistakes that companies have to deal with are present in some form in self-hosting as well. What can be configured poorly in a self-hosted setup can be configured poorly in professional installations as well.

==Use cases==

===Standalone digital services===
Messaging (such as e-mail, social networks and instant messengers), publishing (blogs, wikis, etc.), [[software as a service]], most forms of continuous data synchronization between devices and remote access of other devices are examples of services that can provide value to users by themselves, with clients widely available or unnecessary.

Self-hosting such services can be useful for privacy: for those that do not wish for their activity on these services to be transmitted to the internet at all to reduce the number of ways it can leak.

Self-hosting can also provide additional resilience: the service can remain fully functional in a [[Local area network|local network]] where it's deployed — which is useful in case the [[internet service provider]] (ISP) has an outage or if an alternative public service falls under new legal restrictions (e. g. censorship) and becomes inaccessible.

Self-hosting can also be a viable alternative when an existing service changes in an undesirable way (e. g. changes its [[terms of service]] in a controversial way, changes existing features, gets acquired or taken over), providing a baseline against which service providers could be forced to compete in serving the needs of their users.

===Digital services for "connected" products===
Various products in addition to (or instead of) autonomous functioning are increasingly relying on a service elsewhere for some of their features, often marketed as "smart" or "connected". For consumer products the way manufacturers commonly arrange this is through deployment of their own server for the product on their own infrastructure.

Most of the time, product manufacturers do not provide controls for users that would allow them to use their own servers. In such cases manufacturers' infrastructure becomes integral to the product and often gives manufacturer complete access to the product post-purchase through software updates, allowing for a number of anti-consumer actions such as [[retroactively amended purchase]] (manufacturer changing the way the product functions) and [[discontinuation bricking]] (manufacturer shutting down their server, reducing functionality of the product or rendering it entirely inoperable). Self-hosting a server for the product makes these practices impossible; however, most of the time it's not officially supported.

This isn't limited to just physical products, it affects software as well. For instance, [[games as a service]] typically require a server to fully function, and server software for such games is not made available to users, making self-hosting for such games impossible and requiring manufacturer's active involvement in order to maintain full game functionality. There are, however, many multiplayer games, especially older ones, that do support self-hosting of servers through dedicated server software<ref>{{Cite web |title=Dedicated Servers List |url=https://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/Dedicated_Servers_List |access-date=2025-10-12 |website=Valve Developer Community}}</ref>, proving that the technology for this already exists.

==Typical arrangements==

===Consumer-grade PC===
A lot of server software is capable of running on "normal" (consumer-grade) computers as well. So it is common to start self-hosting by installing server software on an unused computer that can be run continuously or whenever access to its services may be needed.

Because private servers are typically used by only a few users in practice, hardware requirements for some of the most popular services can be meager<ref>{{Cite web |title=System Requirements |url=https://docs.nextcloud.com/server/stable/admin_manual/installation/system_requirements.html |access-date=2025-10-12 |website=Nextcloud Administration Manual}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=FAQ - Docker Mailserver |url=https://docker-mailserver.github.io/docker-mailserver/latest/faq/#what-are-the-system-requirements |access-date=2025-10-12 |website=Docker-mailserver}}</ref> and can be satisfied by very old computers, which can be seen as a step towards [[circular economy]].

Software-wise, depending on requirements and the level of technical expertise, one might opt for a generic server OS such as [https://www.debian.org/ Debian] or [https://ubuntu.com/server Ubuntu Server] for a more do-it-yourself experience, or an OS purpose-built for self-hosting such as [https://yunohost.org/ YunoHost] which guides its users through some of the complexities of the process.

===Network-attached storage (NAS)===
Companies such as [[Synology]], [[QNap|QNAP]], [[UGreen|UGREEN]] and others offer commercial hardware products called NAS (Network Attached Storage) that expose disks to a network for shared access to files on them<ref>{{Cite web |last=Susnjara |first=Stephanie |last2=Smalley |first2=Ian |title=What is network attached storage (NAS)? |url=https://www.ibm.com/think/topics/network-attached-storage |url-status=live |access-date=2025-11-22 |website=IBM |series=Think}}</ref> in form of a "network drive", "file share" or "shared folder". As an additional function, many such devices can also run server software, and may even offer user-friendly graphical interfaces for this out-of-the-box.

Such devices are typically optimized for file management, and applications using the files stored by a NAS are expected to run on ''other'' devices on the same network (e. g. a PC running heavy video editing software utilizing video files stored on a NAS). As such, NAS devices, especially budget ones, often do not have much capacity for server applications. For a small number of users, however, as is common in self-hosting, they can be sufficient.

A consumer NAS is typically more expensive than self-built solutions or second hand server-grade hardware, but due to better power management, the higher costs can be worth it in regions with high electricity prices.

===Server hosting provider===
Rather than purchasing, configuring, running and maintaining physical hardware, a user can instead delegate most "hardware" aspects of self-hosting to a server hosting provider, which provides almost complete control of a general-purpose computer to a user for a subscription fee.

Control over not just the ''service'' but also the ''platform'' it runs on (the computer) provides the user with significantly more control over data that it processes compared to just using a service hosted by another party.

===Specialized server hardware===
An expensive high-end option that most closely resembles professional setups, with all the perks and downsides of professional setups: professional server hardware is designed to be more reliable and easily serviceable, but also can be very noisy, which may not matter much inside a proper server room or a data center, but for an apartment might be completely unacceptable.

These are commonly set up for services with high hardware requirements or maintained as a hobby by those who'd like to practice business-grade system administration at home. For the vast majority of services this is unnecessary and is sometimes mocked as such<ref>{{Cite web |title=You are all a bunch of sick freaks : selfhosted |url=http://old.reddit.com/r/selfhosted/comments/1igr2l7/you_are_all_a_bunch_of_sick_freaks/ |archive-url=https://selfh.st/sick-freaks/ |archive-date=2025-02-03 |website=Reddit}}</ref>.

==Self-hosted applications relevant to consumer rights==
{{Incomplete section}}

===[https://www.home-assistant.io/ Home Assistant]===
One of the most prominent free & open source projects in self-hosted home automation space.

Because it provides an unofficial self-hosted interface to and between "connected" products of many brands, it prominently announces anti-consumer actions by supported brands aimed at reducing or disabling that capability, bringing them to attention. Some vendors reconsider their plans afterwards, providing alternative solutions or entirely cancelling their plans for such changes, which Home Assistant reflects in their announcement posts as well.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2018-12-17 |title=Logitech Harmony removes local API |url=https://www.home-assistant.io/blog/2018/12/17/logitech-harmony-removes-local-api/ |access-date= |website=Home Assistant}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-11-23 |title=TP-Link offers way to add local API back |url=https://www.home-assistant.io/blog/2020/11/23/tplink-local-access/ |website=Home Assistant}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-10-13 |title=Removal of Mazda Connected Services integration |url=https://www.home-assistant.io/blog/2023/10/13/removal-of-mazda-connected-services-integration/ |access-date= |website=Home Assistant}}</ref>

Counters consumer rights issues such as [[discontinuation bricking]], [[retroactive policy enforcement]] and [[post-purchase EULA modification]], mostly in regards to "connected" devices and smart homes.

===[https://nextcloud.com/ Nextcloud]===
Provides remote file storage and sharing as a core function and numerous other functions available for easy installation: synchronization of contacts and calendars, a full-fledged browser-based editor for contacts and calendars, collaborative document editing, chat, video conferencing and more. Many of these are functions commonly seen as available only from large commercial providers, and Nextcloud serves as an example that disproves this notion.

In addition to offering a comprehensive interface for the browser and a suite of first-party mobile apps, some third-party applications allow the use of Nextcloud for storing user data. Some such applications are:

*[https://www.davx5.com/ DAVx⁵], a synchronization app for calendars, contacts and tasks on Android over the standard DAV protocols that Nextcloud implements
*[http://www.onlyoffice.com/ OnlyOffice], an in-browser document editor within Nextcloud's interface and a desktop editor that connects to a Nextcloud account, both allowing access to files in Nextcloud and collaborative editing with other users
*[https://floccus.org/ Floccus], a synchronization service for browser bookmarks and tabs, available across many browsers and as a mobile app, and synchronizing with a server chosen by the user, Nextcloud being only one of several supported options
*[https://github.com/scubajeff/lespas Les Pas], a photo album Android app, automating photo uploads and browsing both local and remote photo albums
*Apps that rely entirely on files for storage and can access Nextcloud through the operating system's interfaces and a Nextcloud client

In numerous alternatives, particularly among mobile apps, similar functions are only provided by the app's developer or affiliated parties, and often for a fee, with no alternatives,{{Citation needed|reason=needs examples}} resulting in a [[vendor lock-in]].

===Other useful tools===

*[https://www.truenas.com/ TrueNAS], [https://www.openmediavault.org/ OpenMediaVault]: Stores files on a server computer and makes them available to multiple devices
*[https://casaos.io/ CasaOS], [https://umbrel.com/umbrelos Umbrel], [https://yunohost.org/ YunoHost]: Systems that aim to make it easy for non-technical users to run their own home server and install services on it using a familiar app store paradigm
*[https://www.proxmox.com/ Proxmox]: Allows advanced users to host multiple services isolated from each other on one server computer
*[https://jitsi.org/jitsi-meet/ Jitsi Meet], [https://bigbluebutton.org/ BigBlueButton]: Video conferencing without relying on third party servers
*[https://pi-hole.net/ PiHole], [https://adguard.com/en/adguard-home/overview.html AdGuard Home]: Ad blocking for devices on the network level

==Further reading==

*[[Cloud (service)]]
*[[Local Area Network]]
*[[Right to own]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}
[[Category:Common terms]]

Self-hosting

2025-11-22T22:53:10Z

D-side: Moved Nextcloud into its own section and elaborated how it addresses needless data storage specialization mentioned above

{{Incomplete}}
'''Self-hosting''' is the practice of implementing digital services with server applications under one's own control. This is opposed to relying on large public services or [[Cloud (service)|cloud services]].

Self-hosting is typically done for several reasons, including to enable users to have more control over the services they use, or to allow the user to have more control over their privacy<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kehayias |first=John |date=2021-09-02 |title=Meet the Self-Hosters, Taking Back the Internet One Server at a Time |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/meet-the-self-hosters-taking-back-the-internet-one-server-at-a-time/ |url-status=live |archive-url= |archive-date= |access-date=2025-08-12 |website=VICE}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Sholly |first=Ethan |date=2025-11-21 |title=2025 Self-Host User Survey Results |url=https://selfh.st/survey/2025-results/ |url-status=live |website=selfh.st}}</ref>. As self-hosting gives the user more control over their data, it is often used by people to avoid companies from using their data in ways the user does not want or consent to.

The term "server" has several popular definitions in computing. Throughout this article it will refer to "a computer program that controls or supplies information to several computers connected in a network"<ref>{{Cite web |title=server (noun) |url=https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/server |access-date=2025-10-12 |website=Oxford Learner's Dictionaries}}</ref> and not comparably common "hosts that have software installed that enable them to provide information, like email or web pages, to other hosts on the network"<ref>{{Cite web |title=1.1.2.2 Clients and Servers |url=http://cisco.num.edu.mn/CCNA_R&S1/course/module1/1.1.2.2/1.1.2.2.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240407111300/http://cisco.num.edu.mn/CCNA_R&S1/course/module1/1.1.2.2/1.1.2.2.html |archive-date=2024-04-07 |website=Cisco Networking Academy}}</ref>.

==Origin of the practice==
Self-hosting typically refers to usage of digital services '''hosted''' by a person for just themselves (hence the '''self-''' prefix), but they're often made available also to a circle of family and friends, especially services that feature collaboration. Before self-hosting rose to prominence similar installations were typically limited to organizations and housed internal tools, such as company chats and internal knowledge bases.{{Citation needed}} This is still common in organizations, only partially supplanted by [[Software as a service|software-as-a-service (SaaS)]].

Today, there are numerous free and open-source server applications available to everyone with an internet connection<ref>{{Cite web |title=Free software |url=https://awesome-selfhosted.net/ |website=Awesome-Selfhosted}}</ref>. Companies commonly employ dedicated system administrators to run such applications, due to some specialized knowledge required to set them up. But over the years the amount of knowledge required for this has been reducing, which has allowed more people to install such server applications by themselves.{{Citation needed}}

Because both organizations and self-hosters largely use the same methods and software, most of the same risks and mistakes that companies have to deal with are present in some form in self-hosting as well. What can be configured poorly in a self-hosted setup can be configured poorly in professional installations as well.

==Use cases==

===Standalone digital services===
Messaging (such as e-mail, social networks and instant messengers), publishing (blogs, wikis, etc.), [[software as a service]], most forms of continuous data synchronization between devices and remote access of other devices are examples of services that can provide value to users by themselves, with clients widely available or unnecessary.

Self-hosting such services can be useful for privacy: for those that do not wish for their activity on these services to be transmitted to the internet at all to reduce the number of ways it can leak.

Self-hosting can also provide additional resilience: the service can remain fully functional in a [[Local area network|local network]] where it's deployed — which is useful in case the [[internet service provider]] (ISP) has an outage or if an alternative public service falls under new legal restrictions (e. g. censorship) and becomes inaccessible.

Self-hosting can also be a viable alternative when an existing service changes in an undesirable way (e. g. changes its [[terms of service]] in a controversial way, changes existing features, gets acquired or taken over), providing a baseline against which service providers could be forced to compete in serving the needs of their users.

===Digital services for "connected" products===
Various products in addition to (or instead of) autonomous functioning are increasingly relying on a service elsewhere for some of their features, often marketed as "smart" or "connected". For consumer products the way manufacturers commonly arrange this is through deployment of their own server for the product on their own infrastructure.

Most of the time, product manufacturers do not provide controls for users that would allow them to use their own servers. In such cases manufacturers' infrastructure becomes integral to the product and often gives manufacturer complete access to the product post-purchase through software updates, allowing for a number of anti-consumer actions such as [[retroactively amended purchase]] (manufacturer changing the way the product functions) and [[discontinuation bricking]] (manufacturer shutting down their server, reducing functionality of the product or rendering it entirely inoperable). Self-hosting a server for the product makes these practices impossible; however, most of the time it's not officially supported.

This isn't limited to just physical products, it affects software as well. For instance, [[games as a service]] typically require a server to fully function, and server software for such games is not made available to users, making self-hosting for such games impossible and requiring manufacturer's active involvement in order to maintain full game functionality. There are, however, many multiplayer games, especially older ones, that do support self-hosting of servers through dedicated server software<ref>{{Cite web |title=Dedicated Servers List |url=https://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/Dedicated_Servers_List |access-date=2025-10-12 |website=Valve Developer Community}}</ref>, proving that the technology for this already exists.

==Typical arrangements==

===Consumer-grade PC===
A lot of server software is capable of running on "normal" (consumer-grade) computers as well. So it is common to start self-hosting by installing server software on an unused computer that can be run continuously or whenever access to its services may be needed.

Because private servers are typically used by only a few users in practice, hardware requirements for some of the most popular services can be meager<ref>{{Cite web |title=System Requirements |url=https://docs.nextcloud.com/server/stable/admin_manual/installation/system_requirements.html |access-date=2025-10-12 |website=Nextcloud Administration Manual}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=FAQ - Docker Mailserver |url=https://docker-mailserver.github.io/docker-mailserver/latest/faq/#what-are-the-system-requirements |access-date=2025-10-12 |website=Docker-mailserver}}</ref> and can be satisfied by very old computers, which can be seen as a step towards [[circular economy]].

Software-wise, depending on requirements and the level of technical expertise, one might opt for a generic server OS such as [https://www.debian.org/ Debian] or [https://ubuntu.com/server Ubuntu Server] for a more do-it-yourself experience, or an OS purpose-built for self-hosting such as [https://yunohost.org/ YunoHost] which guides its users through some of the complexities of the process.

===Network-attached storage (NAS)===
Companies such as [[Synology]], [[QNap|QNAP]], [[UGreen|UGREEN]] and others offer commercial hardware products called NAS (Network Attached Storage) that expose disks to a network for shared access to files on them<ref>{{Cite web |last=Susnjara |first=Stephanie |last2=Smalley |first2=Ian |title=What is network attached storage (NAS)? |url=https://www.ibm.com/think/topics/network-attached-storage |url-status=live |access-date=2025-11-22 |website=IBM |series=Think}}</ref> in form of a "network drive", "file share" or "shared folder". As an additional function, many such devices can also run server software, and may even offer user-friendly graphical interfaces for this out-of-the-box.

Such devices are typically optimized for file management, and applications using the files stored by a NAS are expected to run on ''other'' devices on the same network (e. g. a PC running heavy video editing software utilizing video files stored on a NAS). As such, NAS devices, especially budget ones, often do not have much capacity for server applications. For a small number of users, however, as is common in self-hosting, they can be sufficient.

A consumer NAS is typically more expensive than self-built solutions or second hand server-grade hardware, but due to better power management, the higher costs can be worth it in regions with high electricity prices.

===Server hosting provider===
Rather than purchasing, configuring, running and maintaining physical hardware, a user can instead delegate most "hardware" aspects of self-hosting to a server hosting provider, which provides almost complete control of a general-purpose computer to a user for a subscription fee.

Control over not just the ''service'' but also the ''platform'' it runs on (the computer) provides the user with significantly more control over data that it processes compared to just using a service hosted by another party.

===Specialized server hardware===
An expensive high-end option that most closely resembles professional setups, with all the perks and downsides of professional setups: professional server hardware is designed to be more reliable and easily serviceable, but also can be very noisy, which may not matter much inside a proper server room or a data center, but for an apartment might be completely unacceptable.

