Consumer Rights Wiki - User contributions [en]

Kinect

2026-05-09T03:43:52Z

SomebodyThatMayContribute: Add Archive URL for cite 16 to the closest fully working Archive on IA

{{StubNotice}}{{ProductLineCargo
|Company=Xbox, Microsoft
|ReleaseYear=2010
|InProduction=No
|ArticleType=Product
|Category=accessory, peripheral
|Logo=Kinect Logo.png
|Description=The Kinect was a line of accessories for both Xbox hardware and Windows. The Xbox One release was formerly mandatory for the console to function.
}}The '''Kinect''' was a line of peripherals sold by Microsoft for the ''[[Xbox]] 360'', ''Xbox One'', and [[Microsoft Windows|''Windows'']] hardware. Its first public release was for the ''Xbox 360'' on November 4th, 2010.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Thorsen |first=Tor |date=August 11, 2010 |title=4GB Xbox 360 official, $300 Kinect bundle coming |url=https://www.gamespot.com/articles/4gb-xbox-360-official-300-kinect-bundle-coming/1100-6270112/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250219091726/https://www.gamespot.com/articles/4gb-xbox-360-official-300-kinect-bundle-coming/1100-6270112/ |archive-date=2025-02-19 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=GameSpot}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Chen |first=Jason |date=Jun 14, 2010 |title=Microsoft Xbox 360 Kinect Launches November 4 |url=https://gizmodo.com/microsoft-xbox-360-kinect-launches-november-4-5563148 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=Gizmodo}}</ref> It was formerly planned by [[Microsoft]] that the ''Kinect for Xbox One'' would be mandatory for launch Xbox One hardware to function,<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |last=Schreier |first=Jason |date=May 21, 2013 |title=Xbox One Requires Kinect To Function |url=https://kotaku.com/xbox-one-requires-kinect-to-function-509112572 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260508072708/https://kotaku.com/xbox-one-requires-kinect-to-function-509112572 |archive-date=2026-05-08 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=Kotaku}}</ref> however due to consumer backlash,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Crecente |first=Brian |date=Jun 5, 2013 |title=Privacy concerns threaten to overshadow Microsoft's new console |url=https://www.polygon.com/2013/6/5/4398440/privacy-microsoft-xbox-one/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250517133629/https://www.polygon.com/2013/6/5/4398440/privacy-microsoft-xbox-one |archive-date=2025-05-17 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=Polygon}}</ref> this was lifted before launch. In 2014, the hardware stopped being bundled with Xbox One consoles.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Futter |first=Mike |date=May 13, 2014 |title=Microsoft Completes Its 180 And Drops Kinect From Xbox One |url=https://gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2014/05/13/microsoft-completes-its-180-and-drops-kinect-from-xbox-one.aspx |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260115030312/https://gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2014/05/13/microsoft-completes-its-180-and-drops-kinect-from-xbox-one.aspx |archive-date=2026-01-15 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=GameInformer}}</ref>

In 2019, the Azure Kinect released,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Liao |first=Shannon |date=May 7, 2018 |title=Microsoft is moving Kinect to the cloud |url=https://www.theverge.com/2018/5/7/17318690/microsoft-kinect-cloud-announced-build-2018 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250824053827/https://www.theverge.com/2018/5/7/17318690/microsoft-kinect-cloud-announced-build-2018 |archive-date=2025-08-24 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=The Verge}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Ranger |first=Steve |date=Feb 25, 2019 |title=What is Microsoft's Azure Kinect DK? |url=https://www.zdnet.com/article/what-is-microsofts-azure-kinect-dk/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251218114414/https://www.zdnet.com/web/20251218114414/https:/www.zdnet.com/article/what-is-microsofts-azure-kinect-dk/ |archive-date=2025-12-18 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=ZDNet}}</ref> being the first standalone Kinect hardware that did not see a shared release on Xbox. On Aug 21, 2023 it was discontinued and the Kinect line was deprecated.<ref name=":1">{{Cite news |last=Peters |first=Jay |date=Aug 21, 2023 |title=Microsoft kills Kinect again |url=https://www.theverge.com/2023/8/21/23840327/microsoft-azure-kinect-developer-kit-discontinued |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260301105131/https://www.theverge.com/2023/8/21/23840327/microsoft-azure-kinect-developer-kit-discontinued |archive-date=2026-03-01 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=The Verge}}</ref>

==Consumer-impact summary==

*User Freedom: Formerly planned to be mandatory for use with Xbox One on launch;<ref name=":0" /> currently unsupported by Microsoft and incompatible with Xbox Series consoles and later.<ref name=":2">{{Cite news |last=Gartenberg |first=Chaim |date=Jan 2, 2018 |title=Microsoft has discontinued the Kinect Adapter for newer Xbox One consoles |url=https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2018/1/2/16842738/microsoft-kinect-adapter-xbox-one-x-s-discontinued |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260223001007/https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2018/1/2/16842738/microsoft-kinect-adapter-xbox-one-x-s-discontinued |archive-date=2026-02-23 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=The Verge}}</ref> Users have reported questionable compatibility on Windows for all models except for Azure.<ref>{{Cite web |last=u/Edmundo-Studios |date=Mar 19, 2022 |title=Windows 11 compatibility |url=https://old.reddit.com/r/kinect/comments/thtal1/windows_11_compatibility/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260509025646/https://old.reddit.com/r/kinect/comments/thtal1/windows_11_compatibility/ |archive-date=2026-05-09 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |website=[[Reddit]] - r/Kinect}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Chelsea |date=Sep 3, 2022 |title=Why won't my Xbox 360 Kinect work with windows 11? Should I upgrade to an Xbox One Kinect? |url=https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/993064/why-wont-my-xbox-360-kinect-work-with-windows-11-s |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241114230121/https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/993064/why-wont-my-xbox-360-kinect-work-with-windows-11-s |archive-date=2024-11-14 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |website=[[Microsoft]] Learn forums}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Garcia |date=Aug 20, 2023 |title=problems with kinect v2 (Xbox One) on pc |url=https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/1349001/problems-with-kinect-v2-(xbox-one)-on-pc |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260509030537/https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/1349001/problems-with-kinect-v2-(xbox-one)-on-pc |archive-date=2026-05-09 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |website=[[Microsoft]] Learn Forums}}</ref>
*User Privacy: Patents showed the Kinect potentially monitoring its users for advertising purposes,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Sottek |first=T.C. |date=May 27, 2013 |title=Microsoft may award achievements for watching TV and ads by monitoring you with Kinect |url=https://www.theverge.com/2013/5/27/4370676/microsoft-kinect-tv-monitoring-achievements-ads |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251113004246/https://www.theverge.com/2013/5/27/4370676/microsoft-kinect-tv-monitoring-achievements-ads |archive-date=2025-11-13 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=The Verge}}</ref> despite claims from Microsoft that it would be in violation of their Privacy Policy.<ref>{{Cite news |last=McWhertor |first=Michael |date=Jun 6, 2013 |title=Kinect on Xbox One will not record or upload your conversations, Microsoft says |url=https://www.polygon.com/2013/6/6/4403926/kinect-on-xbox-one-will-not-record-or-upload-your-conversations/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260102092753/https://www.polygon.com/2013/6/6/4403926/kinect-on-xbox-one-will-not-record-or-upload-your-conversations/ |archive-date=2026-01-02 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=Polygon}}</ref>
*Business Model: Sales as hardware accessory and mandatory for some games, such as Kinect Adventures.
*Market Control: Not Applicable; Deprecated product line since 2023.<ref name=":1" />

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

===Mandatory usage for Xbox One===
[To Be Written]

===Harmful discontinuations of support===

====Xbox One Kinect====
In October 2017, [[Microsoft]] stopped manufacturing the ''Kinect for Xbox One'',<ref>{{Cite news |last=Reisinger |first=Don |date=October 25, 2017 |title=Microsoft Has Finally Killed the Kinect Xbox Sensor |url=https://fortune.com/2017/10/25/microsoft-kinect-xbox-sensor/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251026175223/https://fortune.com/2017/10/25/microsoft-kinect-xbox-sensor/ |archive-date=2025-10-26 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=Fortune}}</ref> and 3 months later, discontinued the adapter necessary for connecting this hardware to both newer [[Xbox]] consoles, as well as [[Microsoft Windows|Windows]] computers.<ref name=":2" /> When the Xbox Series consoles released, they were incompatible with the Kinect, even if the end user has the necessary adapter.<ref name=":2" /> This means that any games that rely on Kinect hardware are additionally unplayable on Xbox Series consoles, despite being fully compatible with the rest of the Xbox One library.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Bonthuys |first=Darryn |date=Oct 28, 2020 |title=Xbox Series X/S Officially Plays Every Game That Works On Xbox One (Except The Kinect Ones) |url=https://www.gamespot.com/articles/xbox-series-x-s-officially-plays-every-game-that-works-on-xbox-one-except-the-kinect-ones/1100-6483849/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220907155808/https://www.gamespot.com/articles/xbox-series-x-s-officially-plays-every-game-that-works-on-xbox-one-except-the-kinect-ones/1100-6483849/ |archive-date=2022-09-07 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=GameSpot}}</ref>

==Products==

*Kinect for Xbox 360 (2010)
*Kinect for Windows (2012)
*Kinect for Xbox One (2013)
*Kinect 2 for Windows (2014)
*Azure Kinect (2020)

==See also==
==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]

Kinect

2026-05-09T03:41:10Z

SomebodyThatMayContribute: Add Archive URL for cite 15 to the closest fully working Archive on IA

{{StubNotice}}{{ProductLineCargo
|Company=Xbox, Microsoft
|ReleaseYear=2010
|InProduction=No
|ArticleType=Product
|Category=accessory, peripheral
|Logo=Kinect Logo.png
|Description=The Kinect was a line of accessories for both Xbox hardware and Windows. The Xbox One release was formerly mandatory for the console to function.
}}The '''Kinect''' was a line of peripherals sold by Microsoft for the ''[[Xbox]] 360'', ''Xbox One'', and [[Microsoft Windows|''Windows'']] hardware. Its first public release was for the ''Xbox 360'' on November 4th, 2010.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Thorsen |first=Tor |date=August 11, 2010 |title=4GB Xbox 360 official, $300 Kinect bundle coming |url=https://www.gamespot.com/articles/4gb-xbox-360-official-300-kinect-bundle-coming/1100-6270112/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250219091726/https://www.gamespot.com/articles/4gb-xbox-360-official-300-kinect-bundle-coming/1100-6270112/ |archive-date=2025-02-19 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=GameSpot}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Chen |first=Jason |date=Jun 14, 2010 |title=Microsoft Xbox 360 Kinect Launches November 4 |url=https://gizmodo.com/microsoft-xbox-360-kinect-launches-november-4-5563148 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=Gizmodo}}</ref> It was formerly planned by [[Microsoft]] that the ''Kinect for Xbox One'' would be mandatory for launch Xbox One hardware to function,<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |last=Schreier |first=Jason |date=May 21, 2013 |title=Xbox One Requires Kinect To Function |url=https://kotaku.com/xbox-one-requires-kinect-to-function-509112572 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260508072708/https://kotaku.com/xbox-one-requires-kinect-to-function-509112572 |archive-date=2026-05-08 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=Kotaku}}</ref> however due to consumer backlash,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Crecente |first=Brian |date=Jun 5, 2013 |title=Privacy concerns threaten to overshadow Microsoft's new console |url=https://www.polygon.com/2013/6/5/4398440/privacy-microsoft-xbox-one/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250517133629/https://www.polygon.com/2013/6/5/4398440/privacy-microsoft-xbox-one |archive-date=2025-05-17 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=Polygon}}</ref> this was lifted before launch. In 2014, the hardware stopped being bundled with Xbox One consoles.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Futter |first=Mike |date=May 13, 2014 |title=Microsoft Completes Its 180 And Drops Kinect From Xbox One |url=https://gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2014/05/13/microsoft-completes-its-180-and-drops-kinect-from-xbox-one.aspx |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260115030312/https://gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2014/05/13/microsoft-completes-its-180-and-drops-kinect-from-xbox-one.aspx |archive-date=2026-01-15 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=GameInformer}}</ref>