These are commonly set up for services with high hardware requirements or maintained as a hobby by those who'd like to practice business-grade system administration at home. For the vast majority of services this is unnecessary and is sometimes mocked as such<ref>{{Cite web |title=You are all a bunch of sick freaks : selfhosted |url=http://old.reddit.com/r/selfhosted/comments/1igr2l7/you_are_all_a_bunch_of_sick_freaks/ |archive-url=https://selfh.st/sick-freaks/ |archive-date=2025-02-03 |website=Reddit}}</ref>.

==Self-hosted applications relevant to consumer rights==
{{Incomplete section}}

===[https://www.home-assistant.io/ Home Assistant]===
One of the most prominent free & open source projects in self-hosted home automation space.

Because it provides an unofficial self-hosted interface to and between "connected" products of many brands, it prominently announces anti-consumer actions by supported brands aimed at reducing or disabling that capability, bringing them to attention. Some vendors reconsider their plans afterwards, providing alternative solutions or entirely cancelling their plans for such changes, which Home Assistant reflects in their announcement posts as well.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2018-12-17 |title=Logitech Harmony removes local API |url=https://www.home-assistant.io/blog/2018/12/17/logitech-harmony-removes-local-api/ |access-date= |website=Home Assistant}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-11-23 |title=TP-Link offers way to add local API back |url=https://www.home-assistant.io/blog/2020/11/23/tplink-local-access/ |website=Home Assistant}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-10-13 |title=Removal of Mazda Connected Services integration |url=https://www.home-assistant.io/blog/2023/10/13/removal-of-mazda-connected-services-integration/ |access-date= |website=Home Assistant}}</ref>

=== [https://nextcloud.com/ Nextcloud] ===
Provides remote file storage and sharing as a core function and numerous other functions available for easy installation: synchronization of contacts and calendars, a full-fledged browser-based editor for contacts and calendars, collaborative document editing, chat, video conferencing and more. Many of these are functions commonly seen as available only from large commercial providers, and Nextcloud serves as an example that disproves this notion.

In addition to offering a comprehensive interface for the browser and a suite of first-party mobile apps, some third-party applications allow the use of Nextcloud for storing user data. Some such applications are:

* [https://www.davx5.com/ DAVx⁵], a synchronization app for calendars, contacts and tasks on Android over the standard DAV protocols that Nextcloud implements
* [http://www.onlyoffice.com/ OnlyOffice], an in-browser document editor within Nextcloud's interface and a desktop editor that connects to a Nextcloud account, both allowing access to files in Nextcloud and collaborative editing with other users
* [https://floccus.org/ Floccus], a synchronization service for browser bookmarks and tabs, available across many browsers and as a mobile app, and synchronizing with a server chosen by the user, Nextcloud being only one of several supported options
* [https://github.com/scubajeff/lespas Les Pas], a photo album Android app, automating photo uploads and browsing both local and remote photo albums
* Apps that rely entirely on files for storage and can access Nextcloud through the operating system's interfaces and a Nextcloud client

In numerous alternatives, particularly among mobile apps, similar functions are only provided by the app's developer or affiliated parties, and often for a fee, with no alternatives.{{Citation needed|reason=needs examples}}

===Other useful tools===

*[https://www.truenas.com/ TrueNAS], [https://www.openmediavault.org/ OpenMediaVault]: Stores files on a server computer and makes them available to multiple devices
*[https://casaos.io/ CasaOS], [https://umbrel.com/umbrelos Umbrel], [https://yunohost.org/ YunoHost]: Systems that aim to make it easy for non-technical users to run their own home server and install services on it using a familiar app store paradigm
*[https://www.proxmox.com/ Proxmox]: Allows advanced users to host multiple services isolated from each other on one server computer
*[https://jitsi.org/jitsi-meet/ Jitsi Meet], [https://bigbluebutton.org/ BigBlueButton]: Video conferencing without relying on third party servers
*[https://pi-hole.net/ PiHole], [https://adguard.com/en/adguard-home/overview.html AdGuard Home]: Ad blocking for devices on the network level

==Further reading==

*[[Cloud (service)]]
*[[Local Area Network]]
*[[Right to own]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}
[[Category:Common terms]]

Self-hosting

2025-11-22T21:13:58Z

D-side: Moved the NAS section where I envision it should be and added some context that clarifies server apps as a strictly auxillary function to them

{{Incomplete}}
'''Self-hosting''' is the practice of implementing digital services with server applications under one's own control. This is opposed to relying on large public services or [[Cloud (service)|cloud services]].

Self-hosting is typically done for several reasons, including to enable users to have more control over the services they use, or to allow the user to have more control over their privacy<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kehayias |first=John |date=2021-09-02 |title=Meet the Self-Hosters, Taking Back the Internet One Server at a Time |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/meet-the-self-hosters-taking-back-the-internet-one-server-at-a-time/ |url-status=live |archive-url= |archive-date= |access-date=2025-08-12 |website=VICE}}</ref>. As self-hosting gives the user more control over their data, it is often used by people to avoid companies from using their data in ways the user does not want or consent to.

The term "server" has several popular definitions in computing. Throughout this article it will refer to "a computer program that controls or supplies information to several computers connected in a network"<ref>{{Cite web |title=server (noun) |url=https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/server |access-date=2025-10-12 |website=Oxford Learner's Dictionaries}}</ref> and not comparably common "hosts that have software installed that enable them to provide information, like email or web pages, to other hosts on the network"<ref>{{Cite web |title=1.1.2.2 Clients and Servers |url=http://cisco.num.edu.mn/CCNA_R&S1/course/module1/1.1.2.2/1.1.2.2.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240407111300/http://cisco.num.edu.mn/CCNA_R&S1/course/module1/1.1.2.2/1.1.2.2.html |archive-date=2024-04-07 |website=Cisco Networking Academy}}</ref>.

==Origin of the practice==
Self-hosting typically refers to usage of digital services '''hosted''' by a person for just themselves (hence the '''self-''' prefix), but they're often made available also to a circle of family and friends, especially services that feature collaboration. Before self-hosting rose to prominence similar installations were typically limited to organizations and housed internal tools, such as company chats and internal knowledge bases.{{Citation needed}} This is still common in organizations, only partially supplanted by [[Software as a service|software-as-a-service (SaaS)]].

Today, there are numerous free and open-source server applications available to everyone with an internet connection<ref>{{Cite web |title=Free software |url=https://awesome-selfhosted.net/ |website=Awesome-Selfhosted}}</ref>. Companies commonly employ dedicated system administrators to run such applications, due to some specialized knowledge required to set them up. But over the years the amount of knowledge required for this has been reducing, which has allowed more people to install such server applications by themselves.{{Citation needed}}

Because both organizations and self-hosters largely use the same methods and software, most of the same risks and mistakes that companies have to deal with are present in some form in self-hosting as well. What can be configured poorly in a self-hosted setup can be configured poorly in professional installations as well.

==Use cases==

===Standalone digital services===
Messaging (such as e-mail, social networks and instant messengers), publishing (blogs, wikis, etc.), [[software as a service]], most forms of continuous data synchronization between devices and remote access of other devices are examples of services that can provide value to users by themselves, with clients widely available or unnecessary.

Self-hosting such services can be useful for privacy: for those that do not wish for their activity on these services to be transmitted to the internet at all to reduce the number of ways it can leak.

Self-hosting can also provide additional resilience: the service can remain fully functional in a [[Local area network|local network]] where it's deployed — which is useful in case the [[internet service provider]] (ISP) has an outage or if an alternative public service falls under new legal restrictions (e. g. censorship) and becomes inaccessible.

Self-hosting can also be a viable alternative when an existing service changes in an undesirable way (e. g. changes its [[terms of service]] in a controversial way, changes existing features, gets acquired or taken over), providing a baseline against which service providers could be forced to compete in serving the needs of their users.

===Digital services for "connected" products===
Various products in addition to (or instead of) autonomous functioning are increasingly relying on a service elsewhere for some of their features, often marketed as "smart" or "connected". For consumer products the way manufacturers commonly arrange this is through deployment of their own server for the product on their own infrastructure.

Most of the time, product manufacturers do not provide controls for users that would allow them to use their own servers. In such cases manufacturers' infrastructure becomes integral to the product and often gives manufacturer complete access to the product post-purchase through software updates, allowing for a number of anti-consumer actions such as [[retroactively amended purchase]] (manufacturer changing the way the product functions) and [[discontinuation bricking]] (manufacturer shutting down their server, reducing functionality of the product or rendering it entirely inoperable). Self-hosting a server for the product makes these practices impossible; however, most of the time it's not officially supported.

This isn't limited to just physical products, it affects software as well. For instance, [[games as a service]] typically require a server to fully function, and server software for such games is not made available to users, making self-hosting for such games impossible and requiring manufacturer's active involvement in order to maintain full game functionality. There are, however, many multiplayer games, especially older ones, that do support self-hosting of servers through dedicated server software<ref>{{Cite web |title=Dedicated Servers List |url=https://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/Dedicated_Servers_List |access-date=2025-10-12 |website=Valve Developer Community}}</ref>, proving that the technology for this already exists.

==Typical arrangements==

===Consumer-grade PC===
A lot of server software is capable of running on "normal" (consumer-grade) computers as well. So it is common to start self-hosting by installing server software on an unused computer that can be run continuously or whenever access to its services may be needed.

Because private servers are typically used by only a few users in practice, hardware requirements for some of the most popular services can be meager<ref>{{Cite web |title=System Requirements |url=https://docs.nextcloud.com/server/stable/admin_manual/installation/system_requirements.html |access-date=2025-10-12 |website=Nextcloud Administration Manual}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=FAQ - Docker Mailserver |url=https://docker-mailserver.github.io/docker-mailserver/latest/faq/#what-are-the-system-requirements |access-date=2025-10-12 |website=Docker-mailserver}}</ref> and can be satisfied by very old computers, which can be seen as a step towards [[circular economy]].

Software-wise, depending on requirements and the level of technical expertise, one might opt for a generic server OS such as [https://www.debian.org/ Debian] or [https://ubuntu.com/server Ubuntu Server] for a more do-it-yourself experience, or an OS purpose-built for self-hosting such as [https://yunohost.org/ YunoHost] which guides its users through some of the complexities of the process.

=== Network-attached storage (NAS) ===
Companies such as [[Synology]], [[QNap|QNAP]], [[UGreen|UGREEN]] and others offer commercial hardware products called NAS (Network Attached Storage) that expose disks to a network for shared access to files on them<ref>{{Cite web |last=Susnjara |first=Stephanie |last2=Smalley |first2=Ian |title=What is network attached storage (NAS)? |url=https://www.ibm.com/think/topics/network-attached-storage |url-status=live |access-date=2025-11-22 |website=IBM |series=Think}}</ref> in form of a "network drive", "file share" or "shared folder". As an additional function, many such devices can also run server software, and may even offer user-friendly graphical interfaces for this out-of-the-box.

Such devices are typically optimized for file management, and applications using the files stored by a NAS are expected to run on ''other'' devices on the same network (e. g. a PC running heavy video editing software utilizing video files stored on a NAS). As such, NAS devices, especially budget ones, often do not have much capacity for server applications. For a small number of users, however, as is common in self-hosting, they can be sufficient.

A consumer NAS is typically more expensive than self-built solutions or second hand server-grade hardware, but due to better power management, the higher costs can be worth it in regions with high electricity prices.

===Server hosting provider===
Rather than purchasing, configuring, running and maintaining physical hardware, a user can instead delegate most "hardware" aspects of self-hosting to a server hosting provider, which provides almost complete control of a general-purpose computer to a user for a subscription fee.

Control over not just the ''service'' but also the ''platform'' it runs on (the computer) provides the user with significantly more control over data that it processes compared to just using a service hosted by another party.

===Specialized server hardware===
An expensive high-end option that most closely resembles professional setups, with all the perks and downsides of professional setups: professional server hardware is designed to be more reliable and easily serviceable, but also can be very noisy, which may not matter much inside a proper server room or a data center, but for an apartment might be completely unacceptable.

These are commonly set up for services with high hardware requirements or maintained as a hobby by those who'd like to practice business-grade system administration at home. For the vast majority of services this is unnecessary and is sometimes mocked as such<ref>{{Cite web |title=You are all a bunch of sick freaks : selfhosted |url=http://old.reddit.com/r/selfhosted/comments/1igr2l7/you_are_all_a_bunch_of_sick_freaks/ |archive-url=https://selfh.st/sick-freaks/ |archive-date=2025-02-03 |website=Reddit}}</ref>.

==Self-hosted applications relevant to consumer rights==
{{Incomplete section}}

===Home Assistant===
One of the most prominent free & open source projects in self-hosted home automation space.

Because it provides an unofficial self-hosted interface to and between "connected" products of many brands, it prominently announces anti-consumer actions by supported brands aimed at reducing or disabling that capability, bringing them to attention. Some vendors reconsider their plans afterwards, providing alternative solutions or entirely cancelling their plans for such changes, which Home Assistant reflects in their announcement posts as well.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2018-12-17 |title=Logitech Harmony removes local API |url=https://www.home-assistant.io/blog/2018/12/17/logitech-harmony-removes-local-api/ |access-date= |website=Home Assistant}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-11-23 |title=TP-Link offers way to add local API back |url=https://www.home-assistant.io/blog/2020/11/23/tplink-local-access/ |website=Home Assistant}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-10-13 |title=Removal of Mazda Connected Services integration |url=https://www.home-assistant.io/blog/2023/10/13/removal-of-mazda-connected-services-integration/ |access-date= |website=Home Assistant}}</ref>

===Other useful tools===

*[https://nextcloud.com/ NextCloud]: Similar to commercial offerings such as Apple iCloud or Google Drive. Allows syncing files, contacts and calendars, collaborative document editing, internal chat and much more.
*[https://www.truenas.com/ TrueNAS], [https://www.openmediavault.org/ OpenMediaVault]: Stores files on a server computer and makes them available to multiple devices
*[https://casaos.io/ CasaOS], [https://umbrel.com/umbrelos Umbrel], [https://yunohost.org/ YunoHost]: Systems that aim to make it easy for non-technical users to run their own home server and install services on it using a familiar app store paradigm
*[https://www.proxmox.com/ Proxmox]: Allows advanced users to host multiple services isolated from each other on one server computer
*[https://jitsi.org/jitsi-meet/ Jitsi Meet], [https://bigbluebutton.org/ BigBlueButton]: Video conferencing without relying on third party servers
*[https://pi-hole.net/ PiHole], [https://adguard.com/en/adguard-home/overview.html AdGuard Home]: Ad blocking for devices on the network level

==Further reading==

*[[Cloud (service)]]
*[[Local Area Network]]
*[[Right to own]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}
[[Category:Common terms]]

Self-hosting

2025-11-19T11:45:41Z

D-side: Worded advantages into a more consistent structure and added one more

Talk:YouTube

2025-10-24T11:50:12Z

D-side: /* Obscure over-moderation of comments */

==Add a section on censorship==

We should probably cover the censorship of the Hong Kong protests of 2021 [[User:Revelation 13 16-17|Revelation 13 16-17]] ([[User talk:Revelation 13 16-17|talk]]) 02:42, 26 August 2025 (UTC)

:This feels like a worthy incident we must cover but alas I lack intel on it. Could you point me towards some sources so I can find out more? These sources can help in our write-up when we do it. [[User:SinexTitan|SinexTitan]] ([[User talk:SinexTitan|talk]]) 18:41, 27 August 2025 (UTC)

:They also took down a video by comedian SAMTIME (Sam Tucker) mocking them for Android's new restrictions: [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/dfccCB2Vz-M Android is Losing a Big Feature]. ([https://odysee.com/@samtime:1/android-is-losing-a-big-feature:e Odysee mirror]). [[User:JodyBruchonFan|JodyBruchonFan]] ([[User talk:JodyBruchonFan|talk]]) 08:57, 9 October 2025 (UTC)

==Inconsistent content moderation section==

@[[User:D-side|D-side]] Hi there, typically when we introduce new sections on the wiki, we include sources. If you are struggling to find sources, it is generally best practice to leave the concept dedicated towards the discussion tab so that once people find relevant and trustworthy sources, it can be properly integrated into our articles. I hope you understand! [[User:JamesTDG|JamesTDG]] ([[User talk:JamesTDG|talk]]) 12:17, 22 October 2025 (UTC)

:Hi @[[User:JamesTDG|JamesTDG]], understandable, no problem at all, undid my change and created a discussion entry out of what was previously there [[User:D-side|D-side]] ([[User talk:D-side|talk]]) 13:14, 22 October 2025 (UTC)

==TODO: inconsistent content moderation (draft)==

===Obscure over-moderation of comments===
Commenters on videos sometimes encounter inconsistent behavior around availability of some of the comments they publish. Some comments go through without issue, some comments disappear immediately without notice, some disappear after a short amount of time, sometimes long enough to get a reply (which subsequently appears as a reply to nothing). Comments lost in this way are hidden from view, but apparently still exist in YouTube's system as reply counters still account for them. On rare occasions some comments are restored, up to months later, for unclear reasons.{{Citation needed|reason=but hard to find something reputable on the subject because the behavior is so inconsistent it could be discounted as just random}}

YouTube allows holding comments for review prior to publication, all or just potentially inappropriate, but this happens even on channels where neither option is enabled. Some creators report getting complaints about this behavior and finding no traces of this on channel management pages: not of the comments, not of the actions taken.{{Citation needed|reason=Louis Rossmann posted a video of something about this at least once, if someone could please find it}}

YouTube's official policy states that automated removals happen when their detection systems find violations of their Community Guidelines<ref>{{Cite web |title=Learn about comments that aren’t showing or have been removed |url=https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/13209064 |access-date=2025-10-22 |website=YouTube Help}}</ref>, but Guidelines' overall broadness<ref>{{Cite web |title=YouTube's Community Guidelines |url=https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/9288567 |access-date=2025-10-22 |website=YouTube Help}}</ref>, questionable past interpretations of Guidelines by YouTube<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-10-01 |title=YouTube Took Down My ErsatzTV Tutorial as “Dangerous and Harmful”! |url=https://www.reddit.com/r/unRAID/comments/1nvjosp/youtube_took_down_my_ersatztv_tutorial_as/ |url-status=live |website=Reddit}}</ref> and lack of notices with specific reasons for specific deletions makes assessment of the validity of that detection difficult.

(Feel free to edit this draft directly) [[User:D-side|D-side]] ([[User talk:D-side|talk]]) 13:10, 22 October 2025 (UTC)

<references />

: More sources:
:* ''[https://preservetube.com/watch?v=3lpPbQ8g9XE Youtube Comment Censorship - Why Your Youtube Comments Get Deleted. Comment Moderation Gone Wild]''
:* ''[https://preservetube.com/watch?v=43wp_EUk2ho YouTube is Auto-Deleting 100% of my Comments]''
: [[User:JodyBruchonFan|JodyBruchonFan]] ([[User talk:JodyBruchonFan|talk]]) 16:28, 23 October 2025 (UTC)

Talk:YouTube

2025-10-22T13:14:55Z

D-side: /* Inconsistent content moderation section */ Reply

==Add a section on censorship==

We should probably cover the censorship of the Hong Kong protests of 2021 [[User:Revelation 13 16-17|Revelation 13 16-17]] ([[User talk:Revelation 13 16-17|talk]]) 02:42, 26 August 2025 (UTC)

:This feels like a worthy incident we must cover but alas I lack intel on it. Could you point me towards some sources so I can find out more? These sources can help in our write-up when we do it. [[User:SinexTitan|SinexTitan]] ([[User talk:SinexTitan|talk]]) 18:41, 27 August 2025 (UTC)

:They also took down a video by comedian SAMTIME (Sam Tucker) mocking them for Android's new restrictions: [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/dfccCB2Vz-M Android is Losing a Big Feature]. ([https://odysee.com/@samtime:1/android-is-losing-a-big-feature:e Odysee mirror]). [[User:JodyBruchonFan|JodyBruchonFan]] ([[User talk:JodyBruchonFan|talk]]) 08:57, 9 October 2025 (UTC)

==Inconsistent content moderation section==

@[[User:D-side|D-side]] Hi there, typically when we introduce new sections on the wiki, we include sources. If you are struggling to find sources, it is generally best practice to leave the concept dedicated towards the discussion tab so that once people find relevant and trustworthy sources, it can be properly integrated into our articles. I hope you understand! [[User:JamesTDG|JamesTDG]] ([[User talk:JamesTDG|talk]]) 12:17, 22 October 2025 (UTC)

:Hi @[[User:JamesTDG|JamesTDG]], understandable, no problem at all, undid my change and created a discussion entry out of what was previously there [[User:D-side|D-side]] ([[User talk:D-side|talk]]) 13:14, 22 October 2025 (UTC)

==TODO: inconsistent content moderation (draft)==

===Obscure over-moderation of comments===
Commenters on videos sometimes encounter inconsistent behavior around availability of some of the comments they publish. Some comments go through without issue, some comments disappear immediately without notice, some disappear after a short amount of time, sometimes long enough to get a reply (which subsequently appears as a reply to nothing). Comments lost in this way are hidden from view, but apparently still exist in YouTube's system as reply counters still account for them. On rare occasions some comments are restored, up to months later, for unclear reasons.{{Citation needed|reason=but hard to find something reputable on the subject because the behavior is so inconsistent it could be discounted as just random}}

YouTube allows holding comments for review prior to publication, all or just potentially inappropriate, but this happens even on channels where neither option is enabled. Some creators report getting complaints about this behavior and finding no traces of this on channel management pages: not of the comments, not of the actions taken.{{Citation needed|reason=Louis Rossmann posted a video of something about this at least once, if someone could please find it}}

YouTube's official policy states that automated removals happen when their detection systems find violations of their Community Guidelines<ref>{{Cite web |title=Learn about comments that aren’t showing or have been removed |url=https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/13209064 |access-date=2025-10-22 |website=YouTube Help}}</ref>, but Guidelines' overall broadness<ref>{{Cite web |title=YouTube's Community Guidelines |url=https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/9288567 |access-date=2025-10-22 |website=YouTube Help}}</ref>, questionable past interpretations of Guidelines by YouTube<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-10-01 |title=YouTube Took Down My ErsatzTV Tutorial as “Dangerous and Harmful”! |url=https://www.reddit.com/r/unRAID/comments/1nvjosp/youtube_took_down_my_ersatztv_tutorial_as/ |url-status=live |website=Reddit}}</ref> and lack of notices with specific reasons for specific deletions makes assessment of the validity of that detection difficult. [[User:D-side|D-side]] ([[User talk:D-side|talk]]) 13:10, 22 October 2025 (UTC)
<references />

Talk:YouTube

2025-10-22T13:10:14Z

D-side: /* TODO: inconsistent content moderation (draft) */ new section

==Add a section on censorship==

We should probably cover the censorship of the Hong Kong protests of 2021 [[User:Revelation 13 16-17|Revelation 13 16-17]] ([[User talk:Revelation 13 16-17|talk]]) 02:42, 26 August 2025 (UTC)

:This feels like a worthy incident we must cover but alas I lack intel on it. Could you point me towards some sources so I can find out more? These sources can help in our write-up when we do it. [[User:SinexTitan|SinexTitan]] ([[User talk:SinexTitan|talk]]) 18:41, 27 August 2025 (UTC)

: They also took down a video by comedian SAMTIME (Sam Tucker) mocking them for Android's new restrictions: [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/dfccCB2Vz-M Android is Losing a Big Feature]. ([https://odysee.com/@samtime:1/android-is-losing-a-big-feature:e Odysee mirror]). [[User:JodyBruchonFan|JodyBruchonFan]] ([[User talk:JodyBruchonFan|talk]]) 08:57, 9 October 2025 (UTC)

== Inconsistent content moderation section ==

@[[User:D-side|D-side]] Hi there, typically when we introduce new sections on the wiki, we include sources. If you are struggling to find sources, it is generally best practice to leave the concept dedicated towards the discussion tab so that once people find relevant and trustworthy sources, it can be properly integrated into our articles. I hope you understand! [[User:JamesTDG|JamesTDG]] ([[User talk:JamesTDG|talk]]) 12:17, 22 October 2025 (UTC)

== TODO: inconsistent content moderation (draft) ==

=== Obscure over-moderation of comments ===
Commenters on videos sometimes encounter inconsistent behavior around availability of some of the comments they publish. Some comments go through without issue, some comments disappear immediately without notice, some disappear after a short amount of time, sometimes long enough to get a reply (which subsequently appears as a reply to nothing). Comments lost in this way are hidden from view, but apparently still exist in YouTube's system as reply counters still account for them. On rare occasions some comments are restored, up to months later, for unclear reasons.{{Citation needed|reason=but hard to find something reputable on the subject because the behavior is so inconsistent it could be discounted as just random}}

YouTube allows holding comments for review prior to publication, all or just potentially inappropriate, but this happens even on channels where neither option is enabled. Some creators report getting complaints about this behavior and finding no traces of this on channel management pages: not of the comments, not of the actions taken.{{Citation needed|reason=Louis Rossmann posted a video of something about this at least once, if someone could please find it}}

YouTube's official policy states that automated removals happen when their detection systems find violations of their Community Guidelines<ref>{{Cite web |title=Learn about comments that aren’t showing or have been removed |url=https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/13209064 |access-date=2025-10-22 |website=YouTube Help}}</ref>, but Guidelines' overall broadness<ref>{{Cite web |title=YouTube's Community Guidelines |url=https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/9288567 |access-date=2025-10-22 |website=YouTube Help}}</ref>, questionable past interpretations of Guidelines by YouTube<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-10-01 |title=YouTube Took Down My ErsatzTV Tutorial as “Dangerous and Harmful”! |url=https://www.reddit.com/r/unRAID/comments/1nvjosp/youtube_took_down_my_ersatztv_tutorial_as/ |url-status=live |website=Reddit}}</ref> and lack of notices with specific reasons for specific deletions makes assessment of the validity of that detection difficult. [[User:D-side|D-side]] ([[User talk:D-side|talk]]) 13:10, 22 October 2025 (UTC)

YouTube

2025-10-22T13:09:33Z

D-side: Undo revision 28204 by D-side (talk) (moving to discussions)

{{StubNotice}}

{{InfoboxProductLine
| Title = YouTube
| Release Year = 2005
| Product Type = Video sharing and streaming
| In Production = Yes
| Official Website = https://youtube.com
| Logo = YouTube.png
}}

'''{{Wplink|YouTube}}''', founded in 2005 by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim, is a global video-sharing platform and one of the most visited websites in the world. Acquired by [[Google]] in 2006, YouTube has since become the dominant platform for sharing videos on the internet.

YouTube's business model is built around advertising revenue, with creators earning money through ad views, subscriptions, and other monetization options. The platform hosts a wide range of content, including music videos, tutorials, news, vlogs, and live streams. YouTube has also begun offering subscription services, such as YouTube Premium and YouTube TV, for ad-free experiences, exclusive content, and live television.<ref>{{Cite web |title=YouTube - Wikipedia |url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/YouTube |website=Wikipedia |access-date=30 Jan 2025}}</ref>

YouTube has faced criticism and regulatory scrutiny on multiple fronts. Concerns have been raised about content moderation policies, the platform's role in the spread of misinformation, and its impact on user privacy, particularly in relation to data collection practices. Additionally, YouTube has been under fire for its algorithms, which some argue promote harmful or divisive content to maximize engagement.

==Consumer Impact Summary==

*'''User Freedom''': Questionable; rampant bots and [[Elsagate]] suggest negligent moderation.
*'''User Privacy''': Poor; Since August 2025, accessing mature content without identification is a gamble. User data is also sold to advertisers and the site is owned by [[Google]].
*'''Business Model''': [[Advertising overload|Excessive advertising]], YouTube Premium, YouTube Premium Lite
*'''Market Competition''': Despite several platforms that follow its niche, such as Odysee, PeerTube, and DailyMotion, they provide no significant competition.

==Incidents==

===Restricting users that don't share their personal information===
{{Main|Youtubes Requirement for Government ID}}

On July 30, 2025, in response to the [[UK Online Safety Act]], YouTube announced a verification update that asks for either a government-issued ID, a photo, or credit card, otherwise they could not access content.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ingram |first=Michael |date=30 Jul 2025 |title=YouTube is Rolling Out A New Controversial Feature |url=https://gamerant.com/youtube-new-age-verification-feature-id-recognition/ |url-status=live |access-date=14 Aug 2025 |website=GameRant}}</ref>

YouTube will estimate the age of a user from various sources, including the videos watched, and will ask for previously mentioned personal information when it believes that the user falls below 18.

===Advertising overload on YouTube===
{{Main|Advertising overload}}

Advertisements are YouTube's primary source of revenue.<ref>{{Cite web |title=How YouTube Works |url=https://www.youtube.com/howyoutubeworks/our-commitments/sharing-revenue/ |website=YouTube |date= |access-date= |url-status=live}}</ref> This has led to advertisements becoming more pervasive on the platform<ref>{{Cite web |first=Jordan |last=Brown |title=Why YouTube Has So Many Ads (and Why There Will Probably Be More) |url=https://www.33rdsquare.com/software-app/why-youtube-has-so-many-ads-and-why-there-will-probably-be-more/ |website=33rd Square |date=20 Jan 2024 |access-date=12 Jul 2025 |url-status=live |archive-url= |archive-date=}}</ref> such as an increasing number of spaces for static ads, longer ad breaks (which some users have documented being longer than the videos they watch,<ref>{{Cite web |first=Aamir |last=Siddiqui |title=Frustrated YouTube viewers seek explanation for hour-long unskippable ads (Updated: Clarification) |url=https://www.androidauthority.com/youtube-long-unskippable-ads-problem-3519957/ |website=Android Authority |date=27 Jan 2025 |access-date=12 Jul 2025 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250128162022/https://www.androidauthority.com/youtube-long-unskippable-ads-problem-3519957/ |archive-date=28 Jan 2025}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |first=Hans-Christian |last=Dirscherl |first2=Joel |last2=Lee |title=Hours-long unskippable ads spotted on YouTube. What’s going on? |url=https://www.pcworld.com/article/2590352/hours-long-unskippable-ads-spotted-on-youtube-whats-going-on.html |website=PCWorld |date=28 Jan 2025 |access-date=5 Apr 2025 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250129183554/https://www.pcworld.com/article/2590352/hours-long-unskippable-ads-spotted-on-youtube-whats-going-on.html |archive-date=29 Jan 2025}}</ref> and most prevalent on YouTube TV, <ref>{{Cite web |first=Anu |last=Adegbola |title=YouTube tests longer CTV ad breaks |url= https://searchengineland.com/youtube-tests-longer-ad-breaks-ctv-445248#:~:text=YouTube%20is%20increasing%20the%20duration,ads%20over%20shorter%2C%20dispersed%20slots. |website=Search Engine Land |date=16 Aug 2024 |access-date=16 Aug 2025|url-status=live}}</ref>) increased ad frequency in videos,<ref>{{Cite web |first=Arol |last=Wright |title=YouTube is Adding Even More Ads |url=https://www.howtogeek.com/youtube-is-adding-even-more-ads/ |website=How-To-Geek |date=26 Apr 2024 |access-date=12 Jul 2025 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240426192258/https://www.howtogeek.com/youtube-is-adding-even-more-ads/ |archive-date=26 Apr 2024}}</ref> and poorer quality ads.<ref name=":5">{{Cite web |author=@T3rr0r |title=BAD Mobile Game Ads |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRjGn54O4Zg |website=[[YouTube]] |date=17 Oct 2021 |access-date=12 Jul 2025 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":6">{{Cite web |first=Max |last=Knoblauch |title=Why are mobile game ads so weird and bad? |url=https://sherwood.news/business/mobile-game-ads-industry-fake-misleading/ |website=Sherwood News |date=14 Jun 2024 |access-date=12 Jul 2025 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240614151756/https://sherwood.news/business/mobile-game-ads-industry-fake-misleading/ |archive-date=14 Jun 2024}}</ref><ref name=":7">{{Cite web |author= @Saberspark |title=The DISGUSTING State of Mobile Game Ads (and why YouTube LOVES IT) |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KsKlfN9phAs |website=[[YouTube]] |date=18 Sep 2021 |access-date=12 Jul 2025 |url-status=live}}</ref> Practices are also put into place in order to force non-paying users into seeing these ads as well, such as subscription-gating playing videos in the background.<ref>{{Cite web |title=YouTube Premium |url=https://www.youtube.com/premium?ybp=Sg0IBhIJdW5saW1pdGVk4AEC |website=[[YouTube]] |access-date=12 Jul 2025 |url-status=live}}</ref>

Furthermore, even if a user pays for YouTube premium, they do not necessarily receive an ad-free experience<ref>{{Cite web |author=CaptainMystery_123 |title=I have YouTube premium, why am I getting adds. |url=https://www.reddit.com/r/youtube/comments/18ll7y6/i_have_youtube_premium_why_am_i_getting_adds/ |website=[[Reddit]] |date=18 Dec 2023 |access-date=12 Jul 2025 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231219183511/https://www.reddit.com/r/youtube/comments/18ll7y6/i_have_youtube_premium_why_am_i_getting_adds/ |archive-date=19 Dec 2023
}}</ref> — they may still see ads within the video they watch, such as sponsored segments.{{Citation needed}} YouTube has added a "skip" feature, but it has been reported that this does not work consistently.<ref>{{Cite web |first=Anurag |last=Singh |title=YouTube now lets you skip sponsored segments — but you’ll have to pay for it |url=https://www.dexerto.com/youtube/youtube-now-lets-you-skip-sponsored-segments-but-youll-have-to-pay-for-it-2872784/ |website=Dexerto |date=22 Aug 2024 |access-date=12 Jul 2025 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240822211151/https://www.dexerto.com/youtube/youtube-now-lets-you-skip-sponsored-segments-but-youll-have-to-pay-for-it-2872784/ |archive-date=22 Aug 2024}}</ref>