In 2019, the Azure Kinect released,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Liao |first=Shannon |date=May 7, 2018 |title=Microsoft is moving Kinect to the cloud |url=https://www.theverge.com/2018/5/7/17318690/microsoft-kinect-cloud-announced-build-2018 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250824053827/https://www.theverge.com/2018/5/7/17318690/microsoft-kinect-cloud-announced-build-2018 |archive-date=2025-08-24 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=The Verge}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Ranger |first=Steve |date=Feb 25, 2019 |title=What is Microsoft's Azure Kinect DK? |url=https://www.zdnet.com/article/what-is-microsofts-azure-kinect-dk/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251218114414/https://www.zdnet.com/web/20251218114414/https:/www.zdnet.com/article/what-is-microsofts-azure-kinect-dk/ |archive-date=2025-12-18 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=ZDNet}}</ref> being the first standalone Kinect hardware that did not see a shared release on Xbox. On Aug 21, 2023 it was discontinued and the Kinect line was deprecated.<ref name=":1">{{Cite news |last=Peters |first=Jay |date=Aug 21, 2023 |title=Microsoft kills Kinect again |url=https://www.theverge.com/2023/8/21/23840327/microsoft-azure-kinect-developer-kit-discontinued |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260301105131/https://www.theverge.com/2023/8/21/23840327/microsoft-azure-kinect-developer-kit-discontinued |archive-date=2026-03-01 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=The Verge}}</ref>

==Consumer-impact summary==

*User Freedom: Formerly planned to be mandatory for use with Xbox One on launch;<ref name=":0" /> currently unsupported by Microsoft and incompatible with Xbox Series consoles and later.<ref name=":2">{{Cite news |last=Gartenberg |first=Chaim |date=Jan 2, 2018 |title=Microsoft has discontinued the Kinect Adapter for newer Xbox One consoles |url=https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2018/1/2/16842738/microsoft-kinect-adapter-xbox-one-x-s-discontinued |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260223001007/https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2018/1/2/16842738/microsoft-kinect-adapter-xbox-one-x-s-discontinued |archive-date=2026-02-23 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=The Verge}}</ref> Users have reported questionable compatibility on Windows for all models except for Azure.<ref>{{Cite web |last=u/Edmundo-Studios |date=Mar 19, 2022 |title=Windows 11 compatibility |url=https://old.reddit.com/r/kinect/comments/thtal1/windows_11_compatibility/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260509025646/https://old.reddit.com/r/kinect/comments/thtal1/windows_11_compatibility/ |archive-date=2026-05-09 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |website=[[Reddit]] - r/Kinect}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Chelsea |date=Sep 3, 2022 |title=Why won't my Xbox 360 Kinect work with windows 11? Should I upgrade to an Xbox One Kinect? |url=https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/993064/why-wont-my-xbox-360-kinect-work-with-windows-11-s |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241114230121/https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/993064/why-wont-my-xbox-360-kinect-work-with-windows-11-s |archive-date=2024-11-14 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |website=[[Microsoft]] Learn forums}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Garcia |date=Aug 20, 2023 |title=problems with kinect v2 (Xbox One) on pc |url=https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/1349001/problems-with-kinect-v2-(xbox-one)-on-pc |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260509030537/https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/1349001/problems-with-kinect-v2-(xbox-one)-on-pc |archive-date=2026-05-09 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |website=[[Microsoft]] Learn Forums}}</ref>
*User Privacy: Patents showed the Kinect potentially monitoring its users for advertising purposes,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Sottek |first=T.C. |date=May 27, 2013 |title=Microsoft may award achievements for watching TV and ads by monitoring you with Kinect |url=https://www.theverge.com/2013/5/27/4370676/microsoft-kinect-tv-monitoring-achievements-ads |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251113004246/https://www.theverge.com/2013/5/27/4370676/microsoft-kinect-tv-monitoring-achievements-ads |archive-date=2025-11-13 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=The Verge}}</ref> despite claims from Microsoft that it would be in violation of their Privacy Policy.<ref>{{Cite news |last=McWhertor |first=Michael |date=Jun 6, 2013 |title=Kinect on Xbox One will not record or upload your conversations, Microsoft says |url=https://www.polygon.com/2013/6/6/4403926/kinect-on-xbox-one-will-not-record-or-upload-your-conversations/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260102092753/https://www.polygon.com/2013/6/6/4403926/kinect-on-xbox-one-will-not-record-or-upload-your-conversations/ |archive-date=2026-01-02 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=Polygon}}</ref>
*Business Model: Sales as hardware accessory and mandatory for some games, such as Kinect Adventures.
*Market Control: Not Applicable; Deprecated product line since 2023.<ref name=":1" />

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

===Mandatory usage for Xbox One===
[To Be Written]

===Harmful discontinuations of support===

====Xbox One Kinect====
In October 2017, [[Microsoft]] stopped manufacturing the ''Kinect for Xbox One'',<ref>{{Cite news |last=Reisinger |first=Don |date=October 25, 2017 |title=Microsoft Has Finally Killed the Kinect Xbox Sensor |url=https://fortune.com/2017/10/25/microsoft-kinect-xbox-sensor/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251026175223/https://fortune.com/2017/10/25/microsoft-kinect-xbox-sensor/ |archive-date=2025-10-26 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=Fortune}}</ref> and 3 months later, discontinued the adapter necessary for connecting this hardware to both newer [[Xbox]] consoles, as well as [[Microsoft Windows|Windows]] computers.<ref name=":2" /> When the Xbox Series consoles released, they were incompatible with the Kinect, even if the end user has the necessary adapter.<ref name=":2" /> This means that any games that rely on Kinect hardware are additionally unplayable on Xbox Series consoles, despite being fully compatible with the rest of the Xbox One library.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Bonthuys |first=Darryn |date=Oct 28, 2020 |title=Xbox Series X/S Officially Plays Every Game That Works On Xbox One (Except The Kinect Ones) |url=https://www.gamespot.com/articles/xbox-series-x-s-officially-plays-every-game-that-works-on-xbox-one-except-the-kinect-ones/1100-6483849/ |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=GameSpot}}</ref>

==Products==

*Kinect for Xbox 360 (2010)
*Kinect for Windows (2012)
*Kinect for Xbox One (2013)
*Kinect 2 for Windows (2014)
*Azure Kinect (2020)

==See also==
==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]

Kinect

2026-05-09T03:36:18Z

SomebodyThatMayContribute: Add Archive URL for cite 14 to the closest fully working Archive on IA

{{StubNotice}}{{ProductLineCargo
|Company=Xbox, Microsoft
|ReleaseYear=2010
|InProduction=No
|ArticleType=Product
|Category=accessory, peripheral
|Logo=Kinect Logo.png
|Description=The Kinect was a line of accessories for both Xbox hardware and Windows. The Xbox One release was formerly mandatory for the console to function.
}}The '''Kinect''' was a line of peripherals sold by Microsoft for the ''[[Xbox]] 360'', ''Xbox One'', and [[Microsoft Windows|''Windows'']] hardware. Its first public release was for the ''Xbox 360'' on November 4th, 2010.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Thorsen |first=Tor |date=August 11, 2010 |title=4GB Xbox 360 official, $300 Kinect bundle coming |url=https://www.gamespot.com/articles/4gb-xbox-360-official-300-kinect-bundle-coming/1100-6270112/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250219091726/https://www.gamespot.com/articles/4gb-xbox-360-official-300-kinect-bundle-coming/1100-6270112/ |archive-date=2025-02-19 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=GameSpot}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Chen |first=Jason |date=Jun 14, 2010 |title=Microsoft Xbox 360 Kinect Launches November 4 |url=https://gizmodo.com/microsoft-xbox-360-kinect-launches-november-4-5563148 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=Gizmodo}}</ref> It was formerly planned by [[Microsoft]] that the ''Kinect for Xbox One'' would be mandatory for launch Xbox One hardware to function,<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |last=Schreier |first=Jason |date=May 21, 2013 |title=Xbox One Requires Kinect To Function |url=https://kotaku.com/xbox-one-requires-kinect-to-function-509112572 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260508072708/https://kotaku.com/xbox-one-requires-kinect-to-function-509112572 |archive-date=2026-05-08 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=Kotaku}}</ref> however due to consumer backlash,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Crecente |first=Brian |date=Jun 5, 2013 |title=Privacy concerns threaten to overshadow Microsoft's new console |url=https://www.polygon.com/2013/6/5/4398440/privacy-microsoft-xbox-one/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250517133629/https://www.polygon.com/2013/6/5/4398440/privacy-microsoft-xbox-one |archive-date=2025-05-17 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=Polygon}}</ref> this was lifted before launch. In 2014, the hardware stopped being bundled with Xbox One consoles.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Futter |first=Mike |date=May 13, 2014 |title=Microsoft Completes Its 180 And Drops Kinect From Xbox One |url=https://gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2014/05/13/microsoft-completes-its-180-and-drops-kinect-from-xbox-one.aspx |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260115030312/https://gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2014/05/13/microsoft-completes-its-180-and-drops-kinect-from-xbox-one.aspx |archive-date=2026-01-15 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=GameInformer}}</ref>

In 2019, the Azure Kinect released,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Liao |first=Shannon |date=May 7, 2018 |title=Microsoft is moving Kinect to the cloud |url=https://www.theverge.com/2018/5/7/17318690/microsoft-kinect-cloud-announced-build-2018 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250824053827/https://www.theverge.com/2018/5/7/17318690/microsoft-kinect-cloud-announced-build-2018 |archive-date=2025-08-24 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=The Verge}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Ranger |first=Steve |date=Feb 25, 2019 |title=What is Microsoft's Azure Kinect DK? |url=https://www.zdnet.com/article/what-is-microsofts-azure-kinect-dk/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251218114414/https://www.zdnet.com/web/20251218114414/https:/www.zdnet.com/article/what-is-microsofts-azure-kinect-dk/ |archive-date=2025-12-18 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=ZDNet}}</ref> being the first standalone Kinect hardware that did not see a shared release on Xbox. On Aug 21, 2023 it was discontinued and the Kinect line was deprecated.<ref name=":1">{{Cite news |last=Peters |first=Jay |date=Aug 21, 2023 |title=Microsoft kills Kinect again |url=https://www.theverge.com/2023/8/21/23840327/microsoft-azure-kinect-developer-kit-discontinued |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260301105131/https://www.theverge.com/2023/8/21/23840327/microsoft-azure-kinect-developer-kit-discontinued |archive-date=2026-03-01 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=The Verge}}</ref>