====Refusal to handle malicious ads====
A common phenomenon on YouTube's advertisements is content that is mature and/or malicious in nature.<ref>{{Cite web |author=@Beyond The Internet |title=YouTube Ads are a Disgrace…
|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_B2KdIoRVo8 |website=[[YouTube]] |date=22 Feb 2025 |access-date=12 Jul 2025 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":8">{{Cite web |first=Adamya |last=Sharma |title=Explicit ads are plaguing YouTube, and it’s only getting worse |url=https://www.androidauthority.com/youtube-explicit-ads-problem-3520285/ |website=Android Authority |date=27 Jan 2025 |access-date=12 Jul 2025 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250127062033/https://www.androidauthority.com/youtube-explicit-ads-problem-3520285/ |archive-date=27 Jan 2025}}</ref> The content of these advertisements include pornography,<ref>{{Cite web |author=@Saberspark |title=YouTube's Ads Have Hit A New Low...(it's literally p*rn) |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cW4On_gWAvI |website=[[YouTube]] |date=31 Mar 2025 |access-date=12 Jul 2025 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":8" /> false advertising,<ref name=":5" /><ref name=":6" /><ref name=":7" /> scams,<ref>{{Cite web |author=Jakob_G |title=YouTube doesn't want to take down scam ads |url=https://www.reddit.com/r/youtube/comments/18gjiqy/youtube_doesnt_want_to_take_down_scam_ads/ |website=[[Reddit]] |date=12 Dec 2023 |access-date=12 Jul 2025 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231217144248/https://www.reddit.com/r/youtube/comments/18gjiqy/youtube_doesnt_want_to_take_down_scam_ads/ |archive-date=17 Dec 2023}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |author=@JerryRigEverything |title=I CAUGHT THE YOUTUBE SCAMMER - $1000 dollars EVERY DAY?! |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iROF9Dd7FXA |website=[[YouTube]] |date=9 Mar 2023 |access-date=12 Jul 2025 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web
|author=LoganAH |title=Why does YouTube run blatant scams as advertisements? |url=https://www.reddit.com/r/youtube/comments/18osjs6/why_does_youtube_run_blatant_scams_as/ |website=[[Reddit]] |date=22 Dec 2023 |access-date=12 Jul 2025 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250713054442/https://old.reddit.com/r/youtube/comments/18osjs6/why_does_youtube_run_blatant_scams_as/  |archive-date=13 Jul 2025}}</ref> and far more. Rather than working towards clearing these ads, or acknowledging this advertising content that has been harming consumers on the platform, YouTube moderation has only cut the revenue for these videos that attempt to call out these ads,<ref>{{Cite web |author=@Deep Humor |title=Watch This Before YouTube Deletes It. |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRpECEQ0-hg |website=[[YouTube]] |date=24 Feb 2025 |access-date=12 Jul 2025 |url-status=live}}</ref> which has been known to make said videos be less-showcased.<ref name=":4">{{Cite web |author=@Sealow |title=Extensive evidence of algorithm censorship of demonetised videos |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3H8D2LrLHc |website=[[YouTube]] |date=29 Nov 2017 |access-date=12 Jul 2025 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web |author=Karlaplan |title=Monetisation analysis / research |url=https://docs.google.com/document/d/155yNpfR7dGKuN-4rbrvbJLcJkhGa_HqvVuyPK7UEfPo/edit?tab=t.0#heading=h.jou9rc5d49jl
|website=[[Google]] |date=20 Nov 2017 |access-date=12 Jul 2025 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250319182149/https://docs.google.com/document/d/155yNpfR7dGKuN-4rbrvbJLcJkhGa_HqvVuyPK7UEfPo/edit?tab=t.0#heading=h.jou9rc5d49jl  |archive-date=19 Mar 2025}}</ref>

===Demonetization and censorship===
Since at least 2016, YouTube has had an extensive record of censoring content that is demonetized.<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":1" /> Within understandable circumstances, legitimately malicious or offensive videos would be demonetized and should not be shown on the platform; however, how videos are considered to be demonetized has had a harmful impact upon both viewers and content creators. Transgender creators on YouTube, for example, have experienced unfair censorship via demonetization since 2018.<ref>{{Cite web |first=Malia |last=Disney |title=Trans YouTubers Say They Are Being Censored. Is It The Algorithm? |url=https://archive.yr.media/journalism/outloud/trans-youtubers-say-they-are-being-censored-and-an-algorithm-may-be-to-blame/ |website=archive.yr.media |date=4 May 2018 |access-date=12 Jul 2025 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230130035845/https://archive.yr.media/journalism/outloud/trans-youtubers-say-they-are-being-censored-and-an-algorithm-may-be-to-blame/ |archive-date=30 Jan 2023}}</ref> Content creators affected by this unfairly balanced moderation via algorithms<ref>{{Cite web |first=Randy |last=Cantz |title=Adpocalypse: How YouTube Demonetization Imperils the Future of Free Speech |url=https://bpr.studentorg.berkeley.edu/2018/05/01/adpocalypse-how-youtube-demonetization-imperils-the-future-of-free-speech/ |website=Berkeley Political Review |date=1 May 2018 |access-date=5 Apr 2025 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240424095310/https://bpr.studentorg.berkeley.edu/2018/05/01/adpocalypse-how-youtube-demonetization-imperils-the-future-of-free-speech/ |archive-date=24 Apr 2024}}</ref> have dubbed these events as "adpocalypses".<ref>{{Cite web |first=Julia |last=Alexander |title=YouTubers fear looming ‘adpocalypse’ after child exploitation controversy |url=https://www.theverge.com/2019/2/20/18231561/youtube-child-exploitation-predators-controversy-creators-adpocalypse |website=The Verge |date=20 Feb 2019 |access-date=12 Jul 2025 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190220205927/https://www.theverge.com/2019/2/20/18231561/youtube-child-exploitation-predators-controversy-creators-adpocalypse |archive-date=20 Feb 2019}}</ref>

====Irresponsibly automated moderation====
When YouTube integrated the ability to take down videos via the [[Digital Millennium Copyright Act]] (DMCA), they decided to often handle take-down requests in an automated manner.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |first=Chuck |last=Jines |title=ABUSE – How DMCA automated takedown notices violate free speech |url=https://www.chuckjines.com/abuse-dmac-automated-takedown-notices-and-free-speech/ |website=Chuck Jines |date=4 Mar 2025 |access-date=12 Jul 2025 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250303201747/https://www.chuckjines.com/abuse-dmac-automated-takedown-notices-and-free-speech/ |archive-date=3 Mar 2025}}</ref> This automation has led to an excess in fraudulent DMCA take-downs of content,<ref>{{Cite web |author=itanshi |title=I'd like to talk about the problem with anonymous DMCA take down notices. |url=https://www.reddit.com/r/youtube/comments/5zzr9c/id_like_to_talk_about_the_problem_with_anonymous/ |website=[[Reddit]] |date=27 Mar 2017 |access-date=12 Jul 2025 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230606184354/https://old.reddit.com/r/youtube/comments/5zzr9c/id_like_to_talk_about_the_problem_with_anonymous/ |archive-date=6 Jun 2023}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |author=@The Last Civil Rights Lawyer |title=“Lackluster” Gets a Fraudulent Copyright Strike for Dashcam Footage and Now We Sue |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPqtT88PT9Y |website=[[YouTube]] |date=21 Jul 2021 |access-date=12 Jul 2025 |url-status=live}}</ref> even going so far as to have [[Bungie]] call out YouTube in a legal case for their negligence.<ref>{{Cite web |first=John |last= Brodkin |title=Bungie slams YouTube’s DMCA system in lawsuit against ''Destiny'' takedown fraudsters |url=https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2022/03/bungie-slams-youtubes-dmca-system-in-lawsuit-against-destiny-takedown-fraudsters/ |website=Ars Technica |date=28 Mar 2022 |access-date=12 Jul 2025 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220329203809/https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2022/03/bungie-slams-youtubes-dmca-system-in-lawsuit-against-destiny-takedown-fraudsters/ |archive-date=29 Mar 2022 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |first=Andy |last=Maxwell
|title=Digital Trails: How Bungie Identified a Mass Sender of Fake DMCA Notices |url=https://torrentfreak.com/digital-trails-how-bungie-identified-a-mass-sender-of-fake-dmca-notices-220624/ |website=TorrentFreak |date=24 Jun 2022 |access-date=12 Jul 2025 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220624070824/https://torrentfreak.com/digital-trails-how-bungie-identified-a-mass-sender-of-fake-dmca-notices-220624/ |archive-date=24 Jun 2022}}</ref> These take-down requests have ranged from users impersonating corporations, to users impersonating other users.<ref name=":3" />

===Crackdown against ad-blockers===
The prevalence of advertising on the platform, coupled with the repeated appearance of harmful and deceptive ads within YouTube's advertising system, has led a significant number of users to employ ad-blocking tools to facilitate their viewing experience.

In response, Google has initiated technical countermeasures to limit the functionality of these tools. This has resulted in an ongoing cycle where ad-blocker developers adapt to new restrictions, and the platform subsequently implements further detection methods. A key strategy in this effort involves the implementation of advanced code integrity checks designed to ensure ad content is delivered to viewers.

However, these measures typically exhibit limited efficacy before ad-blocking tools develop new methods of circumvention,<ref>{{Cite web |first=Kate |last=O'Flaherty |title=YouTube’s Ad Blocker Ban Just Got Even Bigger |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/kateoflahertyuk/2024/06/20/youtubes-ad-blocker-ban-just-got-even-bigger/ |website=Forbes |date=20 Jun 2024 |access-date=12 Jul 2025 |url-status=live |url-access=subscription}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |first=Scharon |last=Harding |title=YouTube’s ad blocker crackdown escalates, aggravating users |url=https://arstechnica.com/google/2023/11/youtube-tries-to-kill-ad-blockers-in-push-for-ad-dollars-premium-subs/ |website=Ars Technica |date=1 Nov 2023 |access-date=12 Jul 2025 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231101170643/https://arstechnica.com/google/2023/11/youtube-tries-to-kill-ad-blockers-in-push-for-ad-dollars-premium-subs/ |archive-date=1 Nov 2023}}</ref><ref group="Rossmann Video">[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMaFH4KzOVg YouTube blocks adblockers; will this be their downfall?]</ref> a dynamic that some analysts suggest exemplifies the<ref>{{Cite web |title=Brave no longer blocking youtube ads as of March 27, 2024 |url=https://community.brave.com/t/brave-no-longer-blocking-youtube-ads-as-of-march-27-2024/540032 |website=Brave |date=27 May 2024 |access-date=12 Jul 2025 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240801101510/https://community.brave.com/t/brave-no-longer-blocking-youtube-ads-as-of-march-27-2024/540032 |archive-date=1 Aug 2024}}</ref><nowiki> </nowiki>{{Wplink|Streisand effect}}.<ref group="Rossmann Video">[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GARcKCaUfI YouTube's adblock war is backfiring in the worst way possible 🤣]</ref>

Additional strategies have involved the integration of advertisements directly into video streams. This approach has impaired the functionality of certain browser extensions, including SponsorBlock, a community-driven tool designed to skip sponsored segments within videos. The extension relies on user-submitted timestamps to identify these segments; its effectiveness is significantly reduced when personalized advertisements, which vary in duration and placement for each viewer, are embedded into the stream itself.<ref group="Rossmann Video">[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=weP62wPEjRw Youtube is dedicated to making this website worse; destroys sponsorblock with ad injection changes]</ref>

Google has publicly acknowledged implementing code that degrades the user experience for individuals using ad blockers. This includes introducing artificial latency, which has been documented to slow page load times, an measure that also affected users of the Firefox browser.<ref group="Rossmann Video">[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KMLMQRS3Krk Youtube confirms intentional slowdown of adblock users 🤦‍♂️]</ref><ref group="Rossmann Video">[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_x7NSw0Irc0 Is Youtube making firefox load slow on purpose?]</ref>
Further viewing:
<ref group="Rossmann Video">[https://youtube.com/watch?v=fcXTlobPCQw Youtube goes to war with ad blockers - how companies die]</ref><ref group="Rossmann Video">[https://youtube.com/watch?v=ALvky_4mJpM Youtube adblocker gives Google the finger on their own platform]</ref><ref group="Rossmann Video">[https://youtube.com/watch?v=PTmZv7-eMrE Youtube's war on adblockers continues, sends cease & desist to invidious.io - you know what to do 😉]</ref>

====Offline video DRM====
The YouTube Mobile application permits users with a YouTube Premium subscription to download videos for offline viewing. However, the downloaded content is protected by Digital Rights Management (DRM) that requires the application to establish an online connection with YouTube's servers at least once every 48 hours to maintain playback functionality. This requirement is not prominently featured on the primary YouTube Premium marketing page and is detailed instead within the platform's support documentation.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/premium |title=YouTube Premium |website=[[YouTube]]}}</ref> <ref>{{Cite web |title=Watch videos offline on mobile in selected countries and regions |url=https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/6141269 |website=[[Google]] |access-date=13 Jul 2025 |url-status=live}}</ref>

Saved videos are forcibly deleted after 29 days. [[Data_lock-in#Videos_downloaded_inside_the_YouTube_app|Data lock-in and proprietary encoding]] prevents the user from making permanent copies of videos, even those licensed under Creative Commons.<ref>[https://www.virtualcuriosities.com/articles/3383/warning-youtube-premium-downloads-arent-mp4-files Warning: Youtube Premium "Downloads" aren't MP4 Files - Virtual Curiosities]</ref><ref>[https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/L1S0SiBuJN8 Google is Locking Down Android - Mental Outlaw], 07:20</ref>

====Universal DRM testing and violation of Creative Commons licences====
YouTube on TV is an HTML5 web interface from Google to allow supported devices — such as game consoles which do not have a native YouTube app — to view content via YouTube. An A/B experiment has begun which protects all video and audio content regardless of bitrate or format via the YouTube on TV platform with DRM.<ref>{{Cite web |author=coletdjnz |title=[YouTube] DRM on ALL videos with tv (TVHTML5) client #12563 |url=https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/issues/12563 |website=GitHub |date=8 Mar 2025 |access-date=13 Jul 2025 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250330031529/https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/issues/12563 |archive-date=30 Mar 2025}}</ref> One {{Wplink|Xbox 360}} user reported that the YouTube on TV functionality stopped working as a result of the DRM implementation{{Citation needed|date=18 Aug 2025}}. A number of content creators license their work uploaded to YouTube via the {{Wplink|Creative Commons}} licenses. The universal implementation of DRM to restrict a users ability to exercise their rights granted by the license is a violation of the aforementioned licenses.<ref>{{Cite web |title=License Versions
|url=https://wiki.creativecommons.org/wiki/License_Versions#Application_of_effective_technological_measures_by_users_of_CC-licensed_works_prohibited |website=Creative Commons |access-date=13 Jul 2025 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250101062938/https://wiki.creativecommons.org/wiki/License_Versions#Application_of_effective_technological_measures_by_users_of_CC-licensed_works_prohibited |archive-date=1 Jan 2025}}</ref>

===Paywalling standard browser features===
Another premium feature of the YouTube mobile app is the ability to play videos in the background.<ref name=":0" /> Without a premium subscription, neither the app nor a web browser will play YouTube videos in the background. However, the default HTML5 video player supports this with no extra effort needed from the developer.{{Citation needed}}

===Removal of the dislike count on videos===
On 10 November 2021, YouTube removed the public dislike count from all of its videos. Creators are still be able to view dislike counts on their videos through the YouTube Studio website and app.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |title=An update to dislikes on YouTube |url=https://blog.youtube/news-and-events/update-to-youtube/ |website=YouTube Official Blog |date=10 Nov 2021 |access-date=13 Jul 2025 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211110173333/https://blog.youtube/news-and-events/update-to-youtube/ |archive-date=10 Nov 2021}}</ref>

According to YouTube, this was implemented after user testing revealed that users were less likely to feel incentivized to actively try and manipulate the dislike count on videos if the dislike count was not visible to them.<ref name=":2" /> This spurred the creation of "Return YouTube Dislike" by Dmitry Selivanov, a third-party web browser extension to expose the dislike count again. YouTube discontinued the related API, upon which the extension relied, on 13 December 2021. From thereon "Return YouTube Dislike" switched "to using a combination of archived dislike stats, estimates extrapolated from extension user data and estimates based on view/like ratios for videos whose dislikes weren't archived and for outdated dislike archives."<ref>{{Cite web |first=Michael |last=Can |title=Browser Extension Brings Back Dislike Count to YouTube Videos |url=https://www.pcmag.com/news/browser-extension-brings-back-dislike-count-to-youtube-videos
|website=PC Mag |date=29 Nov 2021 |access-date=13 Jul 2025 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211130001311/https://www.pcmag.com/news/browser-extension-brings-back-dislike-count-to-youtube-videos |archive-date=30 Nov 2021}}</ref>
===Anti-features and dark patterns to trick the user into staying longer===
YouTube has introduced multiple features that are designed to make the user stay longer on the platform and watch more videos than they intended, thus increasing ad revenue. They come at the cost of making it harder to watch the content the user actually wants to watch.

This includes the introduction of a feature called Autoplay that resumes playback of another video (chosen by the platform) immediately after the current one ends (after a delay of about 8 seconds), in the hope that the user gets hooked and continues to watch. By default, this feature is enabled,<ref>{{Cite web |date=4 Apr 2025 |title=Autoplay videos - YouTube Help |url=https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/6327615?hl=en |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250401080124/https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/6327615?hl=en |archive-date=1 Apr 2025 |access-date=13 Jul 2025 |website=[[Google]]}}</ref> and the user is not immediately informed that it is enabled.

Another feature like this is the inclusion of irrelevant videos in search results, which are marked as "related".{{Citation needed}} If the user searches for something and scrolls down the list too far, the likelihood of them finding what they were looking for decreases since results are generally sorted by what the platform deems relevant to the search query. Hence, if the user scrolls down too far, it is likely that they give up and leave the site. Therefore YouTube started to add random videos out of its recommendation list for the user into the search results, increasing the probability that they see something they will click and watch.{{Citation needed}} This makes it much harder and more inconvenient to find relevant search results since the user has to scroll past all the noise that is designed to distract them. It also means that a video that is actually relevant is less likely to be discovered — especially if it still has low view counts — since unrelated videos are promoted in search in its place.

===High number of bots===
Upon the initial publication of a video, the comment section is frequently targeted by coordinated automated accounts.{{Citation needed}} These accounts often engage in disruptive activities, including attempts to direct users to external scams or artificially inflate engagement.{{Citation needed}}

These accounts commonly employ identifiable tactics, such as:

*Utilizing profile pictures of popular public figures or suggestive imagery.
*Reposting highly-liked comments from the same video, sometimes with minor edits if the comment gains significant traction.
*Posting generic comments that are irrelevant to the video's content or the channel's focus.

Despite consistent feedback from content creators and the broader community, effective platform-level measures to automatically detect and mitigate this activity appear limited.{{Citation needed}} Consequently, content creators and their moderation teams are often required to manually review and remove these comments on a per-video basis to maintain the quality and safety of their community interactions.{{Citation needed}}

===Crackdown against third-party front-ends===
Since the beginning of 2025, users have been reporting issues with 3rd-party frontends accessing the platform.<ref>{{Cite web |date=16 Feb 2025 |title=Youtube changed something, again! |url=https://nadeko.net/announcements/invidious-02-20/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250816014757/https://nadeko.net/announcements/invidious-02-20/ |archive-date=16 Aug 2025 |access-date=16 Aug 2025}}</ref> For FreeTube, there has been a heightened amount of people receiving [[wikipedia:HTTP_403|403 errors]] associated with IP blocks when attempting to view videos via this frontend.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Gevaarlijk |date=Jan 31, 2025 |title=[Bug]: [BAD_HTTP_STATUS: 403] Potential causes: IP block or streaming URL deciphering failed #6701 |url=https://github.com/FreeTubeApp/FreeTube/issues/6701 |access-date=Aug 30, 2025 |website=[[GitHub]]}}</ref>

===AI upscaling without consent===
YouTube is testing an experiment on Shorts content that enhances a video's detail without the creator's consent.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Reisner |first=Alex |date=August 22, 2025 |title=YouTube’s Sneaky AI ‘Experiment’ |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2025/08/youtube-shorts-ai-upscaling/683946/ |url-status=live |access-date=August 26, 2025 |website=The Register}}</ref> The resulting output tends to look plastic. This change has been observed as early as June 27, 2025<ref>{{Cite web |author=Ulincsys |date=June 27, 2025 |title=YouTube Shorts are almost certainly being AI upscaled |url=https://www.reddit.com/r/youtube/comments/1lllnse/youtube_shorts_are_almost_certainly_being_ai/ |access-date=August 26, 2025}}</ref> and affects creators who especially intend the video to be viewed in a certain way, such as the "VHS look".<ref>{{Cite web |date=July 21, 2025 |title=YouTube Shorts are becoming AI upscaled without consent from creators |url=https://www.reddit.com/r/youtube/comments/1m5y7zu/youtube_shorts_are_becoming_ai_upscaled_without/ |url-status=live |access-date=August 26, 2025 |website=Reddit}}</ref> Rhett Shull, in his video, opines such a change "will inevitably erode viewers trust in my content [...] or any of the other creators on this platform that we all watch and we all follow" due to implications that the creator may be using AI, and "also erodes my trust in the platform."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Shull |first=Rhett |date=2025-08-14 |title=YouTube Is Using AI to Alter Content (and not telling us) |url=https://youtube.com/watch?v=86nhP8tvbLY |url-status=live |access-date=August 26, 2025 |website=YouTube}}</ref>

Artist Sam Yang uploaded a video on the August 30th, 2025<ref>{{Cite web |last=Yang |first=Sam |date=30 Aug 2025 |title=Youtube is Using AI on Your Shorts Without Consent.. |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjnQ-s7LW-g |url-status=live |website=Youtube}}</ref> following up on the issue using his own work for comparison, testing the claims that this is merely compression scaling, adding an artists eye and commentary to the issue.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

===Relevant Rossmann Videos===
<references group="Rossmann Video" />

[[Category:YouTube]]

YouTube

2025-10-22T11:11:56Z

D-side: Added a section on inconsistent&obscure comment moderation

{{StubNotice}}

{{InfoboxProductLine
| Title = YouTube
| Release Year = 2005
| Product Type = Video sharing and streaming
| In Production = Yes
| Official Website = https://youtube.com
| Logo = YouTube.png
}}

'''{{Wplink|YouTube}}''', founded in 2005 by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim, is a global video-sharing platform and one of the most visited websites in the world. Acquired by [[Google]] in 2006, YouTube has since become the dominant platform for sharing videos on the internet.

YouTube's business model is built around advertising revenue, with creators earning money through ad views, subscriptions, and other monetization options. The platform hosts a wide range of content, including music videos, tutorials, news, vlogs, and live streams. YouTube has also begun offering subscription services, such as YouTube Premium and YouTube TV, for ad-free experiences, exclusive content, and live television.<ref>{{Cite web |title=YouTube - Wikipedia |url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/YouTube |website=Wikipedia |access-date=30 Jan 2025}}</ref>

YouTube has faced criticism and regulatory scrutiny on multiple fronts. Concerns have been raised about content moderation policies, the platform's role in the spread of misinformation, and its impact on user privacy, particularly in relation to data collection practices. Additionally, YouTube has been under fire for its algorithms, which some argue promote harmful or divisive content to maximize engagement.

==Consumer Impact Summary==

*'''User Freedom''': Questionable; rampant bots and [[Elsagate]] suggest negligent moderation.
*'''User Privacy''': Poor; Since August 2025, accessing mature content without identification is a gamble. User data is also sold to advertisers and the site is owned by [[Google]].
*'''Business Model''': [[Advertising overload|Excessive advertising]], YouTube Premium, YouTube Premium Lite
*'''Market Competition''': Despite several platforms that follow its niche, such as Odysee, PeerTube, and DailyMotion, they provide no significant competition.

==Incidents==

===Restricting users that don't share their personal information===
{{Main|Youtubes Requirement for Government ID}}

On July 30, 2025, in response to the [[UK Online Safety Act]], YouTube announced a verification update that asks for either a government-issued ID, a photo, or credit card, otherwise they could not access content.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ingram |first=Michael |date=30 Jul 2025 |title=YouTube is Rolling Out A New Controversial Feature |url=https://gamerant.com/youtube-new-age-verification-feature-id-recognition/ |url-status=live |access-date=14 Aug 2025 |website=GameRant}}</ref>

YouTube will estimate the age of a user from various sources, including the videos watched, and will ask for previously mentioned personal information when it believes that the user falls below 18.

===Advertising overload on YouTube===
{{Main|Advertising overload}}

Advertisements are YouTube's primary source of revenue.<ref>{{Cite web |title=How YouTube Works |url=https://www.youtube.com/howyoutubeworks/our-commitments/sharing-revenue/ |website=YouTube |date= |access-date= |url-status=live}}</ref> This has led to advertisements becoming more pervasive on the platform<ref>{{Cite web |first=Jordan |last=Brown |title=Why YouTube Has So Many Ads (and Why There Will Probably Be More) |url=https://www.33rdsquare.com/software-app/why-youtube-has-so-many-ads-and-why-there-will-probably-be-more/ |website=33rd Square |date=20 Jan 2024 |access-date=12 Jul 2025 |url-status=live |archive-url= |archive-date=}}</ref> such as an increasing number of spaces for static ads, longer ad breaks (which some users have documented being longer than the videos they watch,<ref>{{Cite web |first=Aamir |last=Siddiqui |title=Frustrated YouTube viewers seek explanation for hour-long unskippable ads (Updated: Clarification) |url=https://www.androidauthority.com/youtube-long-unskippable-ads-problem-3519957/ |website=Android Authority |date=27 Jan 2025 |access-date=12 Jul 2025 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250128162022/https://www.androidauthority.com/youtube-long-unskippable-ads-problem-3519957/ |archive-date=28 Jan 2025}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |first=Hans-Christian |last=Dirscherl |first2=Joel |last2=Lee |title=Hours-long unskippable ads spotted on YouTube. What’s going on? |url=https://www.pcworld.com/article/2590352/hours-long-unskippable-ads-spotted-on-youtube-whats-going-on.html |website=PCWorld |date=28 Jan 2025 |access-date=5 Apr 2025 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250129183554/https://www.pcworld.com/article/2590352/hours-long-unskippable-ads-spotted-on-youtube-whats-going-on.html |archive-date=29 Jan 2025}}</ref> and most prevalent on YouTube TV, <ref>{{Cite web |first=Anu |last=Adegbola |title=YouTube tests longer CTV ad breaks |url= https://searchengineland.com/youtube-tests-longer-ad-breaks-ctv-445248#:~:text=YouTube%20is%20increasing%20the%20duration,ads%20over%20shorter%2C%20dispersed%20slots. |website=Search Engine Land |date=16 Aug 2024 |access-date=16 Aug 2025|url-status=live}}</ref>) increased ad frequency in videos,<ref>{{Cite web |first=Arol |last=Wright |title=YouTube is Adding Even More Ads |url=https://www.howtogeek.com/youtube-is-adding-even-more-ads/ |website=How-To-Geek |date=26 Apr 2024 |access-date=12 Jul 2025 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240426192258/https://www.howtogeek.com/youtube-is-adding-even-more-ads/ |archive-date=26 Apr 2024}}</ref> and poorer quality ads.<ref name=":5">{{Cite web |author=@T3rr0r |title=BAD Mobile Game Ads |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRjGn54O4Zg |website=[[YouTube]] |date=17 Oct 2021 |access-date=12 Jul 2025 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":6">{{Cite web |first=Max |last=Knoblauch |title=Why are mobile game ads so weird and bad? |url=https://sherwood.news/business/mobile-game-ads-industry-fake-misleading/ |website=Sherwood News |date=14 Jun 2024 |access-date=12 Jul 2025 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240614151756/https://sherwood.news/business/mobile-game-ads-industry-fake-misleading/ |archive-date=14 Jun 2024}}</ref><ref name=":7">{{Cite web |author= @Saberspark |title=The DISGUSTING State of Mobile Game Ads (and why YouTube LOVES IT) |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KsKlfN9phAs |website=[[YouTube]] |date=18 Sep 2021 |access-date=12 Jul 2025 |url-status=live}}</ref> Practices are also put into place in order to force non-paying users into seeing these ads as well, such as subscription-gating playing videos in the background.<ref>{{Cite web |title=YouTube Premium |url=https://www.youtube.com/premium?ybp=Sg0IBhIJdW5saW1pdGVk4AEC |website=[[YouTube]] |access-date=12 Jul 2025 |url-status=live}}</ref>

Furthermore, even if a user pays for YouTube premium, they do not necessarily receive an ad-free experience<ref>{{Cite web |author=CaptainMystery_123 |title=I have YouTube premium, why am I getting adds. |url=https://www.reddit.com/r/youtube/comments/18ll7y6/i_have_youtube_premium_why_am_i_getting_adds/ |website=[[Reddit]] |date=18 Dec 2023 |access-date=12 Jul 2025 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231219183511/https://www.reddit.com/r/youtube/comments/18ll7y6/i_have_youtube_premium_why_am_i_getting_adds/ |archive-date=19 Dec 2023
}}</ref> — they may still see ads within the video they watch, such as sponsored segments.{{Citation needed}} YouTube has added a "skip" feature, but it has been reported that this does not work consistently.<ref>{{Cite web |first=Anurag |last=Singh |title=YouTube now lets you skip sponsored segments — but you’ll have to pay for it |url=https://www.dexerto.com/youtube/youtube-now-lets-you-skip-sponsored-segments-but-youll-have-to-pay-for-it-2872784/ |website=Dexerto |date=22 Aug 2024 |access-date=12 Jul 2025 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240822211151/https://www.dexerto.com/youtube/youtube-now-lets-you-skip-sponsored-segments-but-youll-have-to-pay-for-it-2872784/ |archive-date=22 Aug 2024}}</ref>

====Refusal to handle malicious ads====
A common phenomenon on YouTube's advertisements is content that is mature and/or malicious in nature.<ref>{{Cite web |author=@Beyond The Internet |title=YouTube Ads are a Disgrace…
|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_B2KdIoRVo8 |website=[[YouTube]] |date=22 Feb 2025 |access-date=12 Jul 2025 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":8">{{Cite web |first=Adamya |last=Sharma |title=Explicit ads are plaguing YouTube, and it’s only getting worse |url=https://www.androidauthority.com/youtube-explicit-ads-problem-3520285/ |website=Android Authority |date=27 Jan 2025 |access-date=12 Jul 2025 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250127062033/https://www.androidauthority.com/youtube-explicit-ads-problem-3520285/ |archive-date=27 Jan 2025}}</ref> The content of these advertisements include pornography,<ref>{{Cite web |author=@Saberspark |title=YouTube's Ads Have Hit A New Low...(it's literally p*rn) |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cW4On_gWAvI |website=[[YouTube]] |date=31 Mar 2025 |access-date=12 Jul 2025 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":8" /> false advertising,<ref name=":5" /><ref name=":6" /><ref name=":7" /> scams,<ref>{{Cite web |author=Jakob_G |title=YouTube doesn't want to take down scam ads |url=https://www.reddit.com/r/youtube/comments/18gjiqy/youtube_doesnt_want_to_take_down_scam_ads/ |website=[[Reddit]] |date=12 Dec 2023 |access-date=12 Jul 2025 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231217144248/https://www.reddit.com/r/youtube/comments/18gjiqy/youtube_doesnt_want_to_take_down_scam_ads/ |archive-date=17 Dec 2023}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |author=@JerryRigEverything |title=I CAUGHT THE YOUTUBE SCAMMER - $1000 dollars EVERY DAY?! |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iROF9Dd7FXA |website=[[YouTube]] |date=9 Mar 2023 |access-date=12 Jul 2025 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web
|author=LoganAH |title=Why does YouTube run blatant scams as advertisements? |url=https://www.reddit.com/r/youtube/comments/18osjs6/why_does_youtube_run_blatant_scams_as/ |website=[[Reddit]] |date=22 Dec 2023 |access-date=12 Jul 2025 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250713054442/https://old.reddit.com/r/youtube/comments/18osjs6/why_does_youtube_run_blatant_scams_as/  |archive-date=13 Jul 2025}}</ref> and far more. Rather than working towards clearing these ads, or acknowledging this advertising content that has been harming consumers on the platform, YouTube moderation has only cut the revenue for these videos that attempt to call out these ads,<ref>{{Cite web |author=@Deep Humor |title=Watch This Before YouTube Deletes It. |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRpECEQ0-hg |website=[[YouTube]] |date=24 Feb 2025 |access-date=12 Jul 2025 |url-status=live}}</ref> which has been known to make said videos be less-showcased.<ref name=":4">{{Cite web |author=@Sealow |title=Extensive evidence of algorithm censorship of demonetised videos |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3H8D2LrLHc |website=[[YouTube]] |date=29 Nov 2017 |access-date=12 Jul 2025 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web |author=Karlaplan |title=Monetisation analysis / research |url=https://docs.google.com/document/d/155yNpfR7dGKuN-4rbrvbJLcJkhGa_HqvVuyPK7UEfPo/edit?tab=t.0#heading=h.jou9rc5d49jl
|website=[[Google]] |date=20 Nov 2017 |access-date=12 Jul 2025 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250319182149/https://docs.google.com/document/d/155yNpfR7dGKuN-4rbrvbJLcJkhGa_HqvVuyPK7UEfPo/edit?tab=t.0#heading=h.jou9rc5d49jl  |archive-date=19 Mar 2025}}</ref>

===Demonetization and censorship===
Since at least 2016, YouTube has had an extensive record of censoring content that is demonetized.<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":1" /> Within understandable circumstances, legitimately malicious or offensive videos would be demonetized and should not be shown on the platform; however, how videos are considered to be demonetized has had a harmful impact upon both viewers and content creators. Transgender creators on YouTube, for example, have experienced unfair censorship via demonetization since 2018.<ref>{{Cite web |first=Malia |last=Disney |title=Trans YouTubers Say They Are Being Censored. Is It The Algorithm? |url=https://archive.yr.media/journalism/outloud/trans-youtubers-say-they-are-being-censored-and-an-algorithm-may-be-to-blame/ |website=archive.yr.media |date=4 May 2018 |access-date=12 Jul 2025 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230130035845/https://archive.yr.media/journalism/outloud/trans-youtubers-say-they-are-being-censored-and-an-algorithm-may-be-to-blame/ |archive-date=30 Jan 2023}}</ref> Content creators affected by this unfairly balanced moderation via algorithms<ref>{{Cite web |first=Randy |last=Cantz |title=Adpocalypse: How YouTube Demonetization Imperils the Future of Free Speech |url=https://bpr.studentorg.berkeley.edu/2018/05/01/adpocalypse-how-youtube-demonetization-imperils-the-future-of-free-speech/ |website=Berkeley Political Review |date=1 May 2018 |access-date=5 Apr 2025 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240424095310/https://bpr.studentorg.berkeley.edu/2018/05/01/adpocalypse-how-youtube-demonetization-imperils-the-future-of-free-speech/ |archive-date=24 Apr 2024}}</ref> have dubbed these events as "adpocalypses".<ref>{{Cite web |first=Julia |last=Alexander |title=YouTubers fear looming ‘adpocalypse’ after child exploitation controversy |url=https://www.theverge.com/2019/2/20/18231561/youtube-child-exploitation-predators-controversy-creators-adpocalypse |website=The Verge |date=20 Feb 2019 |access-date=12 Jul 2025 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190220205927/https://www.theverge.com/2019/2/20/18231561/youtube-child-exploitation-predators-controversy-creators-adpocalypse |archive-date=20 Feb 2019}}</ref>

====Irresponsibly automated moderation====
When YouTube integrated the ability to take down videos via the [[Digital Millennium Copyright Act]] (DMCA), they decided to often handle take-down requests in an automated manner.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |first=Chuck |last=Jines |title=ABUSE – How DMCA automated takedown notices violate free speech |url=https://www.chuckjines.com/abuse-dmac-automated-takedown-notices-and-free-speech/ |website=Chuck Jines |date=4 Mar 2025 |access-date=12 Jul 2025 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250303201747/https://www.chuckjines.com/abuse-dmac-automated-takedown-notices-and-free-speech/ |archive-date=3 Mar 2025}}</ref> This automation has led to an excess in fraudulent DMCA take-downs of content,<ref>{{Cite web |author=itanshi |title=I'd like to talk about the problem with anonymous DMCA take down notices. |url=https://www.reddit.com/r/youtube/comments/5zzr9c/id_like_to_talk_about_the_problem_with_anonymous/ |website=[[Reddit]] |date=27 Mar 2017 |access-date=12 Jul 2025 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230606184354/https://old.reddit.com/r/youtube/comments/5zzr9c/id_like_to_talk_about_the_problem_with_anonymous/ |archive-date=6 Jun 2023}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |author=@The Last Civil Rights Lawyer |title=“Lackluster” Gets a Fraudulent Copyright Strike for Dashcam Footage and Now We Sue |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPqtT88PT9Y |website=[[YouTube]] |date=21 Jul 2021 |access-date=12 Jul 2025 |url-status=live}}</ref> even going so far as to have [[Bungie]] call out YouTube in a legal case for their negligence.<ref>{{Cite web |first=John |last= Brodkin |title=Bungie slams YouTube’s DMCA system in lawsuit against ''Destiny'' takedown fraudsters |url=https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2022/03/bungie-slams-youtubes-dmca-system-in-lawsuit-against-destiny-takedown-fraudsters/ |website=Ars Technica |date=28 Mar 2022 |access-date=12 Jul 2025 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220329203809/https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2022/03/bungie-slams-youtubes-dmca-system-in-lawsuit-against-destiny-takedown-fraudsters/ |archive-date=29 Mar 2022 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |first=Andy |last=Maxwell
|title=Digital Trails: How Bungie Identified a Mass Sender of Fake DMCA Notices |url=https://torrentfreak.com/digital-trails-how-bungie-identified-a-mass-sender-of-fake-dmca-notices-220624/ |website=TorrentFreak |date=24 Jun 2022 |access-date=12 Jul 2025 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220624070824/https://torrentfreak.com/digital-trails-how-bungie-identified-a-mass-sender-of-fake-dmca-notices-220624/ |archive-date=24 Jun 2022}}</ref> These take-down requests have ranged from users impersonating corporations, to users impersonating other users.<ref name=":3" />

===Crackdown against ad-blockers===
The prevalence of advertising on the platform, coupled with the repeated appearance of harmful and deceptive ads within YouTube's advertising system, has led a significant number of users to employ ad-blocking tools to facilitate their viewing experience.