==Consumer-impact summary==

*User Freedom: Formerly planned to be mandatory for use with Xbox One on launch;<ref name=":0" /> currently unsupported by Microsoft and incompatible with Xbox Series consoles and later.<ref name=":2">{{Cite news |last=Gartenberg |first=Chaim |date=Jan 2, 2018 |title=Microsoft has discontinued the Kinect Adapter for newer Xbox One consoles |url=https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2018/1/2/16842738/microsoft-kinect-adapter-xbox-one-x-s-discontinued |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260223001007/https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2018/1/2/16842738/microsoft-kinect-adapter-xbox-one-x-s-discontinued |archive-date=2026-02-23 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=The Verge}}</ref> Users have reported questionable compatibility on Windows for all models except for Azure.<ref>{{Cite web |last=u/Edmundo-Studios |date=Mar 19, 2022 |title=Windows 11 compatibility |url=https://old.reddit.com/r/kinect/comments/thtal1/windows_11_compatibility/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260509025646/https://old.reddit.com/r/kinect/comments/thtal1/windows_11_compatibility/ |archive-date=2026-05-09 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |website=[[Reddit]] - r/Kinect}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Chelsea |date=Sep 3, 2022 |title=Why won't my Xbox 360 Kinect work with windows 11? Should I upgrade to an Xbox One Kinect? |url=https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/993064/why-wont-my-xbox-360-kinect-work-with-windows-11-s |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241114230121/https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/993064/why-wont-my-xbox-360-kinect-work-with-windows-11-s |archive-date=2024-11-14 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |website=[[Microsoft]] Learn forums}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Garcia |date=Aug 20, 2023 |title=problems with kinect v2 (Xbox One) on pc |url=https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/1349001/problems-with-kinect-v2-(xbox-one)-on-pc |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260509030537/https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/1349001/problems-with-kinect-v2-(xbox-one)-on-pc |archive-date=2026-05-09 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |website=[[Microsoft]] Learn Forums}}</ref>
*User Privacy: Patents showed the Kinect potentially monitoring its users for advertising purposes,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Sottek |first=T.C. |date=May 27, 2013 |title=Microsoft may award achievements for watching TV and ads by monitoring you with Kinect |url=https://www.theverge.com/2013/5/27/4370676/microsoft-kinect-tv-monitoring-achievements-ads |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251113004246/https://www.theverge.com/2013/5/27/4370676/microsoft-kinect-tv-monitoring-achievements-ads |archive-date=2025-11-13 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=The Verge}}</ref> despite claims from Microsoft that it would be in violation of their Privacy Policy.<ref>{{Cite news |last=McWhertor |first=Michael |date=Jun 6, 2013 |title=Kinect on Xbox One will not record or upload your conversations, Microsoft says |url=https://www.polygon.com/2013/6/6/4403926/kinect-on-xbox-one-will-not-record-or-upload-your-conversations/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260102092753/https://www.polygon.com/2013/6/6/4403926/kinect-on-xbox-one-will-not-record-or-upload-your-conversations/ |archive-date=2026-01-02 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=Polygon}}</ref>
*Business Model: Sales as hardware accessory and mandatory for some games, such as Kinect Adventures.
*Market Control: Not Applicable; Deprecated product line since 2023.<ref name=":1" />

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

===Mandatory usage for Xbox One===
[To Be Written]

===Harmful discontinuations of support===

====Xbox One Kinect====
In October 2017, [[Microsoft]] stopped manufacturing the ''Kinect for Xbox One'',<ref>{{Cite news |last=Reisinger |first=Don |date=October 25, 2017 |title=Microsoft Has Finally Killed the Kinect Xbox Sensor |url=https://fortune.com/2017/10/25/microsoft-kinect-xbox-sensor/ |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=Fortune}}</ref> and 3 months later, discontinued the adapter necessary for connecting this hardware to both newer [[Xbox]] consoles, as well as [[Microsoft Windows|Windows]] computers.<ref name=":2" /> When the Xbox Series consoles released, they were incompatible with the Kinect, even if the end user has the necessary adapter.<ref name=":2" /> This means that any games that rely on Kinect hardware are additionally unplayable on Xbox Series consoles, despite being fully compatible with the rest of the Xbox One library.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Bonthuys |first=Darryn |date=Oct 28, 2020 |title=Xbox Series X/S Officially Plays Every Game That Works On Xbox One (Except The Kinect Ones) |url=https://www.gamespot.com/articles/xbox-series-x-s-officially-plays-every-game-that-works-on-xbox-one-except-the-kinect-ones/1100-6483849/ |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=GameSpot}}</ref>

==Products==

*Kinect for Xbox 360 (2010)
*Kinect for Windows (2012)
*Kinect for Xbox One (2013)
*Kinect 2 for Windows (2014)
*Azure Kinect (2020)

==See also==
==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]

Kinect

2026-05-09T03:31:16Z

SomebodyThatMayContribute: Add Archive URL for cite 13 to the closest fully working Archive on IA

{{StubNotice}}{{ProductLineCargo
|Company=Xbox, Microsoft
|ReleaseYear=2010
|InProduction=No
|ArticleType=Product
|Category=accessory, peripheral
|Logo=Kinect Logo.png
|Description=The Kinect was a line of accessories for both Xbox hardware and Windows. The Xbox One release was formerly mandatory for the console to function.
}}The '''Kinect''' was a line of peripherals sold by Microsoft for the ''[[Xbox]] 360'', ''Xbox One'', and [[Microsoft Windows|''Windows'']] hardware. Its first public release was for the ''Xbox 360'' on November 4th, 2010.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Thorsen |first=Tor |date=August 11, 2010 |title=4GB Xbox 360 official, $300 Kinect bundle coming |url=https://www.gamespot.com/articles/4gb-xbox-360-official-300-kinect-bundle-coming/1100-6270112/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250219091726/https://www.gamespot.com/articles/4gb-xbox-360-official-300-kinect-bundle-coming/1100-6270112/ |archive-date=2025-02-19 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=GameSpot}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Chen |first=Jason |date=Jun 14, 2010 |title=Microsoft Xbox 360 Kinect Launches November 4 |url=https://gizmodo.com/microsoft-xbox-360-kinect-launches-november-4-5563148 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=Gizmodo}}</ref> It was formerly planned by [[Microsoft]] that the ''Kinect for Xbox One'' would be mandatory for launch Xbox One hardware to function,<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |last=Schreier |first=Jason |date=May 21, 2013 |title=Xbox One Requires Kinect To Function |url=https://kotaku.com/xbox-one-requires-kinect-to-function-509112572 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260508072708/https://kotaku.com/xbox-one-requires-kinect-to-function-509112572 |archive-date=2026-05-08 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=Kotaku}}</ref> however due to consumer backlash,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Crecente |first=Brian |date=Jun 5, 2013 |title=Privacy concerns threaten to overshadow Microsoft's new console |url=https://www.polygon.com/2013/6/5/4398440/privacy-microsoft-xbox-one/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250517133629/https://www.polygon.com/2013/6/5/4398440/privacy-microsoft-xbox-one |archive-date=2025-05-17 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=Polygon}}</ref> this was lifted before launch. In 2014, the hardware stopped being bundled with Xbox One consoles.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Futter |first=Mike |date=May 13, 2014 |title=Microsoft Completes Its 180 And Drops Kinect From Xbox One |url=https://gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2014/05/13/microsoft-completes-its-180-and-drops-kinect-from-xbox-one.aspx |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260115030312/https://gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2014/05/13/microsoft-completes-its-180-and-drops-kinect-from-xbox-one.aspx |archive-date=2026-01-15 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=GameInformer}}</ref>

In 2019, the Azure Kinect released,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Liao |first=Shannon |date=May 7, 2018 |title=Microsoft is moving Kinect to the cloud |url=https://www.theverge.com/2018/5/7/17318690/microsoft-kinect-cloud-announced-build-2018 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250824053827/https://www.theverge.com/2018/5/7/17318690/microsoft-kinect-cloud-announced-build-2018 |archive-date=2025-08-24 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=The Verge}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Ranger |first=Steve |date=Feb 25, 2019 |title=What is Microsoft's Azure Kinect DK? |url=https://www.zdnet.com/article/what-is-microsofts-azure-kinect-dk/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251218114414/https://www.zdnet.com/web/20251218114414/https:/www.zdnet.com/article/what-is-microsofts-azure-kinect-dk/ |archive-date=2025-12-18 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=ZDNet}}</ref> being the first standalone Kinect hardware that did not see a shared release on Xbox. On Aug 21, 2023 it was discontinued and the Kinect line was deprecated.<ref name=":1">{{Cite news |last=Peters |first=Jay |date=Aug 21, 2023 |title=Microsoft kills Kinect again |url=https://www.theverge.com/2023/8/21/23840327/microsoft-azure-kinect-developer-kit-discontinued |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260301105131/https://www.theverge.com/2023/8/21/23840327/microsoft-azure-kinect-developer-kit-discontinued |archive-date=2026-03-01 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=The Verge}}</ref>

==Consumer-impact summary==

*User Freedom: Formerly planned to be mandatory for use with Xbox One on launch;<ref name=":0" /> currently unsupported by Microsoft and incompatible with Xbox Series consoles and later.<ref name=":2">{{Cite news |last=Gartenberg |first=Chaim |date=Jan 2, 2018 |title=Microsoft has discontinued the Kinect Adapter for newer Xbox One consoles |url=https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2018/1/2/16842738/microsoft-kinect-adapter-xbox-one-x-s-discontinued |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260223001007/https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2018/1/2/16842738/microsoft-kinect-adapter-xbox-one-x-s-discontinued |archive-date=2026-02-23 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=The Verge}}</ref> Users have reported questionable compatibility on Windows for all models except for Azure.<ref>{{Cite web |last=u/Edmundo-Studios |date=Mar 19, 2022 |title=Windows 11 compatibility |url=https://old.reddit.com/r/kinect/comments/thtal1/windows_11_compatibility/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260509025646/https://old.reddit.com/r/kinect/comments/thtal1/windows_11_compatibility/ |archive-date=2026-05-09 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |website=[[Reddit]] - r/Kinect}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Chelsea |date=Sep 3, 2022 |title=Why won't my Xbox 360 Kinect work with windows 11? Should I upgrade to an Xbox One Kinect? |url=https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/993064/why-wont-my-xbox-360-kinect-work-with-windows-11-s |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241114230121/https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/993064/why-wont-my-xbox-360-kinect-work-with-windows-11-s |archive-date=2024-11-14 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |website=[[Microsoft]] Learn forums}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Garcia |date=Aug 20, 2023 |title=problems with kinect v2 (Xbox One) on pc |url=https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/1349001/problems-with-kinect-v2-(xbox-one)-on-pc |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260509030537/https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/1349001/problems-with-kinect-v2-(xbox-one)-on-pc |archive-date=2026-05-09 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |website=[[Microsoft]] Learn Forums}}</ref>
*User Privacy: Patents showed the Kinect potentially monitoring its users for advertising purposes,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Sottek |first=T.C. |date=May 27, 2013 |title=Microsoft may award achievements for watching TV and ads by monitoring you with Kinect |url=https://www.theverge.com/2013/5/27/4370676/microsoft-kinect-tv-monitoring-achievements-ads |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251113004246/https://www.theverge.com/2013/5/27/4370676/microsoft-kinect-tv-monitoring-achievements-ads |archive-date=2025-11-13 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=The Verge}}</ref> despite claims from Microsoft that it would be in violation of their Privacy Policy.<ref>{{Cite news |last=McWhertor |first=Michael |date=Jun 6, 2013 |title=Kinect on Xbox One will not record or upload your conversations, Microsoft says |url=https://www.polygon.com/2013/6/6/4403926/kinect-on-xbox-one-will-not-record-or-upload-your-conversations/ |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=Polygon}}</ref>
*Business Model: Sales as hardware accessory and mandatory for some games, such as Kinect Adventures.
*Market Control: Not Applicable; Deprecated product line since 2023.<ref name=":1" />

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

===Mandatory usage for Xbox One===
[To Be Written]

===Harmful discontinuations of support===

====Xbox One Kinect====
In October 2017, [[Microsoft]] stopped manufacturing the ''Kinect for Xbox One'',<ref>{{Cite news |last=Reisinger |first=Don |date=October 25, 2017 |title=Microsoft Has Finally Killed the Kinect Xbox Sensor |url=https://fortune.com/2017/10/25/microsoft-kinect-xbox-sensor/ |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=Fortune}}</ref> and 3 months later, discontinued the adapter necessary for connecting this hardware to both newer [[Xbox]] consoles, as well as [[Microsoft Windows|Windows]] computers.<ref name=":2" /> When the Xbox Series consoles released, they were incompatible with the Kinect, even if the end user has the necessary adapter.<ref name=":2" /> This means that any games that rely on Kinect hardware are additionally unplayable on Xbox Series consoles, despite being fully compatible with the rest of the Xbox One library.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Bonthuys |first=Darryn |date=Oct 28, 2020 |title=Xbox Series X/S Officially Plays Every Game That Works On Xbox One (Except The Kinect Ones) |url=https://www.gamespot.com/articles/xbox-series-x-s-officially-plays-every-game-that-works-on-xbox-one-except-the-kinect-ones/1100-6483849/ |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=GameSpot}}</ref>

==Products==

*Kinect for Xbox 360 (2010)
*Kinect for Windows (2012)
*Kinect for Xbox One (2013)
*Kinect 2 for Windows (2014)
*Azure Kinect (2020)

==See also==
==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]

Kinect

2026-05-09T03:26:53Z

SomebodyThatMayContribute: Add Archive URL for cite 12

{{StubNotice}}{{ProductLineCargo
|Company=Xbox, Microsoft
|ReleaseYear=2010
|InProduction=No
|ArticleType=Product
|Category=accessory, peripheral
|Logo=Kinect Logo.png
|Description=The Kinect was a line of accessories for both Xbox hardware and Windows. The Xbox One release was formerly mandatory for the console to function.
}}The '''Kinect''' was a line of peripherals sold by Microsoft for the ''[[Xbox]] 360'', ''Xbox One'', and [[Microsoft Windows|''Windows'']] hardware. Its first public release was for the ''Xbox 360'' on November 4th, 2010.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Thorsen |first=Tor |date=August 11, 2010 |title=4GB Xbox 360 official, $300 Kinect bundle coming |url=https://www.gamespot.com/articles/4gb-xbox-360-official-300-kinect-bundle-coming/1100-6270112/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250219091726/https://www.gamespot.com/articles/4gb-xbox-360-official-300-kinect-bundle-coming/1100-6270112/ |archive-date=2025-02-19 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=GameSpot}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Chen |first=Jason |date=Jun 14, 2010 |title=Microsoft Xbox 360 Kinect Launches November 4 |url=https://gizmodo.com/microsoft-xbox-360-kinect-launches-november-4-5563148 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=Gizmodo}}</ref> It was formerly planned by [[Microsoft]] that the ''Kinect for Xbox One'' would be mandatory for launch Xbox One hardware to function,<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |last=Schreier |first=Jason |date=May 21, 2013 |title=Xbox One Requires Kinect To Function |url=https://kotaku.com/xbox-one-requires-kinect-to-function-509112572 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260508072708/https://kotaku.com/xbox-one-requires-kinect-to-function-509112572 |archive-date=2026-05-08 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=Kotaku}}</ref> however due to consumer backlash,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Crecente |first=Brian |date=Jun 5, 2013 |title=Privacy concerns threaten to overshadow Microsoft's new console |url=https://www.polygon.com/2013/6/5/4398440/privacy-microsoft-xbox-one/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250517133629/https://www.polygon.com/2013/6/5/4398440/privacy-microsoft-xbox-one |archive-date=2025-05-17 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=Polygon}}</ref> this was lifted before launch. In 2014, the hardware stopped being bundled with Xbox One consoles.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Futter |first=Mike |date=May 13, 2014 |title=Microsoft Completes Its 180 And Drops Kinect From Xbox One |url=https://gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2014/05/13/microsoft-completes-its-180-and-drops-kinect-from-xbox-one.aspx |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260115030312/https://gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2014/05/13/microsoft-completes-its-180-and-drops-kinect-from-xbox-one.aspx |archive-date=2026-01-15 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=GameInformer}}</ref>

In 2019, the Azure Kinect released,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Liao |first=Shannon |date=May 7, 2018 |title=Microsoft is moving Kinect to the cloud |url=https://www.theverge.com/2018/5/7/17318690/microsoft-kinect-cloud-announced-build-2018 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250824053827/https://www.theverge.com/2018/5/7/17318690/microsoft-kinect-cloud-announced-build-2018 |archive-date=2025-08-24 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=The Verge}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Ranger |first=Steve |date=Feb 25, 2019 |title=What is Microsoft's Azure Kinect DK? |url=https://www.zdnet.com/article/what-is-microsofts-azure-kinect-dk/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251218114414/https://www.zdnet.com/web/20251218114414/https:/www.zdnet.com/article/what-is-microsofts-azure-kinect-dk/ |archive-date=2025-12-18 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=ZDNet}}</ref> being the first standalone Kinect hardware that did not see a shared release on Xbox. On Aug 21, 2023 it was discontinued and the Kinect line was deprecated.<ref name=":1">{{Cite news |last=Peters |first=Jay |date=Aug 21, 2023 |title=Microsoft kills Kinect again |url=https://www.theverge.com/2023/8/21/23840327/microsoft-azure-kinect-developer-kit-discontinued |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260301105131/https://www.theverge.com/2023/8/21/23840327/microsoft-azure-kinect-developer-kit-discontinued |archive-date=2026-03-01 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=The Verge}}</ref>

==Consumer-impact summary==

*User Freedom: Formerly planned to be mandatory for use with Xbox One on launch;<ref name=":0" /> currently unsupported by Microsoft and incompatible with Xbox Series consoles and later.<ref name=":2">{{Cite news |last=Gartenberg |first=Chaim |date=Jan 2, 2018 |title=Microsoft has discontinued the Kinect Adapter for newer Xbox One consoles |url=https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2018/1/2/16842738/microsoft-kinect-adapter-xbox-one-x-s-discontinued |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260223001007/https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2018/1/2/16842738/microsoft-kinect-adapter-xbox-one-x-s-discontinued |archive-date=2026-02-23 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=The Verge}}</ref> Users have reported questionable compatibility on Windows for all models except for Azure.<ref>{{Cite web |last=u/Edmundo-Studios |date=Mar 19, 2022 |title=Windows 11 compatibility |url=https://old.reddit.com/r/kinect/comments/thtal1/windows_11_compatibility/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260509025646/https://old.reddit.com/r/kinect/comments/thtal1/windows_11_compatibility/ |archive-date=2026-05-09 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |website=[[Reddit]] - r/Kinect}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Chelsea |date=Sep 3, 2022 |title=Why won't my Xbox 360 Kinect work with windows 11? Should I upgrade to an Xbox One Kinect? |url=https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/993064/why-wont-my-xbox-360-kinect-work-with-windows-11-s |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241114230121/https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/993064/why-wont-my-xbox-360-kinect-work-with-windows-11-s |archive-date=2024-11-14 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |website=[[Microsoft]] Learn forums}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Garcia |date=Aug 20, 2023 |title=problems with kinect v2 (Xbox One) on pc |url=https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/1349001/problems-with-kinect-v2-(xbox-one)-on-pc |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260509030537/https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/1349001/problems-with-kinect-v2-(xbox-one)-on-pc |archive-date=2026-05-09 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |website=[[Microsoft]] Learn Forums}}</ref>
*User Privacy: Patents showed the Kinect potentially monitoring its users for advertising purposes,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Sottek |first=T.C. |date=May 27, 2013 |title=Microsoft may award achievements for watching TV and ads by monitoring you with Kinect |url=https://www.theverge.com/2013/5/27/4370676/microsoft-kinect-tv-monitoring-achievements-ads |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=The Verge}}</ref> despite claims from Microsoft that it would be in violation of their Privacy Policy.<ref>{{Cite news |last=McWhertor |first=Michael |date=Jun 6, 2013 |title=Kinect on Xbox One will not record or upload your conversations, Microsoft says |url=https://www.polygon.com/2013/6/6/4403926/kinect-on-xbox-one-will-not-record-or-upload-your-conversations/ |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=Polygon}}</ref>
*Business Model: Sales as hardware accessory and mandatory for some games, such as Kinect Adventures.
*Market Control: Not Applicable; Deprecated product line since 2023.<ref name=":1" />

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

===Mandatory usage for Xbox One===
[To Be Written]

===Harmful discontinuations of support===

====Xbox One Kinect====
In October 2017, [[Microsoft]] stopped manufacturing the ''Kinect for Xbox One'',<ref>{{Cite news |last=Reisinger |first=Don |date=October 25, 2017 |title=Microsoft Has Finally Killed the Kinect Xbox Sensor |url=https://fortune.com/2017/10/25/microsoft-kinect-xbox-sensor/ |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=Fortune}}</ref> and 3 months later, discontinued the adapter necessary for connecting this hardware to both newer [[Xbox]] consoles, as well as [[Microsoft Windows|Windows]] computers.<ref name=":2" /> When the Xbox Series consoles released, they were incompatible with the Kinect, even if the end user has the necessary adapter.<ref name=":2" /> This means that any games that rely on Kinect hardware are additionally unplayable on Xbox Series consoles, despite being fully compatible with the rest of the Xbox One library.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Bonthuys |first=Darryn |date=Oct 28, 2020 |title=Xbox Series X/S Officially Plays Every Game That Works On Xbox One (Except The Kinect Ones) |url=https://www.gamespot.com/articles/xbox-series-x-s-officially-plays-every-game-that-works-on-xbox-one-except-the-kinect-ones/1100-6483849/ |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=GameSpot}}</ref>