In response, Google has initiated technical countermeasures to limit the functionality of these tools. This has resulted in an ongoing cycle where ad-blocker developers adapt to new restrictions, and the platform subsequently implements further detection methods. A key strategy in this effort involves the implementation of advanced code integrity checks designed to ensure ad content is delivered to viewers.

However, these measures typically exhibit limited efficacy before ad-blocking tools develop new methods of circumvention,<ref>{{Cite web |first=Kate |last=O'Flaherty |title=YouTube’s Ad Blocker Ban Just Got Even Bigger |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/kateoflahertyuk/2024/06/20/youtubes-ad-blocker-ban-just-got-even-bigger/ |website=Forbes |date=20 Jun 2024 |access-date=12 Jul 2025 |url-status=live |url-access=subscription}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |first=Scharon |last=Harding |title=YouTube’s ad blocker crackdown escalates, aggravating users |url=https://arstechnica.com/google/2023/11/youtube-tries-to-kill-ad-blockers-in-push-for-ad-dollars-premium-subs/ |website=Ars Technica |date=1 Nov 2023 |access-date=12 Jul 2025 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231101170643/https://arstechnica.com/google/2023/11/youtube-tries-to-kill-ad-blockers-in-push-for-ad-dollars-premium-subs/ |archive-date=1 Nov 2023}}</ref><ref group="Rossmann Video">[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMaFH4KzOVg YouTube blocks adblockers; will this be their downfall?]</ref> a dynamic that some analysts suggest exemplifies the<ref>{{Cite web |title=Brave no longer blocking youtube ads as of March 27, 2024 |url=https://community.brave.com/t/brave-no-longer-blocking-youtube-ads-as-of-march-27-2024/540032 |website=Brave |date=27 May 2024 |access-date=12 Jul 2025 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240801101510/https://community.brave.com/t/brave-no-longer-blocking-youtube-ads-as-of-march-27-2024/540032 |archive-date=1 Aug 2024}}</ref><nowiki> </nowiki>{{Wplink|Streisand effect}}.<ref group="Rossmann Video">[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GARcKCaUfI YouTube's adblock war is backfiring in the worst way possible 🤣]</ref>

Additional strategies have involved the integration of advertisements directly into video streams. This approach has impaired the functionality of certain browser extensions, including SponsorBlock, a community-driven tool designed to skip sponsored segments within videos. The extension relies on user-submitted timestamps to identify these segments; its effectiveness is significantly reduced when personalized advertisements, which vary in duration and placement for each viewer, are embedded into the stream itself.<ref group="Rossmann Video">[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=weP62wPEjRw Youtube is dedicated to making this website worse; destroys sponsorblock with ad injection changes]</ref>

Google has publicly acknowledged implementing code that degrades the user experience for individuals using ad blockers. This includes introducing artificial latency, which has been documented to slow page load times, an measure that also affected users of the Firefox browser.<ref group="Rossmann Video">[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KMLMQRS3Krk Youtube confirms intentional slowdown of adblock users 🤦‍♂️]</ref><ref group="Rossmann Video">[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_x7NSw0Irc0 Is Youtube making firefox load slow on purpose?]</ref>
Further viewing:
<ref group="Rossmann Video">[https://youtube.com/watch?v=fcXTlobPCQw Youtube goes to war with ad blockers - how companies die]</ref><ref group="Rossmann Video">[https://youtube.com/watch?v=ALvky_4mJpM Youtube adblocker gives Google the finger on their own platform]</ref><ref group="Rossmann Video">[https://youtube.com/watch?v=PTmZv7-eMrE Youtube's war on adblockers continues, sends cease & desist to invidious.io - you know what to do 😉]</ref>

====Offline video DRM====
The YouTube Mobile application permits users with a YouTube Premium subscription to download videos for offline viewing. However, the downloaded content is protected by Digital Rights Management (DRM) that requires the application to establish an online connection with YouTube's servers at least once every 48 hours to maintain playback functionality. This requirement is not prominently featured on the primary YouTube Premium marketing page and is detailed instead within the platform's support documentation.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/premium |title=YouTube Premium |website=[[YouTube]]}}</ref> <ref>{{Cite web |title=Watch videos offline on mobile in selected countries and regions |url=https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/6141269 |website=[[Google]] |access-date=13 Jul 2025 |url-status=live}}</ref>

Saved videos are forcibly deleted after 29 days. [[Data_lock-in#Videos_downloaded_inside_the_YouTube_app|Data lock-in and proprietary encoding]] prevents the user from making permanent copies of videos, even those licensed under Creative Commons.<ref>[https://www.virtualcuriosities.com/articles/3383/warning-youtube-premium-downloads-arent-mp4-files Warning: Youtube Premium "Downloads" aren't MP4 Files - Virtual Curiosities]</ref><ref>[https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/L1S0SiBuJN8 Google is Locking Down Android - Mental Outlaw], 07:20</ref>

====Universal DRM testing and violation of Creative Commons licences====
YouTube on TV is an HTML5 web interface from Google to allow supported devices — such as game consoles which do not have a native YouTube app — to view content via YouTube. An A/B experiment has begun which protects all video and audio content regardless of bitrate or format via the YouTube on TV platform with DRM.<ref>{{Cite web |author=coletdjnz |title=[YouTube] DRM on ALL videos with tv (TVHTML5) client #12563 |url=https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/issues/12563 |website=GitHub |date=8 Mar 2025 |access-date=13 Jul 2025 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250330031529/https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/issues/12563 |archive-date=30 Mar 2025}}</ref> One {{Wplink|Xbox 360}} user reported that the YouTube on TV functionality stopped working as a result of the DRM implementation{{Citation needed|date=18 Aug 2025}}. A number of content creators license their work uploaded to YouTube via the {{Wplink|Creative Commons}} licenses. The universal implementation of DRM to restrict a users ability to exercise their rights granted by the license is a violation of the aforementioned licenses.<ref>{{Cite web |title=License Versions
|url=https://wiki.creativecommons.org/wiki/License_Versions#Application_of_effective_technological_measures_by_users_of_CC-licensed_works_prohibited |website=Creative Commons |access-date=13 Jul 2025 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250101062938/https://wiki.creativecommons.org/wiki/License_Versions#Application_of_effective_technological_measures_by_users_of_CC-licensed_works_prohibited |archive-date=1 Jan 2025}}</ref>

===Paywalling standard browser features===
Another premium feature of the YouTube mobile app is the ability to play videos in the background.<ref name=":0" /> Without a premium subscription, neither the app nor a web browser will play YouTube videos in the background. However, the default HTML5 video player supports this with no extra effort needed from the developer.{{Citation needed}}

===Removal of the dislike count on videos===
On 10 November 2021, YouTube removed the public dislike count from all of its videos. Creators are still be able to view dislike counts on their videos through the YouTube Studio website and app.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |title=An update to dislikes on YouTube |url=https://blog.youtube/news-and-events/update-to-youtube/ |website=YouTube Official Blog |date=10 Nov 2021 |access-date=13 Jul 2025 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211110173333/https://blog.youtube/news-and-events/update-to-youtube/ |archive-date=10 Nov 2021}}</ref>

According to YouTube, this was implemented after user testing revealed that users were less likely to feel incentivized to actively try and manipulate the dislike count on videos if the dislike count was not visible to them.<ref name=":2" /> This spurred the creation of "Return YouTube Dislike" by Dmitry Selivanov, a third-party web browser extension to expose the dislike count again. YouTube discontinued the related API, upon which the extension relied, on 13 December 2021. From thereon "Return YouTube Dislike" switched "to using a combination of archived dislike stats, estimates extrapolated from extension user data and estimates based on view/like ratios for videos whose dislikes weren't archived and for outdated dislike archives."<ref>{{Cite web |first=Michael |last=Can |title=Browser Extension Brings Back Dislike Count to YouTube Videos |url=https://www.pcmag.com/news/browser-extension-brings-back-dislike-count-to-youtube-videos
|website=PC Mag |date=29 Nov 2021 |access-date=13 Jul 2025 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211130001311/https://www.pcmag.com/news/browser-extension-brings-back-dislike-count-to-youtube-videos |archive-date=30 Nov 2021}}</ref>
===Anti-features and dark patterns to trick the user into staying longer===
YouTube has introduced multiple features that are designed to make the user stay longer on the platform and watch more videos than they intended, thus increasing ad revenue. They come at the cost of making it harder to watch the content the user actually wants to watch.

This includes the introduction of a feature called Autoplay that resumes playback of another video (chosen by the platform) immediately after the current one ends (after a delay of about 8 seconds), in the hope that the user gets hooked and continues to watch. By default, this feature is enabled,<ref>{{Cite web |date=4 Apr 2025 |title=Autoplay videos - YouTube Help |url=https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/6327615?hl=en |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250401080124/https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/6327615?hl=en |archive-date=1 Apr 2025 |access-date=13 Jul 2025 |website=[[Google]]}}</ref> and the user is not immediately informed that it is enabled.

Another feature like this is the inclusion of irrelevant videos in search results, which are marked as "related".{{Citation needed}} If the user searches for something and scrolls down the list too far, the likelihood of them finding what they were looking for decreases since results are generally sorted by what the platform deems relevant to the search query. Hence, if the user scrolls down too far, it is likely that they give up and leave the site. Therefore YouTube started to add random videos out of its recommendation list for the user into the search results, increasing the probability that they see something they will click and watch.{{Citation needed}} This makes it much harder and more inconvenient to find relevant search results since the user has to scroll past all the noise that is designed to distract them. It also means that a video that is actually relevant is less likely to be discovered — especially if it still has low view counts — since unrelated videos are promoted in search in its place.

===High number of bots===
Upon the initial publication of a video, the comment section is frequently targeted by coordinated automated accounts.{{Citation needed}} These accounts often engage in disruptive activities, including attempts to direct users to external scams or artificially inflate engagement.{{Citation needed}}

These accounts commonly employ identifiable tactics, such as:

*Utilizing profile pictures of popular public figures or suggestive imagery.
*Reposting highly-liked comments from the same video, sometimes with minor edits if the comment gains significant traction.
*Posting generic comments that are irrelevant to the video's content or the channel's focus.

Despite consistent feedback from content creators and the broader community, effective platform-level measures to automatically detect and mitigate this activity appear limited.{{Citation needed}} Consequently, content creators and their moderation teams are often required to manually review and remove these comments on a per-video basis to maintain the quality and safety of their community interactions.{{Citation needed}}

===Crackdown against third-party front-ends===
Since the beginning of 2025, users have been reporting issues with 3rd-party frontends accessing the platform.<ref>{{Cite web |date=16 Feb 2025 |title=Youtube changed something, again! |url=https://nadeko.net/announcements/invidious-02-20/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250816014757/https://nadeko.net/announcements/invidious-02-20/ |archive-date=16 Aug 2025 |access-date=16 Aug 2025}}</ref> For FreeTube, there has been a heightened amount of people receiving [[wikipedia:HTTP_403|403 errors]] associated with IP blocks when attempting to view videos via this frontend.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Gevaarlijk |date=Jan 31, 2025 |title=[Bug]: [BAD_HTTP_STATUS: 403] Potential causes: IP block or streaming URL deciphering failed #6701 |url=https://github.com/FreeTubeApp/FreeTube/issues/6701 |access-date=Aug 30, 2025 |website=[[GitHub]]}}</ref>

===AI upscaling without consent===
YouTube is testing an experiment on Shorts content that enhances a video's detail without the creator's consent.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Reisner |first=Alex |date=August 22, 2025 |title=YouTube’s Sneaky AI ‘Experiment’ |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2025/08/youtube-shorts-ai-upscaling/683946/ |url-status=live |access-date=August 26, 2025 |website=The Register}}</ref> The resulting output tends to look plastic. This change has been observed as early as June 27, 2025<ref>{{Cite web |author=Ulincsys |date=June 27, 2025 |title=YouTube Shorts are almost certainly being AI upscaled |url=https://www.reddit.com/r/youtube/comments/1lllnse/youtube_shorts_are_almost_certainly_being_ai/ |access-date=August 26, 2025}}</ref> and affects creators who especially intend the video to be viewed in a certain way, such as the "VHS look".<ref>{{Cite web |date=July 21, 2025 |title=YouTube Shorts are becoming AI upscaled without consent from creators |url=https://www.reddit.com/r/youtube/comments/1m5y7zu/youtube_shorts_are_becoming_ai_upscaled_without/ |url-status=live |access-date=August 26, 2025 |website=Reddit}}</ref> Rhett Shull, in his video, opines such a change "will inevitably erode viewers trust in my content [...] or any of the other creators on this platform that we all watch and we all follow" due to implications that the creator may be using AI, and "also erodes my trust in the platform."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Shull |first=Rhett |date=2025-08-14 |title=YouTube Is Using AI to Alter Content (and not telling us) |url=https://youtube.com/watch?v=86nhP8tvbLY |url-status=live |access-date=August 26, 2025 |website=YouTube}}</ref>

Artist Sam Yang uploaded a video on the August 30th, 2025<ref>{{Cite web |last=Yang |first=Sam |date=30 Aug 2025 |title=Youtube is Using AI on Your Shorts Without Consent.. |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjnQ-s7LW-g |url-status=live |website=Youtube}}</ref> following up on the issue using his own work for comparison, testing the claims that this is merely compression scaling, adding an artists eye and commentary to the issue.

=== Obscure over-moderation of comments ===
Commenters on videos sometimes encounter inconsistent behavior around availability of some of the comments they publish. Some comments go through without issue, some comments disappear immediately without notice, some disappear after a short amount of time, sometimes long enough to get a reply (which subsequently appears as a reply to nothing). Comments lost in this way are hidden from view, but apparently still exist in YouTube's system as reply counters still account for them. On rare occasions some comments are restored, up to months later, for unclear reasons.{{Citation needed|reason=but hard to find something reputable on the subject because the behavior is so inconsistent it could be discounted as just random}}

YouTube allows holding comments for review prior to publication, all or just potentially inappropriate, but this happens even on channels where neither option is enabled. Some creators report getting complaints about this behavior and finding no traces of this on channel management pages: not of the comments, not of the actions taken.{{Citation needed|reason=Louis Rossmann posted a video of something about this at least once, if someone could please find it}}

YouTube's official policy states that automated removals happen when their detection systems find violations of their Community Guidelines<ref>{{Cite web |title=Learn about comments that aren’t showing or have been removed |url=https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/13209064 |access-date=2025-10-22 |website=YouTube Help}}</ref>, but Guidelines' overall broadness<ref>{{Cite web |title=YouTube's Community Guidelines |url=https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/9288567 |access-date=2025-10-22 |website=YouTube Help}}</ref>, questionable past interpretations of Guidelines by YouTube<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-10-01 |title=YouTube Took Down My ErsatzTV Tutorial as “Dangerous and Harmful”! |url=https://www.reddit.com/r/unRAID/comments/1nvjosp/youtube_took_down_my_ersatztv_tutorial_as/ |url-status=live |website=Reddit}}</ref> and lack of notices with specific reasons for specific deletions makes assessment of the validity of that detection difficult.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

===Relevant Rossmann Videos===
<references group="Rossmann Video" />

[[Category:YouTube]]

2025-10-21T22:14:12Z

D-side: Elaborated on Telegram's client and e2ee situations

{{ProductCargo
|ReleaseYear=2013
|InProduction=Yes
|ArticleType=Service
|Category=Software, Messaging Client
|Website=https://telegram.org/
|Description=Telegram is an instant messaging (IM) app created in 2013 by Pavel Durov and Nikolai Durov.
|Logo=Telegram.png}}

[[wikipedia:Telegram_(software)|Telegram]] is an instant messaging (IM) app created in 2013 by Pavel Durov and Nikolai Durov. The company was originally founded on the British Virgin Islands and has an LLC in Dubai since 2017.