==Products==

*Kinect for Xbox 360 (2010)
*Kinect for Windows (2012)
*Kinect for Xbox One (2013)
*Kinect 2 for Windows (2014)
*Azure Kinect (2020)

==See also==
==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]

Kinect

2026-05-09T03:03:54Z

SomebodyThatMayContribute: Add Archive URL for cite 11 to the closest fully working Archive on IA (as its totally same - no new answers)

{{StubNotice}}{{ProductLineCargo
|Company=Xbox, Microsoft
|ReleaseYear=2010
|InProduction=No
|ArticleType=Product
|Category=accessory, peripheral
|Logo=Kinect Logo.png
|Description=The Kinect was a line of accessories for both Xbox hardware and Windows. The Xbox One release was formerly mandatory for the console to function.
}}The '''Kinect''' was a line of peripherals sold by Microsoft for the ''[[Xbox]] 360'', ''Xbox One'', and [[Microsoft Windows|''Windows'']] hardware. Its first public release was for the ''Xbox 360'' on November 4th, 2010.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Thorsen |first=Tor |date=August 11, 2010 |title=4GB Xbox 360 official, $300 Kinect bundle coming |url=https://www.gamespot.com/articles/4gb-xbox-360-official-300-kinect-bundle-coming/1100-6270112/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250219091726/https://www.gamespot.com/articles/4gb-xbox-360-official-300-kinect-bundle-coming/1100-6270112/ |archive-date=2025-02-19 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=GameSpot}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Chen |first=Jason |date=Jun 14, 2010 |title=Microsoft Xbox 360 Kinect Launches November 4 |url=https://gizmodo.com/microsoft-xbox-360-kinect-launches-november-4-5563148 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=Gizmodo}}</ref> It was formerly planned by [[Microsoft]] that the ''Kinect for Xbox One'' would be mandatory for launch Xbox One hardware to function,<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |last=Schreier |first=Jason |date=May 21, 2013 |title=Xbox One Requires Kinect To Function |url=https://kotaku.com/xbox-one-requires-kinect-to-function-509112572 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260508072708/https://kotaku.com/xbox-one-requires-kinect-to-function-509112572 |archive-date=2026-05-08 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=Kotaku}}</ref> however due to consumer backlash,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Crecente |first=Brian |date=Jun 5, 2013 |title=Privacy concerns threaten to overshadow Microsoft's new console |url=https://www.polygon.com/2013/6/5/4398440/privacy-microsoft-xbox-one/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250517133629/https://www.polygon.com/2013/6/5/4398440/privacy-microsoft-xbox-one |archive-date=2025-05-17 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=Polygon}}</ref> this was lifted before launch. In 2014, the hardware stopped being bundled with Xbox One consoles.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Futter |first=Mike |date=May 13, 2014 |title=Microsoft Completes Its 180 And Drops Kinect From Xbox One |url=https://gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2014/05/13/microsoft-completes-its-180-and-drops-kinect-from-xbox-one.aspx |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260115030312/https://gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2014/05/13/microsoft-completes-its-180-and-drops-kinect-from-xbox-one.aspx |archive-date=2026-01-15 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=GameInformer}}</ref>

In 2019, the Azure Kinect released,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Liao |first=Shannon |date=May 7, 2018 |title=Microsoft is moving Kinect to the cloud |url=https://www.theverge.com/2018/5/7/17318690/microsoft-kinect-cloud-announced-build-2018 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250824053827/https://www.theverge.com/2018/5/7/17318690/microsoft-kinect-cloud-announced-build-2018 |archive-date=2025-08-24 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=The Verge}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Ranger |first=Steve |date=Feb 25, 2019 |title=What is Microsoft's Azure Kinect DK? |url=https://www.zdnet.com/article/what-is-microsofts-azure-kinect-dk/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251218114414/https://www.zdnet.com/web/20251218114414/https:/www.zdnet.com/article/what-is-microsofts-azure-kinect-dk/ |archive-date=2025-12-18 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=ZDNet}}</ref> being the first standalone Kinect hardware that did not see a shared release on Xbox. On Aug 21, 2023 it was discontinued and the Kinect line was deprecated.<ref name=":1">{{Cite news |last=Peters |first=Jay |date=Aug 21, 2023 |title=Microsoft kills Kinect again |url=https://www.theverge.com/2023/8/21/23840327/microsoft-azure-kinect-developer-kit-discontinued |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260301105131/https://www.theverge.com/2023/8/21/23840327/microsoft-azure-kinect-developer-kit-discontinued |archive-date=2026-03-01 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=The Verge}}</ref>

==Consumer-impact summary==

*User Freedom: Formerly planned to be mandatory for use with Xbox One on launch;<ref name=":0" /> currently unsupported by Microsoft and incompatible with Xbox Series consoles and later.<ref name=":2">{{Cite news |last=Gartenberg |first=Chaim |date=Jan 2, 2018 |title=Microsoft has discontinued the Kinect Adapter for newer Xbox One consoles |url=https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2018/1/2/16842738/microsoft-kinect-adapter-xbox-one-x-s-discontinued |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260223001007/https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2018/1/2/16842738/microsoft-kinect-adapter-xbox-one-x-s-discontinued |archive-date=2026-02-23 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=The Verge}}</ref> Users have reported questionable compatibility on Windows for all models except for Azure.<ref>{{Cite web |last=u/Edmundo-Studios |date=Mar 19, 2022 |title=Windows 11 compatibility |url=https://old.reddit.com/r/kinect/comments/thtal1/windows_11_compatibility/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260509025646/https://old.reddit.com/r/kinect/comments/thtal1/windows_11_compatibility/ |archive-date=2026-05-09 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |website=[[Reddit]] - r/Kinect}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Chelsea |date=Sep 3, 2022 |title=Why won't my Xbox 360 Kinect work with windows 11? Should I upgrade to an Xbox One Kinect? |url=https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/993064/why-wont-my-xbox-360-kinect-work-with-windows-11-s |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241114230121/https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/993064/why-wont-my-xbox-360-kinect-work-with-windows-11-s |archive-date=2024-11-14 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |website=[[Microsoft]] Learn forums}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Garcia |date=Aug 20, 2023 |title=problems with kinect v2 (Xbox One) on pc |url=https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/1349001/problems-with-kinect-v2-(xbox-one)-on-pc |access-date=May 7, 2026 |website=[[Microsoft]] Learn Forums}}</ref>
*User Privacy: Patents showed the Kinect potentially monitoring its users for advertising purposes,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Sottek |first=T.C. |date=May 27, 2013 |title=Microsoft may award achievements for watching TV and ads by monitoring you with Kinect |url=https://www.theverge.com/2013/5/27/4370676/microsoft-kinect-tv-monitoring-achievements-ads |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=The Verge}}</ref> despite claims from Microsoft that it would be in violation of their Privacy Policy.<ref>{{Cite news |last=McWhertor |first=Michael |date=Jun 6, 2013 |title=Kinect on Xbox One will not record or upload your conversations, Microsoft says |url=https://www.polygon.com/2013/6/6/4403926/kinect-on-xbox-one-will-not-record-or-upload-your-conversations/ |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=Polygon}}</ref>
*Business Model: Sales as hardware accessory and mandatory for some games, such as Kinect Adventures.
*Market Control: Not Applicable; Deprecated product line since 2023.<ref name=":1" />

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

===Mandatory usage for Xbox One===
[To Be Written]

===Harmful discontinuations of support===

====Xbox One Kinect====
In October 2017, [[Microsoft]] stopped manufacturing the ''Kinect for Xbox One'',<ref>{{Cite news |last=Reisinger |first=Don |date=October 25, 2017 |title=Microsoft Has Finally Killed the Kinect Xbox Sensor |url=https://fortune.com/2017/10/25/microsoft-kinect-xbox-sensor/ |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=Fortune}}</ref> and 3 months later, discontinued the adapter necessary for connecting this hardware to both newer [[Xbox]] consoles, as well as [[Microsoft Windows|Windows]] computers.<ref name=":2" /> When the Xbox Series consoles released, they were incompatible with the Kinect, even if the end user has the necessary adapter.<ref name=":2" /> This means that any games that rely on Kinect hardware are additionally unplayable on Xbox Series consoles, despite being fully compatible with the rest of the Xbox One library.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Bonthuys |first=Darryn |date=Oct 28, 2020 |title=Xbox Series X/S Officially Plays Every Game That Works On Xbox One (Except The Kinect Ones) |url=https://www.gamespot.com/articles/xbox-series-x-s-officially-plays-every-game-that-works-on-xbox-one-except-the-kinect-ones/1100-6483849/ |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=GameSpot}}</ref>

==Products==

*Kinect for Xbox 360 (2010)
*Kinect for Windows (2012)
*Kinect for Xbox One (2013)
*Kinect 2 for Windows (2014)
*Azure Kinect (2020)

==See also==
==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]

Kinect

2026-05-09T03:00:17Z

SomebodyThatMayContribute: Add Archive URL for cite 10

{{StubNotice}}{{ProductLineCargo
|Company=Xbox, Microsoft
|ReleaseYear=2010
|InProduction=No
|ArticleType=Product
|Category=accessory, peripheral
|Logo=Kinect Logo.png
|Description=The Kinect was a line of accessories for both Xbox hardware and Windows. The Xbox One release was formerly mandatory for the console to function.
}}The '''Kinect''' was a line of peripherals sold by Microsoft for the ''[[Xbox]] 360'', ''Xbox One'', and [[Microsoft Windows|''Windows'']] hardware. Its first public release was for the ''Xbox 360'' on November 4th, 2010.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Thorsen |first=Tor |date=August 11, 2010 |title=4GB Xbox 360 official, $300 Kinect bundle coming |url=https://www.gamespot.com/articles/4gb-xbox-360-official-300-kinect-bundle-coming/1100-6270112/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250219091726/https://www.gamespot.com/articles/4gb-xbox-360-official-300-kinect-bundle-coming/1100-6270112/ |archive-date=2025-02-19 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=GameSpot}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Chen |first=Jason |date=Jun 14, 2010 |title=Microsoft Xbox 360 Kinect Launches November 4 |url=https://gizmodo.com/microsoft-xbox-360-kinect-launches-november-4-5563148 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=Gizmodo}}</ref> It was formerly planned by [[Microsoft]] that the ''Kinect for Xbox One'' would be mandatory for launch Xbox One hardware to function,<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |last=Schreier |first=Jason |date=May 21, 2013 |title=Xbox One Requires Kinect To Function |url=https://kotaku.com/xbox-one-requires-kinect-to-function-509112572 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260508072708/https://kotaku.com/xbox-one-requires-kinect-to-function-509112572 |archive-date=2026-05-08 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=Kotaku}}</ref> however due to consumer backlash,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Crecente |first=Brian |date=Jun 5, 2013 |title=Privacy concerns threaten to overshadow Microsoft's new console |url=https://www.polygon.com/2013/6/5/4398440/privacy-microsoft-xbox-one/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250517133629/https://www.polygon.com/2013/6/5/4398440/privacy-microsoft-xbox-one |archive-date=2025-05-17 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=Polygon}}</ref> this was lifted before launch. In 2014, the hardware stopped being bundled with Xbox One consoles.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Futter |first=Mike |date=May 13, 2014 |title=Microsoft Completes Its 180 And Drops Kinect From Xbox One |url=https://gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2014/05/13/microsoft-completes-its-180-and-drops-kinect-from-xbox-one.aspx |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260115030312/https://gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2014/05/13/microsoft-completes-its-180-and-drops-kinect-from-xbox-one.aspx |archive-date=2026-01-15 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=GameInformer}}</ref>

In 2019, the Azure Kinect released,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Liao |first=Shannon |date=May 7, 2018 |title=Microsoft is moving Kinect to the cloud |url=https://www.theverge.com/2018/5/7/17318690/microsoft-kinect-cloud-announced-build-2018 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250824053827/https://www.theverge.com/2018/5/7/17318690/microsoft-kinect-cloud-announced-build-2018 |archive-date=2025-08-24 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=The Verge}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Ranger |first=Steve |date=Feb 25, 2019 |title=What is Microsoft's Azure Kinect DK? |url=https://www.zdnet.com/article/what-is-microsofts-azure-kinect-dk/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251218114414/https://www.zdnet.com/web/20251218114414/https:/www.zdnet.com/article/what-is-microsofts-azure-kinect-dk/ |archive-date=2025-12-18 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=ZDNet}}</ref> being the first standalone Kinect hardware that did not see a shared release on Xbox. On Aug 21, 2023 it was discontinued and the Kinect line was deprecated.<ref name=":1">{{Cite news |last=Peters |first=Jay |date=Aug 21, 2023 |title=Microsoft kills Kinect again |url=https://www.theverge.com/2023/8/21/23840327/microsoft-azure-kinect-developer-kit-discontinued |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260301105131/https://www.theverge.com/2023/8/21/23840327/microsoft-azure-kinect-developer-kit-discontinued |archive-date=2026-03-01 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=The Verge}}</ref>

==Consumer-impact summary==

*User Freedom: Formerly planned to be mandatory for use with Xbox One on launch;<ref name=":0" /> currently unsupported by Microsoft and incompatible with Xbox Series consoles and later.<ref name=":2">{{Cite news |last=Gartenberg |first=Chaim |date=Jan 2, 2018 |title=Microsoft has discontinued the Kinect Adapter for newer Xbox One consoles |url=https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2018/1/2/16842738/microsoft-kinect-adapter-xbox-one-x-s-discontinued |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260223001007/https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2018/1/2/16842738/microsoft-kinect-adapter-xbox-one-x-s-discontinued |archive-date=2026-02-23 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=The Verge}}</ref> Users have reported questionable compatibility on Windows for all models except for Azure.<ref>{{Cite web |last=u/Edmundo-Studios |date=Mar 19, 2022 |title=Windows 11 compatibility |url=https://old.reddit.com/r/kinect/comments/thtal1/windows_11_compatibility/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260509025646/https://old.reddit.com/r/kinect/comments/thtal1/windows_11_compatibility/ |archive-date=2026-05-09 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |website=[[Reddit]] - r/Kinect}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Chelsea |date=Sep 3, 2022 |title=Why won't my Xbox 360 Kinect work with windows 11? Should I upgrade to an Xbox One Kinect? |url=https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/993064/why-wont-my-xbox-360-kinect-work-with-windows-11-s |access-date=May 7, 2026 |website=[[Microsoft]] Learn forums}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Garcia |date=Aug 20, 2023 |title=problems with kinect v2 (Xbox One) on pc |url=https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/1349001/problems-with-kinect-v2-(xbox-one)-on-pc |access-date=May 7, 2026 |website=[[Microsoft]] Learn Forums}}</ref>
*User Privacy: Patents showed the Kinect potentially monitoring its users for advertising purposes,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Sottek |first=T.C. |date=May 27, 2013 |title=Microsoft may award achievements for watching TV and ads by monitoring you with Kinect |url=https://www.theverge.com/2013/5/27/4370676/microsoft-kinect-tv-monitoring-achievements-ads |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=The Verge}}</ref> despite claims from Microsoft that it would be in violation of their Privacy Policy.<ref>{{Cite news |last=McWhertor |first=Michael |date=Jun 6, 2013 |title=Kinect on Xbox One will not record or upload your conversations, Microsoft says |url=https://www.polygon.com/2013/6/6/4403926/kinect-on-xbox-one-will-not-record-or-upload-your-conversations/ |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=Polygon}}</ref>
*Business Model: Sales as hardware accessory and mandatory for some games, such as Kinect Adventures.
*Market Control: Not Applicable; Deprecated product line since 2023.<ref name=":1" />

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

===Mandatory usage for Xbox One===
[To Be Written]

===Harmful discontinuations of support===

====Xbox One Kinect====
In October 2017, [[Microsoft]] stopped manufacturing the ''Kinect for Xbox One'',<ref>{{Cite news |last=Reisinger |first=Don |date=October 25, 2017 |title=Microsoft Has Finally Killed the Kinect Xbox Sensor |url=https://fortune.com/2017/10/25/microsoft-kinect-xbox-sensor/ |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=Fortune}}</ref> and 3 months later, discontinued the adapter necessary for connecting this hardware to both newer [[Xbox]] consoles, as well as [[Microsoft Windows|Windows]] computers.<ref name=":2" /> When the Xbox Series consoles released, they were incompatible with the Kinect, even if the end user has the necessary adapter.<ref name=":2" /> This means that any games that rely on Kinect hardware are additionally unplayable on Xbox Series consoles, despite being fully compatible with the rest of the Xbox One library.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Bonthuys |first=Darryn |date=Oct 28, 2020 |title=Xbox Series X/S Officially Plays Every Game That Works On Xbox One (Except The Kinect Ones) |url=https://www.gamespot.com/articles/xbox-series-x-s-officially-plays-every-game-that-works-on-xbox-one-except-the-kinect-ones/1100-6483849/ |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=GameSpot}}</ref>

==Products==

*Kinect for Xbox 360 (2010)
*Kinect for Windows (2012)
*Kinect for Xbox One (2013)
*Kinect 2 for Windows (2014)
*Azure Kinect (2020)

==See also==
==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]

Kinect

2026-05-08T18:17:55Z

SomebodyThatMayContribute: Mark url “active” for cite 4.

{{StubNotice}}{{ProductLineCargo
|Company=Xbox, Microsoft
|ReleaseYear=2010
|InProduction=No
|ArticleType=Product
|Category=accessory, peripheral
|Logo=Kinect Logo.png
|Description=The Kinect was a line of accessories for both Xbox hardware and Windows. The Xbox One release was formerly mandatory for the console to function.
}}The '''Kinect''' was a line of peripherals sold by Microsoft for the ''[[Xbox]] 360'', ''Xbox One'', and [[Microsoft Windows|''Windows'']] hardware. Its first public release was for the ''Xbox 360'' on November 4th, 2010.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Thorsen |first=Tor |date=August 11, 2010 |title=4GB Xbox 360 official, $300 Kinect bundle coming |url=https://www.gamespot.com/articles/4gb-xbox-360-official-300-kinect-bundle-coming/1100-6270112/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250219091726/https://www.gamespot.com/articles/4gb-xbox-360-official-300-kinect-bundle-coming/1100-6270112/ |archive-date=2025-02-19 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=GameSpot}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Chen |first=Jason |date=Jun 14, 2010 |title=Microsoft Xbox 360 Kinect Launches November 4 |url=https://gizmodo.com/microsoft-xbox-360-kinect-launches-november-4-5563148 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=Gizmodo}}</ref> It was formerly planned by [[Microsoft]] that the ''Kinect for Xbox One'' would be mandatory for launch Xbox One hardware to function,<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |last=Schreier |first=Jason |date=May 21, 2013 |title=Xbox One Requires Kinect To Function |url=https://kotaku.com/xbox-one-requires-kinect-to-function-509112572 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260508072708/https://kotaku.com/xbox-one-requires-kinect-to-function-509112572 |archive-date=2026-05-08 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=Kotaku}}</ref> however due to consumer backlash,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Crecente |first=Brian |date=Jun 5, 2013 |title=Privacy concerns threaten to overshadow Microsoft's new console |url=https://www.polygon.com/2013/6/5/4398440/privacy-microsoft-xbox-one/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250517133629/https://www.polygon.com/2013/6/5/4398440/privacy-microsoft-xbox-one |archive-date=2025-05-17 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=Polygon}}</ref> this was lifted before launch. In 2014, the hardware stopped being bundled with Xbox One consoles.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Futter |first=Mike |date=May 13, 2014 |title=Microsoft Completes Its 180 And Drops Kinect From Xbox One |url=https://gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2014/05/13/microsoft-completes-its-180-and-drops-kinect-from-xbox-one.aspx |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260115030312/https://gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2014/05/13/microsoft-completes-its-180-and-drops-kinect-from-xbox-one.aspx |archive-date=2026-01-15 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=GameInformer}}</ref>

In 2019, the Azure Kinect released,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Liao |first=Shannon |date=May 7, 2018 |title=Microsoft is moving Kinect to the cloud |url=https://www.theverge.com/2018/5/7/17318690/microsoft-kinect-cloud-announced-build-2018 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250824053827/https://www.theverge.com/2018/5/7/17318690/microsoft-kinect-cloud-announced-build-2018 |archive-date=2025-08-24 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=The Verge}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Ranger |first=Steve |date=Feb 25, 2019 |title=What is Microsoft's Azure Kinect DK? |url=https://www.zdnet.com/article/what-is-microsofts-azure-kinect-dk/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251218114414/https://www.zdnet.com/web/20251218114414/https:/www.zdnet.com/article/what-is-microsofts-azure-kinect-dk/ |archive-date=2025-12-18 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=ZDNet}}</ref> being the first standalone Kinect hardware that did not see a shared release on Xbox. On Aug 21, 2023 it was discontinued and the Kinect line was deprecated.<ref name=":1">{{Cite news |last=Peters |first=Jay |date=Aug 21, 2023 |title=Microsoft kills Kinect again |url=https://www.theverge.com/2023/8/21/23840327/microsoft-azure-kinect-developer-kit-discontinued |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260301105131/https://www.theverge.com/2023/8/21/23840327/microsoft-azure-kinect-developer-kit-discontinued |archive-date=2026-03-01 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=The Verge}}</ref>