==Consumer impact summary==

===User Privacy===
Telegram does not sell user data to advertise to its clients, and only stores the data needed to moderate and keep its messaging client "secure and feature-rich"<ref>{{Cite web |title=Telegram Privacy Policy |url=https://telegram.org/privacy/eu?setln=en |url-status=live |access-date=23 Aug 2025 |website=Telegram Privacy Policy}}</ref>.

Telegram has official clients for most major platforms: iOS, Android, Windows, macOS, Linux and web browsers. Telegram also officially allows custom clients, with some restrictions, mostly related to normal functioning of its official features (sponsored messages, online status visibility, self-destructing content).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Telegram API Terms of Service |url=https://core.telegram.org/api/terms |access-date=2025-10-22 |website=Telegram}}</ref>

Messages are only encrypted in transit between clients and servers by default. End-to-end encrypted chats are available as a distinct feature called "Secret Chats"<ref>{{Cite web |title=Telegram FAQ: So how do you encrypt data? |url=https://telegram.org/faq#q-so-how-do-you-encrypt-data |url-status=live |website=Telegram}}</ref> with reduced functionality (e. g. no message synchronization between devices) and limited platform support (e. g. it's not supported on desktop clients) compared to normal ("Cloud") chats.

===Business Model===
Telegram offers a subscription service called [https://telegram.org/faq_premium Telegram Premium]. This an optional service that will allow you to have enjoy extra features that are pay walled behind this subscription, such as larger uploads, faster download speed and some premium stickers and emojis. This subscription also includes minor privacy features such as the ability to hide one's "last seen" time and online status unilaterally (i. e. from those that do not hide it from them).

Telegram also operates an advertising platform [https://ads.telegram.org/ Telegram Ads] which displays sponsored messages in public channels that have 1000 or more subscribers.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Telegram Ad Platform Explained |url=https://ads.telegram.org/getting-started |access-date=2025-10-22 |website=Telegram Ads}}</ref>

===Market Control===
Telegram has a huge market in Russia, India and Brazil. In Russia, 51% of users use Telegram<ref>{{Cite web |date=14 Jun 2024 |title=The audience of Internet users, social networks, messengers and VPN services |url=https://www.levada.ru/en/2024/06/14/the-audience-of-internet-users-social-networks-messengers-and-vpn-services/ |url-status=live |access-date=23 Aug 2025 |website=Levada-Center}}</ref> and in India, 48% of the population uses Telegram<ref>{{Cite web |title=Messenger usage by brand |url=https://www.statista.com/global-consumer-survey/tool/10/gcs_ind_202502?token=0&index=0&absolute=1&population=1&rows%5B0%5D=v0446_inte_brandsmessenger |website=Statista}}</ref>. In the USA, only 9% uses this platform.

In a global view, Telegram is the 4th most popular mobile messaging client as of 2024, with 950 million users<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ceci |first=Laura |date=21 Feb 2025 |title=Most popular global mobile messenger apps as of February 2025, based on number of monthly active users |url=https://www.statista.com/statistics/258749/most-popular-global-mobile-messenger-apps/ |url-status=live |access-date=23 Aug 2025 |website=Statista}}</ref>, ahead of [[Snapchat]] and just behind [[Facebook Messenger]].

Despite growing consistently in clients, Telegram now faces scrutiny in India and a potential ban, which would very negatively affect its user numbers.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sganalytics.com/blog/is-telegram-banned-in-india/|title=Telegram Ban Update - Is Telegram Banned in India?|date=2024-08-29|work=SG Analytics|access-date=2025-08-23|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250513202454/https://www.sganalytics.com/blog/is-telegram-banned-in-india/|archive-date=2025-05-13|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Incidents==
This messaging client has multiple incidents of selling data, and history of being a hub for bad actors, a gateway to share CSAM, and having drug trafficking and terrorism on its platform.

This is a list of all consumer protection incidents related to this product. Any incidents not mentioned here can be found in the [[:Category:{{PAGENAME}}|{{PAGENAME}} category]].

===Sudden change of stance on sharing data when pressured (2024)===
Telegram was known for not selling information, and having a pretty tight fist on its clients data and information, even towards the authorities.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Duffy |first=Clare |date=23 Sep 2024 |title=After CEO’s arrest, Telegram says it will now turn some bad actors’ data over to law enforcement |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2024/09/23/tech/telegram-ceo-durov-arrest-user-data-changes |url-status=live |access-date=23 Aug 2025 |website=CNN}}</ref> After Pavel Durov's arrest in France in 2024, Telegram started sharing user data, IP addresses, and phone numbers more freely to the authorities for criminal investigations, and to governments that requested such data.

==See also==

*[[Instagram]]
*[[WhatsApp]]
*[[Signal]]

==References==
<references />
[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]

2025-10-21T21:43:10Z

D-side: Servers aren't open source, so the solution overall probably shouldn't be called such

{{ProductCargo
|ReleaseYear=2013
|InProduction=Yes
|ArticleType=Service
|Category=Software, Messaging Client
|Website=https://telegram.org/
|Description=Telegram is an instant messaging (IM) app created in 2013 by Pavel Durov and Nikolai Durov.
|Logo=Telegram.png}}

[[wikipedia:Telegram_(software)|Telegram]] is an instant messaging (IM) app created in 2013 by Pavel Durov and Nikolai Durov. The company was originally founded on the British Virgin Islands and has an LLC in Dubai since 2017.

==Consumer impact summary==

===User Privacy===
Telegram does not sell user data to advertise to its clients, and only stores the data needed to moderate and keep its messaging client "secure and feature-rich"<ref>{{Cite web |title=Telegram Privacy Policy |url=https://telegram.org/privacy/eu?setln=en |url-status=live |access-date=23 Aug 2025 |website=Telegram Privacy Policy}}</ref>.

The messages shared are not end to end encrypted, unless they are [https://core.telegram.org/blackberry/secretchats Secret Chats] (not enabled by default) and these are not stored in their servers. Normal messages are not end to end encrypted, being instead encrypted from the user's device to the servers (client-server encryption). The latter are stored in Telegram's servers and can be shared with authorities, governments and/or accessed by anyone with potential access to the servers. This allows the messaging client to be accessed in multiple platforms on the same account.

This message client is cross-platform, and available in a vast amount of platforms, such as iOS, Android, Windows, macOS and Linux, as well as being available as a web client and other custom clients.

===Business Model===
Telegram offers a subscription service called [https://telegram.org/faq_premium Telegram Premium]. This an optional service that will allow you to have enjoy extra features that are pay walled behind this subscription, such as larger uploads, faster download speed and some premium stickers and emojis. This subscription also includes minor privacy features such as the ability to hide one's "last seen" time and online status unilaterally (i. e. from those that do not hide it from them).

Telegram also operates an advertising platform [https://ads.telegram.org/ Telegram Ads] which displays sponsored messages in public channels that have 1000 or more subscribers.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Telegram Ad Platform Explained |url=https://ads.telegram.org/getting-started |access-date=2025-10-22 |website=Telegram Ads}}</ref>

===Market Control===
Telegram has a huge market in Russia, India and Brazil. In Russia, 51% of users use Telegram<ref>{{Cite web |date=14 Jun 2024 |title=The audience of Internet users, social networks, messengers and VPN services |url=https://www.levada.ru/en/2024/06/14/the-audience-of-internet-users-social-networks-messengers-and-vpn-services/ |url-status=live |access-date=23 Aug 2025 |website=Levada-Center}}</ref> and in India, 48% of the population uses Telegram<ref>{{Cite web |title=Messenger usage by brand |url=https://www.statista.com/global-consumer-survey/tool/10/gcs_ind_202502?token=0&index=0&absolute=1&population=1&rows%5B0%5D=v0446_inte_brandsmessenger |website=Statista}}</ref>. In the USA, only 9% uses this platform.

In a global view, Telegram is the 4th most popular mobile messaging client as of 2024, with 950 million users<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ceci |first=Laura |date=21 Feb 2025 |title=Most popular global mobile messenger apps as of February 2025, based on number of monthly active users |url=https://www.statista.com/statistics/258749/most-popular-global-mobile-messenger-apps/ |url-status=live |access-date=23 Aug 2025 |website=Statista}}</ref>, ahead of [[Snapchat]] and just behind [[Facebook Messenger]].

Despite growing consistently in clients, Telegram now faces scrutiny in India and a potential ban, which would very negatively affect its user numbers.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sganalytics.com/blog/is-telegram-banned-in-india/|title=Telegram Ban Update - Is Telegram Banned in India?|date=2024-08-29|work=SG Analytics|access-date=2025-08-23|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250513202454/https://www.sganalytics.com/blog/is-telegram-banned-in-india/|archive-date=2025-05-13|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Incidents==
This messaging client has multiple incidents of selling data, and history of being a hub for bad actors, a gateway to share CSAM, and having drug trafficking and terrorism on its platform.

This is a list of all consumer protection incidents related to this product. Any incidents not mentioned here can be found in the [[:Category:{{PAGENAME}}|{{PAGENAME}} category]].

===Sudden change of stance on sharing data when pressured (2024)===
Telegram was known for not selling information, and having a pretty tight fist on its clients data and information, even towards the authorities.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Duffy |first=Clare |date=23 Sep 2024 |title=After CEO’s arrest, Telegram says it will now turn some bad actors’ data over to law enforcement |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2024/09/23/tech/telegram-ceo-durov-arrest-user-data-changes |url-status=live |access-date=23 Aug 2025 |website=CNN}}</ref> After Pavel Durov's arrest in France in 2024, Telegram started sharing user data, IP addresses, and phone numbers more freely to the authorities for criminal investigations, and to governments that requested such data.

==See also==

*[[Instagram]]
*[[WhatsApp]]
*[[Signal]]

==References==
<references />
[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]

2025-10-21T21:39:11Z

D-side: Telegram also runs ads, and subscription does have some privacy bits

{{ProductCargo
|ReleaseYear=2013
|InProduction=Yes
|ArticleType=Service
|Category=Software, Messaging Client
|Website=https://telegram.org/
|Description=Telegram is an instant messaging (IM) app created in 2013 by Pavel Durov and Nikolai Durov.
|Logo=Telegram.png}}

[[wikipedia:Telegram_(software)|Telegram]] is an open source instant messaging (IM) app created in 2013 by Pavel Durov and Nikolai Durov. The company was originally founded on the British Virgin Islands and has an LLC in Dubai since 2017.

==Consumer impact summary==

===User Privacy===
Telegram does not sell user data to advertise to its clients, and only stores the data needed to moderate and keep its messaging client "secure and feature-rich"<ref>{{Cite web |title=Telegram Privacy Policy |url=https://telegram.org/privacy/eu?setln=en |url-status=live |access-date=23 Aug 2025 |website=Telegram Privacy Policy}}</ref>.

The messages shared are not end to end encrypted, unless they are [https://core.telegram.org/blackberry/secretchats Secret Chats] (not enabled by default) and these are not stored in their servers. Normal messages are not end to end encrypted, being instead encrypted from the user's device to the servers (client-server encryption). The latter are stored in Telegram's servers and can be shared with authorities, governments and/or accessed by anyone with potential access to the servers. This allows the messaging client to be accessed in multiple platforms on the same account.

This message client is cross-platform, and available in a vast amount of platforms, such as iOS, Android, Windows, macOS and Linux, as well as being available as a web client and other custom clients.

===Business Model===
Telegram offers a subscription service called [https://telegram.org/faq_premium Telegram Premium]. This an optional service that will allow you to have enjoy extra features that are pay walled behind this subscription, such as larger uploads, faster download speed and some premium stickers and emojis. This subscription also includes minor privacy features such as the ability to hide one's "last seen" time and online status unilaterally (i. e. from those that do not hide it from them).

Telegram also operates an advertising platform [https://ads.telegram.org/ Telegram Ads] which displays sponsored messages in public channels that have 1000 or more subscribers.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Telegram Ad Platform Explained |url=https://ads.telegram.org/getting-started |access-date=2025-10-22 |website=Telegram Ads}}</ref>

===Market Control===
Telegram has a huge market in Russia, India and Brazil. In Russia, 51% of users use Telegram<ref>{{Cite web |date=14 Jun 2024 |title=The audience of Internet users, social networks, messengers and VPN services |url=https://www.levada.ru/en/2024/06/14/the-audience-of-internet-users-social-networks-messengers-and-vpn-services/ |url-status=live |access-date=23 Aug 2025 |website=Levada-Center}}</ref> and in India, 48% of the population uses Telegram<ref>{{Cite web |title=Messenger usage by brand |url=https://www.statista.com/global-consumer-survey/tool/10/gcs_ind_202502?token=0&index=0&absolute=1&population=1&rows%5B0%5D=v0446_inte_brandsmessenger |website=Statista}}</ref>. In the USA, only 9% uses this platform.

In a global view, Telegram is the 4th most popular mobile messaging client as of 2024, with 950 million users<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ceci |first=Laura |date=21 Feb 2025 |title=Most popular global mobile messenger apps as of February 2025, based on number of monthly active users |url=https://www.statista.com/statistics/258749/most-popular-global-mobile-messenger-apps/ |url-status=live |access-date=23 Aug 2025 |website=Statista}}</ref>, ahead of [[Snapchat]] and just behind [[Facebook Messenger]].

Despite growing consistently in clients, Telegram now faces scrutiny in India and a potential ban, which would very negatively affect its user numbers.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sganalytics.com/blog/is-telegram-banned-in-india/|title=Telegram Ban Update - Is Telegram Banned in India?|date=2024-08-29|work=SG Analytics|access-date=2025-08-23|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250513202454/https://www.sganalytics.com/blog/is-telegram-banned-in-india/|archive-date=2025-05-13|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Incidents==
This messaging client has multiple incidents of selling data, and history of being a hub for bad actors, a gateway to share CSAM, and having drug trafficking and terrorism on its platform.

This is a list of all consumer protection incidents related to this product. Any incidents not mentioned here can be found in the [[:Category:{{PAGENAME}}|{{PAGENAME}} category]].

===Sudden change of stance on sharing data when pressured (2024)===
Telegram was known for not selling information, and having a pretty tight fist on its clients data and information, even towards the authorities.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Duffy |first=Clare |date=23 Sep 2024 |title=After CEO’s arrest, Telegram says it will now turn some bad actors’ data over to law enforcement |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2024/09/23/tech/telegram-ceo-durov-arrest-user-data-changes |url-status=live |access-date=23 Aug 2025 |website=CNN}}</ref> After Pavel Durov's arrest in France in 2024, Telegram started sharing user data, IP addresses, and phone numbers more freely to the authorities for criminal investigations, and to governments that requested such data.

==See also==

*[[Instagram]]
*[[WhatsApp]]
*[[Signal]]

==References==
<references />
[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]

Cloud (service)

2025-10-21T21:27:41Z

D-side: Added a section for alternatives

{{Stub}}

In consumer technology, a cloud service typically refers to a data processing service provided by a service provider (often product manufacturer), often for a periodic fee. Typical examples of such services include data storage, off-device data processing, easy access to an internet-connected device from anywhere with an internet connection and synchronization between devices.

The term "cloud services" borrows from a term [[wikipedia:Cloud_computing|cloud computing]], which cloud services are often built upon. However, a "cloud service" may refer to a data processing service provided by the manufacturer that is ''not'' based on cloud computing. A typical defining feature of a cloud service is lack of information about the infrastructure that processes the data.

==How it works==
When features of a product rely on data processing outside of consumers' devices, there has to be another device responsible for these functions.

Cloud services function on devices provided by a service provider, with their specifics or even existence hidden from the user behind user interfaces in an effort to simplify user experience.

One adage is often quoted in relation to cloud services: "There is no cloud, it's just somebody else's computer"<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Vorobyov |first=Sergei |date=2023-05-25 |title=There is no cloud it’s just someone else’s computer |url=https://www.solita.fi/blogs/there-is-no-cloud-its-just-someone-elses-computer/ |website=Solita}}</ref>. This means that the failure of a device you know nothing about can result in your device/service not working.

==Why it is a problem==

===Economic non-sustainability===
Operating a cloud service requires ongoing expenses for the entire duration for which that service is provided. Marketing professionals realize that requiring an ongoing expense from the user for a given product reflects negatively on its perception, and sometimes try to hide this by doing any of the following:

*Offering additional features or service capacity for an additional fee
*Including a limited amount of service with the product purchase
*Withholding the information about cloud services being involved in some of the product's functionality and potentially introducing a subscription fee post-purchase for the product to function fully or at all
**This often happens after the company that previously offered a cloud service is acquired by another company that isn't as concerned with remaining in good standing with customers of the acquired company

In cases where a product does not provide the ability to choose a service it uses, shutdown of the pre-configured cloud service may cause [[discontinuation bricking]] or loss of product features.

===Service concentration within cloud computing companies===
Because cloud computing providers, which cloud services are often built upon, have to be '''large''' in order to offer competitive advantages to their customers (as pertains to this article, particularly product manufacturers), there are very few cloud computing providers in existence. Thus, every one of them operates the infrastructure under a large number of cloud services.