==Consumer-impact summary==

*User Freedom: Formerly planned to be mandatory for use with Xbox One on launch;<ref name=":0" /> currently unsupported by Microsoft and incompatible with Xbox Series consoles and later.<ref name=":2">{{Cite news |last=Gartenberg |first=Chaim |date=Jan 2, 2018 |title=Microsoft has discontinued the Kinect Adapter for newer Xbox One consoles |url=https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2018/1/2/16842738/microsoft-kinect-adapter-xbox-one-x-s-discontinued |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260223001007/https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2018/1/2/16842738/microsoft-kinect-adapter-xbox-one-x-s-discontinued |archive-date=2026-02-23 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=The Verge}}</ref> Users have reported questionable compatibility on Windows for all models except for Azure.<ref>{{Cite web |last=u/Edmundo-Studios |date=Mar 19, 2022 |title=Windows 11 compatibility |url=https://old.reddit.com/r/kinect/comments/thtal1/windows_11_compatibility/ |access-date=May 7, 2026 |website=[[Reddit]] - r/Kinect}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Chelsea |date=Sep 3, 2022 |title=Why won't my Xbox 360 Kinect work with windows 11? Should I upgrade to an Xbox One Kinect? |url=https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/993064/why-wont-my-xbox-360-kinect-work-with-windows-11-s |access-date=May 7, 2026 |website=[[Microsoft]] Learn forums}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Garcia |date=Aug 20, 2023 |title=problems with kinect v2 (Xbox One) on pc |url=https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/1349001/problems-with-kinect-v2-(xbox-one)-on-pc |access-date=May 7, 2026 |website=[[Microsoft]] Learn Forums}}</ref>
*User Privacy: Patents showed the Kinect potentially monitoring its users for advertising purposes,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Sottek |first=T.C. |date=May 27, 2013 |title=Microsoft may award achievements for watching TV and ads by monitoring you with Kinect |url=https://www.theverge.com/2013/5/27/4370676/microsoft-kinect-tv-monitoring-achievements-ads |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=The Verge}}</ref> despite claims from Microsoft that it would be in violation of their Privacy Policy.<ref>{{Cite news |last=McWhertor |first=Michael |date=Jun 6, 2013 |title=Kinect on Xbox One will not record or upload your conversations, Microsoft says |url=https://www.polygon.com/2013/6/6/4403926/kinect-on-xbox-one-will-not-record-or-upload-your-conversations/ |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=Polygon}}</ref>
*Business Model: Sales as hardware accessory and mandatory for some games, such as Kinect Adventures.
*Market Control: Not Applicable; Deprecated product line since 2023.<ref name=":1" />

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

===Mandatory usage for Xbox One===
[To Be Written]

===Harmful discontinuations of support===

====Xbox One Kinect====
In October 2017, [[Microsoft]] stopped manufacturing the ''Kinect for Xbox One'',<ref>{{Cite news |last=Reisinger |first=Don |date=October 25, 2017 |title=Microsoft Has Finally Killed the Kinect Xbox Sensor |url=https://fortune.com/2017/10/25/microsoft-kinect-xbox-sensor/ |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=Fortune}}</ref> and 3 months later, discontinued the adapter necessary for connecting this hardware to both newer [[Xbox]] consoles, as well as [[Microsoft Windows|Windows]] computers.<ref name=":2" /> When the Xbox Series consoles released, they were incompatible with the Kinect, even if the end user has the necessary adapter.<ref name=":2" /> This means that any games that rely on Kinect hardware are additionally unplayable on Xbox Series consoles, despite being fully compatible with the rest of the Xbox One library.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Bonthuys |first=Darryn |date=Oct 28, 2020 |title=Xbox Series X/S Officially Plays Every Game That Works On Xbox One (Except The Kinect Ones) |url=https://www.gamespot.com/articles/xbox-series-x-s-officially-plays-every-game-that-works-on-xbox-one-except-the-kinect-ones/1100-6483849/ |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=GameSpot}}</ref>

==Products==

*Kinect for Xbox 360 (2010)
*Kinect for Windows (2012)
*Kinect for Xbox One (2013)
*Kinect 2 for Windows (2014)
*Azure Kinect (2020)

==See also==
==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]

Kinect

2026-05-08T18:13:17Z

SomebodyThatMayContribute: Add Archive URL for cite 9 to the closest fully working Archive on IA

{{StubNotice}}{{ProductLineCargo
|Company=Xbox, Microsoft
|ReleaseYear=2010
|InProduction=No
|ArticleType=Product
|Category=accessory, peripheral
|Logo=Kinect Logo.png
|Description=The Kinect was a line of accessories for both Xbox hardware and Windows. The Xbox One release was formerly mandatory for the console to function.
}}The '''Kinect''' was a line of peripherals sold by Microsoft for the ''[[Xbox]] 360'', ''Xbox One'', and [[Microsoft Windows|''Windows'']] hardware. Its first public release was for the ''Xbox 360'' on November 4th, 2010.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Thorsen |first=Tor |date=August 11, 2010 |title=4GB Xbox 360 official, $300 Kinect bundle coming |url=https://www.gamespot.com/articles/4gb-xbox-360-official-300-kinect-bundle-coming/1100-6270112/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250219091726/https://www.gamespot.com/articles/4gb-xbox-360-official-300-kinect-bundle-coming/1100-6270112/ |archive-date=2025-02-19 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=GameSpot}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Chen |first=Jason |date=Jun 14, 2010 |title=Microsoft Xbox 360 Kinect Launches November 4 |url=https://gizmodo.com/microsoft-xbox-360-kinect-launches-november-4-5563148 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=Gizmodo}}</ref> It was formerly planned by [[Microsoft]] that the ''Kinect for Xbox One'' would be mandatory for launch Xbox One hardware to function,<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |last=Schreier |first=Jason |date=May 21, 2013 |title=Xbox One Requires Kinect To Function |url=https://kotaku.com/xbox-one-requires-kinect-to-function-509112572 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260508072708/https://kotaku.com/xbox-one-requires-kinect-to-function-509112572 |archive-date=2026-05-08 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=Kotaku}}</ref> however due to consumer backlash,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Crecente |first=Brian |date=Jun 5, 2013 |title=Privacy concerns threaten to overshadow Microsoft's new console |url=https://www.polygon.com/2013/6/5/4398440/privacy-microsoft-xbox-one/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250517133629/https://www.polygon.com/2013/6/5/4398440/privacy-microsoft-xbox-one |archive-date=2025-05-17 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=Polygon}}</ref> this was lifted before launch. In 2014, the hardware stopped being bundled with Xbox One consoles.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Futter |first=Mike |date=May 13, 2014 |title=Microsoft Completes Its 180 And Drops Kinect From Xbox One |url=https://gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2014/05/13/microsoft-completes-its-180-and-drops-kinect-from-xbox-one.aspx |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260115030312/https://gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2014/05/13/microsoft-completes-its-180-and-drops-kinect-from-xbox-one.aspx |archive-date=2026-01-15 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=GameInformer}}</ref>

In 2019, the Azure Kinect released,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Liao |first=Shannon |date=May 7, 2018 |title=Microsoft is moving Kinect to the cloud |url=https://www.theverge.com/2018/5/7/17318690/microsoft-kinect-cloud-announced-build-2018 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250824053827/https://www.theverge.com/2018/5/7/17318690/microsoft-kinect-cloud-announced-build-2018 |archive-date=2025-08-24 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=The Verge}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Ranger |first=Steve |date=Feb 25, 2019 |title=What is Microsoft's Azure Kinect DK? |url=https://www.zdnet.com/article/what-is-microsofts-azure-kinect-dk/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251218114414/https://www.zdnet.com/web/20251218114414/https:/www.zdnet.com/article/what-is-microsofts-azure-kinect-dk/ |archive-date=2025-12-18 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=ZDNet}}</ref> being the first standalone Kinect hardware that did not see a shared release on Xbox. On Aug 21, 2023 it was discontinued and the Kinect line was deprecated.<ref name=":1">{{Cite news |last=Peters |first=Jay |date=Aug 21, 2023 |title=Microsoft kills Kinect again |url=https://www.theverge.com/2023/8/21/23840327/microsoft-azure-kinect-developer-kit-discontinued |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260301105131/https://www.theverge.com/2023/8/21/23840327/microsoft-azure-kinect-developer-kit-discontinued |archive-date=2026-03-01 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=The Verge}}</ref>

==Consumer-impact summary==

*User Freedom: Formerly planned to be mandatory for use with Xbox One on launch;<ref name=":0" /> currently unsupported by Microsoft and incompatible with Xbox Series consoles and later.<ref name=":2">{{Cite news |last=Gartenberg |first=Chaim |date=Jan 2, 2018 |title=Microsoft has discontinued the Kinect Adapter for newer Xbox One consoles |url=https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2018/1/2/16842738/microsoft-kinect-adapter-xbox-one-x-s-discontinued |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260223001007/https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2018/1/2/16842738/microsoft-kinect-adapter-xbox-one-x-s-discontinued |archive-date=2026-02-23 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=The Verge}}</ref> Users have reported questionable compatibility on Windows for all models except for Azure.<ref>{{Cite web |last=u/Edmundo-Studios |date=Mar 19, 2022 |title=Windows 11 compatibility |url=https://old.reddit.com/r/kinect/comments/thtal1/windows_11_compatibility/ |access-date=May 7, 2026 |website=[[Reddit]] - r/Kinect}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Chelsea |date=Sep 3, 2022 |title=Why won't my Xbox 360 Kinect work with windows 11? Should I upgrade to an Xbox One Kinect? |url=https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/993064/why-wont-my-xbox-360-kinect-work-with-windows-11-s |access-date=May 7, 2026 |website=[[Microsoft]] Learn forums}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Garcia |date=Aug 20, 2023 |title=problems with kinect v2 (Xbox One) on pc |url=https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/1349001/problems-with-kinect-v2-(xbox-one)-on-pc |access-date=May 7, 2026 |website=[[Microsoft]] Learn Forums}}</ref>
*User Privacy: Patents showed the Kinect potentially monitoring its users for advertising purposes,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Sottek |first=T.C. |date=May 27, 2013 |title=Microsoft may award achievements for watching TV and ads by monitoring you with Kinect |url=https://www.theverge.com/2013/5/27/4370676/microsoft-kinect-tv-monitoring-achievements-ads |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=The Verge}}</ref> despite claims from Microsoft that it would be in violation of their Privacy Policy.<ref>{{Cite news |last=McWhertor |first=Michael |date=Jun 6, 2013 |title=Kinect on Xbox One will not record or upload your conversations, Microsoft says |url=https://www.polygon.com/2013/6/6/4403926/kinect-on-xbox-one-will-not-record-or-upload-your-conversations/ |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=Polygon}}</ref>
*Business Model: Sales as hardware accessory and mandatory for some games, such as Kinect Adventures.
*Market Control: Not Applicable; Deprecated product line since 2023.<ref name=":1" />

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

===Mandatory usage for Xbox One===
[To Be Written]