Some of the most famous cloud providers include Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud and Oracle Cloud.

While they take great care to ensure their smooth operation, they sometimes fail and cause widespread service disruptions because of the great number of companies relying on their services.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-10-21 |title=Amazon says AWS cloud service back to normal after outage disrupts businesses worldwide |url=https://www.reuters.com/business/retail-consumer/amazons-cloud-unit-reports-outage-several-websites-down-2025-10-20/ |website=Reuters}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-10-09 |title=Kubernetes kicks down Azure Front Door |url=https://www.theregister.com/2025/10/09/kubernetes_azure_outage/ |website=The Register}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-10-24 |title=Multiple GCP services impacted in the europe-west3-c zone |url=https://status.cloud.google.com/incidents/e3yQSE1ysCGjCVEn2q1h |website=Google Cloud Service Health}}</ref>

===Ineffective access controls===
A service provider requires some level of access to the data it processes. Unless access to the service is engineered on consumer's side to minimize such access (e. g. end-to-end encryption), all of the processed data is visible to the service provider<ref name=":0" />, where it can be leaked as a result of a cybersecurity incident or used for purposes to which consumers did not consent (such as included in machine learning datasets{{Citation needed}} or sold to advertising companies{{Citation needed}}).

Providers may offer some access controls for the data they possess and process, but most of the time they are also the ones enforcing them, which renders them ineffective for restricting providers' access due to a conflict of interest. There may be legally binding promises of effectiveness of these controls in their terms of service, but violations of policies established through these controls are difficult to detect and legal enforcement is difficult in general.

===Less legal protection===
In the United States, federal limits on gathering evidence mean you are not usually required to supply a password to unlock a device that you have, however others may be compelled to release your data.

===Loss of control===
Service company can deprive you of your data/services. For example if you lose login credentials, as might happen when a person dies, or your account is stolen, or the service provider terminates the account. (see for example, [[Microsoft account]], [[Google account]]).

== Alternatives ==

=== Generic protocols ===
A lot of cloud services use needlessly specialized protocols, which allows service providers to maintain monopolies over their respective niches. Use of more generic protocols provides more choice to consumers, incentivizes competition between service providers and creates business opportunities for new service providers to emerge.

For example, the impact of [[Amazon PhotosPlus discontinuation]] would be minimal if it were to allow connection to generic file storage rather than relying on Amazon's specialized photo storage service.

=== Self-hosting ===
{{Main|Self-hosting}}
Some cloud services can be adequately replaced with self-hosted alternatives, where consumers run compatible software on hardware they control.

==Examples==
*File synchronization services like [[wikipedia:Dropbox|Dropbox]], [[wikipedia:Google_drive|Google Drive]], [[OneDrive]], [[ICloud]], [[Mega.io cloud storage service|Mega]].
*Remote device access, as in [[Wyze|Wyze cameras]] and [[Bosch Cloud Dishwasher Incident|select Bosch dishwashers]].
*[[Software as a service]] online applications, like Google Workspace, [[Microsoft Office 365]], [[Adobe creative cloud]], [[Games as a service]].
*AI compute (inference) servers which power AI chatbots and agents. (for example, [[Google Gemini]], [[ChatGPT]], [[Microsoft Copilot]]).

==Further reading==

*[[Self-hosting]]
*[[Internet of things]]

==References==
<references />
[[Category:Common terms]]

Cloud (service)

2025-10-21T20:46:35Z

D-side: Added citations of cloud provider outages

{{Stub}}

In consumer technology, a cloud service typically refers to a data processing service provided by a service provider (often product manufacturer), often for a periodic fee. Typical examples of such services include data storage, off-device data processing, easy access to an internet-connected device from anywhere with an internet connection and synchronization between devices.

The term "cloud services" borrows from a term [[wikipedia:Cloud_computing|cloud computing]], which cloud services are often built upon. However, a "cloud service" may refer to a data processing service provided by the manufacturer that is ''not'' based on cloud computing. A typical defining feature of a cloud service is lack of information about the infrastructure that processes the data.

==How it works==
When features of a product rely on data processing outside of consumers' devices, there has to be another device responsible for these functions.

Cloud services function on devices provided by a service provider, with their specifics or even existence hidden from the user behind user interfaces in an effort to simplify user experience.

One adage is often quoted in relation to cloud services: "There is no cloud, it's just somebody else's computer"<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Vorobyov |first=Sergei |date=2023-05-25 |title=There is no cloud it’s just someone else’s computer |url=https://www.solita.fi/blogs/there-is-no-cloud-its-just-someone-elses-computer/ |website=Solita}}</ref>. This means that the failure of a device you know nothing about can result in your device/service not working.

==Why it is a problem==

===Economic non-sustainability===
Operating a cloud service requires ongoing expenses for the entire duration for which that service is provided. Marketing professionals realize that requiring an ongoing expense from the user for a given product reflects negatively on its perception, and sometimes try to hide this by doing any of the following:

*Offering additional features or service capacity for an additional fee
*Including a limited amount of service with the product purchase
*Withholding the information about cloud services being involved in some of the product's functionality and potentially introducing a subscription fee post-purchase for the product to function fully or at all
**This often happens after the company that previously offered a cloud service is acquired by another company that isn't as concerned with remaining in good standing with customers of the acquired company

In cases where a product does not provide the ability to choose a service it uses, shutdown of the pre-configured cloud service may cause [[discontinuation bricking]] or loss of product features.

===Service concentration within cloud computing companies===
Because cloud computing providers, which cloud services are often built upon, have to be '''large''' in order to offer competitive advantages to their customers (as pertains to this article, particularly product manufacturers), there are very few cloud computing providers in existence. Thus, every one of them operates the infrastructure under a large number of cloud services.

Some of the most famous cloud providers include Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud and Oracle Cloud.

While they take great care to ensure their smooth operation, they sometimes fail and cause widespread service disruptions because of the great number of companies relying on their services.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-10-21 |title=Amazon says AWS cloud service back to normal after outage disrupts businesses worldwide |url=https://www.reuters.com/business/retail-consumer/amazons-cloud-unit-reports-outage-several-websites-down-2025-10-20/ |website=Reuters}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-10-09 |title=Kubernetes kicks down Azure Front Door |url=https://www.theregister.com/2025/10/09/kubernetes_azure_outage/ |website=The Register}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-10-24 |title=Multiple GCP services impacted in the europe-west3-c zone |url=https://status.cloud.google.com/incidents/e3yQSE1ysCGjCVEn2q1h |website=Google Cloud Service Health}}</ref>

===Ineffective access controls===
A service provider requires some level of access to the data it processes. Unless access to the service is engineered on consumer's side to minimize such access (e. g. end-to-end encryption), all of the processed data is visible to the service provider<ref name=":0" />, where it can be leaked as a result of a cybersecurity incident or used for purposes to which consumers did not consent (such as included in machine learning datasets{{Citation needed}} or sold to advertising companies{{Citation needed}}).

Providers may offer some access controls for the data they possess and process, but most of the time they are also the ones enforcing them, which renders them ineffective for restricting providers' access due to a conflict of interest. There may be legally binding promises of effectiveness of these controls in their terms of service, but violations of policies established through these controls are difficult to detect and legal enforcement is difficult in general.

===Less legal protection===
In the United States, federal limits on gathering evidence mean you are not usually required to supply a password to unlock a device that you have, however others may be compelled to release your data.

===Loss of control===
Service company can deprive you of your data/services. For example if you lose login credentials, as might happen when a person dies, or your account is stolen, or the service provider terminates the account. (see for example, [[Microsoft account]], [[Google account]]).

==Examples==
*File synchronization services like [[wikipedia:Dropbox|Dropbox]], [[wikipedia:Google_drive|Google Drive]], [[OneDrive]], [[ICloud]], [[Mega.io cloud storage service|Mega]].
*Remote device access, as in [[Wyze|Wyze cameras]] and [[Bosch Cloud Dishwasher Incident|select Bosch dishwashers]].
*[[Software as a service]] online applications, like Google Workspace, [[Microsoft Office 365]], [[Adobe creative cloud]], [[Games as a service]].
*AI compute (inference) servers which power AI chatbots and agents. (for example, [[Google Gemini]], [[ChatGPT]], [[Microsoft Copilot]]).

==Further reading==

*[[Self-hosting]]
*[[Internet of things]]

==References==
<references />
[[Category:Common terms]]

Cloud (service)

2025-10-21T20:35:32Z

D-side: Ironed out the examples section a bit, since conceptual overview is given above, examples can (and probably should) be very specific

{{Stub}}

In consumer technology, a cloud service typically refers to a data processing service provided by a service provider (often product manufacturer), often for a periodic fee. Typical examples of such services include data storage, off-device data processing, easy access to an internet-connected device from anywhere with an internet connection and synchronization between devices.

The term "cloud services" borrows from a term [[wikipedia:Cloud_computing|cloud computing]], which cloud services are often built upon. However, a "cloud service" may refer to a data processing service provided by the manufacturer that is ''not'' based on cloud computing. A typical defining feature of a cloud service is lack of information about the infrastructure that processes the data.

==How it works==
When features of a product rely on data processing outside of consumers' devices, there has to be another device responsible for these functions.

Cloud services function on devices provided by a service provider, with their specifics or even existence hidden from the user behind user interfaces in an effort to simplify user experience.

One adage is often quoted in relation to cloud services: "There is no cloud, it's just somebody else's computer"<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Vorobyov |first=Sergei |date=2023-05-25 |title=There is no cloud it’s just someone else’s computer |url=https://www.solita.fi/blogs/there-is-no-cloud-its-just-someone-elses-computer/ |website=Solita}}</ref>. This means that the failure of a device you know nothing about can result in your device/service not working.

==Why it is a problem==

===Economic non-sustainability===
Operating a cloud service requires ongoing expenses for the entire duration for which that service is provided. Marketing professionals realize that requiring an ongoing expense from the user for a given product reflects negatively on its perception, and sometimes try to hide this by doing any of the following:

*Offering additional features or service capacity for an additional fee
*Including a limited amount of service with the product purchase
*Withholding the information about cloud services being involved in some of the product's functionality and potentially introducing a subscription fee post-purchase for the product to function fully or at all
**This often happens after the company that previously offered a cloud service is acquired by another company that isn't as concerned with remaining in good standing with customers of the acquired company

In cases where a product does not provide the ability to choose a service it uses, shutdown of the pre-configured cloud service may cause [[discontinuation bricking]] or loss of product features.

===Service concentration within cloud computing companies===
Because cloud computing providers, which cloud services are often built upon, have to be '''large''' in order to offer competitive advantages to their customers (as pertains to this article, particularly product manufacturers), there are very few cloud computing providers in existence. Thus, every one of them operates the infrastructure under a large number of cloud services.

Some of the most famous cloud providers include Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud and Oracle Cloud

While they take great care to ensure their smooth operation, they sometimes fail and cause widespread service disruptions because of the great number of companies relying on their services.{{Citation needed}}

===Ineffective access controls===
A service provider requires some level of access to the data it processes. Unless access to the service is engineered on consumer's side to minimize such access (e. g. end-to-end encryption), all of the processed data is visible to the service provider<ref name=":0" />, where it can be leaked as a result of a cybersecurity incident or used for purposes to which consumers did not consent (such as included in machine learning datasets{{Citation needed}} or sold to advertising companies{{Citation needed}}).

Providers may offer some access controls for the data they possess and process, but most of the time they are also the ones enforcing them, which renders them ineffective for restricting providers' access due to a conflict of interest. There may be legally binding promises of effectiveness of these controls in their terms of service, but violations of policies established through these controls are difficult to detect and legal enforcement is difficult in general.

===Less legal protection===
In the United States, federal limits on gathering evidence mean you are not usually required to supply a password to unlock a device that you have, however others may be compelled to release your data.

===Loss of control===
Service company can deprive you of your data/services. For example if you lose login credentials, as might happen when a person dies, or your account is stolen, or the service provider terminates the account. (see for example, [[Microsoft account]], [[Google account]]).

==Examples==
*File synchronization services like [[wikipedia:Dropbox|Dropbox]], [[wikipedia:Google_drive|Google Drive]], [[OneDrive]], [[ICloud]], [[Mega.io cloud storage service|Mega]].
*Remote device access, as in [[Wyze|Wyze cameras]] and [[Bosch Cloud Dishwasher Incident|select Bosch dishwashers]].
*[[Software as a service]] online applications, like Google Workspace, [[Microsoft Office 365]], [[Adobe creative cloud]], [[Games as a service]].
*AI compute (inference) servers which power AI chatbots and agents. (for example, [[Google Gemini]], [[ChatGPT]], [[Microsoft Copilot]]).

==Further reading==

*[[Self-hosting]]
*[[Internet of things]]

==References==
<references />
[[Category:Common terms]]

Talk:Cloud (service)

2025-10-21T20:24:22Z

D-side: /* Move article to just Cloud? */ Reply

Talk:Cloud (service)

2025-10-21T20:18:10Z

D-side: /* Unclear - Everything that isn't mine is cloud */ Reply

Cloud (service)

2025-10-21T20:10:38Z

D-side: I indeed meant ToS but I guess I really wanted to link this to something

{{Stub}}

In consumer technology, a cloud service typically refers to a data processing service provided by a service provider (often product manufacturer), often for a periodic fee. Typical examples of such services include data storage, off-device data processing, easy access to an internet-connected device from anywhere with an internet connection and synchronization between devices.

The term "cloud services" borrows from a term [[wikipedia:Cloud_computing|cloud computing]], which cloud services are often built upon. However, a "cloud service" may refer to a data processing service provided by the manufacturer that is ''not'' based on cloud computing. A typical defining feature of a cloud service is lack of information about the infrastructure that processes the data.

==How it works==
When features of a product rely on data processing outside of consumers' devices, there has to be another device responsible for these functions.

Cloud services function on devices provided by a service provider, with their specifics or even existence hidden from the user behind user interfaces in an effort to simplify user experience.

One adage is often quoted in relation to cloud services: "There is no cloud, it's just somebody else's computer"<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Vorobyov |first=Sergei |date=2023-05-25 |title=There is no cloud it’s just someone else’s computer |url=https://www.solita.fi/blogs/there-is-no-cloud-its-just-someone-elses-computer/ |website=Solita}}</ref>. This means that the failure of a device you know nothing about can result in your device/service not working.

==Why it is a problem==

===Economic non-sustainability===
Operating a cloud service requires ongoing expenses for the entire duration for which that service is provided. Marketing professionals realize that requiring an ongoing expense from the user for a given product reflects negatively on its perception, and sometimes try to hide this by doing any of the following:

*Offering additional features or service capacity for an additional fee
*Including a limited amount of service with the product purchase
*Withholding the information about cloud services being involved in some of the product's functionality and potentially introducing a subscription fee post-purchase for the product to function fully or at all
**This often happens after the company that previously offered a cloud service is acquired by another company that isn't as concerned with remaining in good standing with customers of the acquired company

In cases where a product does not provide the ability to choose a service it uses, shutdown of the pre-configured cloud service may cause [[discontinuation bricking]] or loss of product features.

===Service concentration within cloud computing companies===
Because cloud computing providers, which cloud services are often built upon, have to be '''large''' in order to offer competitive advantages to their customers (as pertains to this article, particularly product manufacturers), there are very few cloud computing providers in existence. Thus, every one of them operates the infrastructure under a large number of cloud services.

Some of the most famous cloud providers include Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud and Oracle Cloud

While they take great care to ensure their smooth operation, they sometimes fail and cause widespread service disruptions because of the great number of companies relying on their services.{{Citation needed}}

===Ineffective access controls===
A service provider requires some level of access to the data it processes. Unless access to the service is engineered on consumer's side to minimize such access (e. g. end-to-end encryption), all of the processed data is visible to the service provider<ref name=":0" />, where it can be leaked as a result of a cybersecurity incident or used for purposes to which consumers did not consent (such as included in machine learning datasets{{Citation needed}} or sold to advertising companies{{Citation needed}}).

Providers may offer some access controls for the data they possess and process, but most of the time they are also the ones enforcing them, which renders them ineffective for restricting providers' access due to a conflict of interest. There may be legally binding promises of effectiveness of these controls in their terms of service, but violations of policies established through these controls are difficult to detect and legal enforcement is difficult in general.

===Less legal protection===
In the United States, federal limits on gathering evidence mean you are not usually required to supply a password to unlock a device that you have, however others may be compelled to release your data.

===Loss of control===
Service company can deprive you of your data/services. For example if you lose login credentials, as might happen when a person dies, or your account is stolen, or the service provider terminates the account. (see for example, [[Microsoft account]], [[Google account]]).

==Examples==
{{Incomplete section}}

*Data storage and synchronization, where changes to data are propagated to all devices with access to it. Examples include file synchronization services like [[wikipedia:Dropbox|Dropbox]] and [[wikipedia:Google_drive|Google Drive]]. [[OneDrive]] [[ICloud]] [[Mega.io cloud storage service]]
*Device access, where functions from an internet-connected device can be accessed from another device with an internet connection, possibly very far. This is especially common when a product requires a companion mobile app.
*[[Software as a service]] online applications, like Google Workspace, [[Microsoft Office 365]], conferencing, e-mail, [[Adobe creative cloud]], [[Games as a service]]
*AI compute (inference) servers which power AI chatbots and agents. (for example, [[Google Gemini]], [[ChatGPT]], [[Microsoft Copilot]])

==Further reading==

*[[Self-hosting]]
*[[Internet of things]]

==References==
<references />
[[Category:Common terms]]