===Harmful discontinuations of support===

====Xbox One Kinect====
In October 2017, [[Microsoft]] stopped manufacturing the ''Kinect for Xbox One'',<ref>{{Cite news |last=Reisinger |first=Don |date=October 25, 2017 |title=Microsoft Has Finally Killed the Kinect Xbox Sensor |url=https://fortune.com/2017/10/25/microsoft-kinect-xbox-sensor/ |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=Fortune}}</ref> and 3 months later, discontinued the adapter necessary for connecting this hardware to both newer [[Xbox]] consoles, as well as [[Microsoft Windows|Windows]] computers.<ref name=":2" /> When the Xbox Series consoles released, they were incompatible with the Kinect, even if the end user has the necessary adapter.<ref name=":2" /> This means that any games that rely on Kinect hardware are additionally unplayable on Xbox Series consoles, despite being fully compatible with the rest of the Xbox One library.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Bonthuys |first=Darryn |date=Oct 28, 2020 |title=Xbox Series X/S Officially Plays Every Game That Works On Xbox One (Except The Kinect Ones) |url=https://www.gamespot.com/articles/xbox-series-x-s-officially-plays-every-game-that-works-on-xbox-one-except-the-kinect-ones/1100-6483849/ |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=GameSpot}}</ref>

==Products==

*Kinect for Xbox 360 (2010)
*Kinect for Windows (2012)
*Kinect for Xbox One (2013)
*Kinect 2 for Windows (2014)
*Azure Kinect (2020)

==See also==
==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]

Kinect

2026-05-08T18:07:28Z

SomebodyThatMayContribute: Add Archive URL for cite 8 to the closest fully working Archive on IA

{{StubNotice}}{{ProductLineCargo
|Company=Xbox, Microsoft
|ReleaseYear=2010
|InProduction=No
|ArticleType=Product
|Category=accessory, peripheral
|Logo=Kinect Logo.png
|Description=The Kinect was a line of accessories for both Xbox hardware and Windows. The Xbox One release was formerly mandatory for the console to function.
}}The '''Kinect''' was a line of peripherals sold by Microsoft for the ''[[Xbox]] 360'', ''Xbox One'', and [[Microsoft Windows|''Windows'']] hardware. Its first public release was for the ''Xbox 360'' on November 4th, 2010.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Thorsen |first=Tor |date=August 11, 2010 |title=4GB Xbox 360 official, $300 Kinect bundle coming |url=https://www.gamespot.com/articles/4gb-xbox-360-official-300-kinect-bundle-coming/1100-6270112/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250219091726/https://www.gamespot.com/articles/4gb-xbox-360-official-300-kinect-bundle-coming/1100-6270112/ |archive-date=2025-02-19 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=GameSpot}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Chen |first=Jason |date=Jun 14, 2010 |title=Microsoft Xbox 360 Kinect Launches November 4 |url=https://gizmodo.com/microsoft-xbox-360-kinect-launches-november-4-5563148 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=Gizmodo}}</ref> It was formerly planned by [[Microsoft]] that the ''Kinect for Xbox One'' would be mandatory for launch Xbox One hardware to function,<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |last=Schreier |first=Jason |date=May 21, 2013 |title=Xbox One Requires Kinect To Function |url=https://kotaku.com/xbox-one-requires-kinect-to-function-509112572 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260508072708/https://kotaku.com/xbox-one-requires-kinect-to-function-509112572 |archive-date=2026-05-08 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=Kotaku}}</ref> however due to consumer backlash,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Crecente |first=Brian |date=Jun 5, 2013 |title=Privacy concerns threaten to overshadow Microsoft's new console |url=https://www.polygon.com/2013/6/5/4398440/privacy-microsoft-xbox-one/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250517133629/https://www.polygon.com/2013/6/5/4398440/privacy-microsoft-xbox-one |archive-date=2025-05-17 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=Polygon}}</ref> this was lifted before launch. In 2014, the hardware stopped being bundled with Xbox One consoles.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Futter |first=Mike |date=May 13, 2014 |title=Microsoft Completes Its 180 And Drops Kinect From Xbox One |url=https://gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2014/05/13/microsoft-completes-its-180-and-drops-kinect-from-xbox-one.aspx |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260115030312/https://gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2014/05/13/microsoft-completes-its-180-and-drops-kinect-from-xbox-one.aspx |archive-date=2026-01-15 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=GameInformer}}</ref>

In 2019, the Azure Kinect released,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Liao |first=Shannon |date=May 7, 2018 |title=Microsoft is moving Kinect to the cloud |url=https://www.theverge.com/2018/5/7/17318690/microsoft-kinect-cloud-announced-build-2018 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250824053827/https://www.theverge.com/2018/5/7/17318690/microsoft-kinect-cloud-announced-build-2018 |archive-date=2025-08-24 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=The Verge}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Ranger |first=Steve |date=Feb 25, 2019 |title=What is Microsoft's Azure Kinect DK? |url=https://www.zdnet.com/article/what-is-microsofts-azure-kinect-dk/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251218114414/https://www.zdnet.com/web/20251218114414/https:/www.zdnet.com/article/what-is-microsofts-azure-kinect-dk/ |archive-date=2025-12-18 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=ZDNet}}</ref> being the first standalone Kinect hardware that did not see a shared release on Xbox. On Aug 21, 2023 it was discontinued and the Kinect line was deprecated.<ref name=":1">{{Cite news |last=Peters |first=Jay |date=Aug 21, 2023 |title=Microsoft kills Kinect again |url=https://www.theverge.com/2023/8/21/23840327/microsoft-azure-kinect-developer-kit-discontinued |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260301105131/https://www.theverge.com/2023/8/21/23840327/microsoft-azure-kinect-developer-kit-discontinued |archive-date=2026-03-01 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=The Verge}}</ref>

==Consumer-impact summary==

*User Freedom: Formerly planned to be mandatory for use with Xbox One on launch;<ref name=":0" /> currently unsupported by Microsoft and incompatible with Xbox Series consoles and later.<ref name=":2">{{Cite news |last=Gartenberg |first=Chaim |date=Jan 2, 2018 |title=Microsoft has discontinued the Kinect Adapter for newer Xbox One consoles |url=https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2018/1/2/16842738/microsoft-kinect-adapter-xbox-one-x-s-discontinued |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=The Verge}}</ref> Users have reported questionable compatibility on Windows for all models except for Azure.<ref>{{Cite web |last=u/Edmundo-Studios |date=Mar 19, 2022 |title=Windows 11 compatibility |url=https://old.reddit.com/r/kinect/comments/thtal1/windows_11_compatibility/ |access-date=May 7, 2026 |website=[[Reddit]] - r/Kinect}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Chelsea |date=Sep 3, 2022 |title=Why won't my Xbox 360 Kinect work with windows 11? Should I upgrade to an Xbox One Kinect? |url=https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/993064/why-wont-my-xbox-360-kinect-work-with-windows-11-s |access-date=May 7, 2026 |website=[[Microsoft]] Learn forums}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Garcia |date=Aug 20, 2023 |title=problems with kinect v2 (Xbox One) on pc |url=https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/1349001/problems-with-kinect-v2-(xbox-one)-on-pc |access-date=May 7, 2026 |website=[[Microsoft]] Learn Forums}}</ref>
*User Privacy: Patents showed the Kinect potentially monitoring its users for advertising purposes,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Sottek |first=T.C. |date=May 27, 2013 |title=Microsoft may award achievements for watching TV and ads by monitoring you with Kinect |url=https://www.theverge.com/2013/5/27/4370676/microsoft-kinect-tv-monitoring-achievements-ads |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=The Verge}}</ref> despite claims from Microsoft that it would be in violation of their Privacy Policy.<ref>{{Cite news |last=McWhertor |first=Michael |date=Jun 6, 2013 |title=Kinect on Xbox One will not record or upload your conversations, Microsoft says |url=https://www.polygon.com/2013/6/6/4403926/kinect-on-xbox-one-will-not-record-or-upload-your-conversations/ |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=Polygon}}</ref>
*Business Model: Sales as hardware accessory and mandatory for some games, such as Kinect Adventures.
*Market Control: Not Applicable; Deprecated product line since 2023.<ref name=":1" />

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

===Mandatory usage for Xbox One===
[To Be Written]

===Harmful discontinuations of support===

====Xbox One Kinect====
In October 2017, [[Microsoft]] stopped manufacturing the ''Kinect for Xbox One'',<ref>{{Cite news |last=Reisinger |first=Don |date=October 25, 2017 |title=Microsoft Has Finally Killed the Kinect Xbox Sensor |url=https://fortune.com/2017/10/25/microsoft-kinect-xbox-sensor/ |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=Fortune}}</ref> and 3 months later, discontinued the adapter necessary for connecting this hardware to both newer [[Xbox]] consoles, as well as [[Microsoft Windows|Windows]] computers.<ref name=":2" /> When the Xbox Series consoles released, they were incompatible with the Kinect, even if the end user has the necessary adapter.<ref name=":2" /> This means that any games that rely on Kinect hardware are additionally unplayable on Xbox Series consoles, despite being fully compatible with the rest of the Xbox One library.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Bonthuys |first=Darryn |date=Oct 28, 2020 |title=Xbox Series X/S Officially Plays Every Game That Works On Xbox One (Except The Kinect Ones) |url=https://www.gamespot.com/articles/xbox-series-x-s-officially-plays-every-game-that-works-on-xbox-one-except-the-kinect-ones/1100-6483849/ |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=GameSpot}}</ref>

==Products==

*Kinect for Xbox 360 (2010)
*Kinect for Windows (2012)
*Kinect for Xbox One (2013)
*Kinect 2 for Windows (2014)
*Azure Kinect (2020)

==See also==
==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]

Kinect

2026-05-08T17:38:36Z

SomebodyThatMayContribute: Add Archive URL for cite 7 to the closest fully working Archive on IA

{{StubNotice}}{{ProductLineCargo
|Company=Xbox, Microsoft
|ReleaseYear=2010
|InProduction=No
|ArticleType=Product
|Category=accessory, peripheral
|Logo=Kinect Logo.png
|Description=The Kinect was a line of accessories for both Xbox hardware and Windows. The Xbox One release was formerly mandatory for the console to function.
}}The '''Kinect''' was a line of peripherals sold by Microsoft for the ''[[Xbox]] 360'', ''Xbox One'', and [[Microsoft Windows|''Windows'']] hardware. Its first public release was for the ''Xbox 360'' on November 4th, 2010.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Thorsen |first=Tor |date=August 11, 2010 |title=4GB Xbox 360 official, $300 Kinect bundle coming |url=https://www.gamespot.com/articles/4gb-xbox-360-official-300-kinect-bundle-coming/1100-6270112/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250219091726/https://www.gamespot.com/articles/4gb-xbox-360-official-300-kinect-bundle-coming/1100-6270112/ |archive-date=2025-02-19 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=GameSpot}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Chen |first=Jason |date=Jun 14, 2010 |title=Microsoft Xbox 360 Kinect Launches November 4 |url=https://gizmodo.com/microsoft-xbox-360-kinect-launches-november-4-5563148 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=Gizmodo}}</ref> It was formerly planned by [[Microsoft]] that the ''Kinect for Xbox One'' would be mandatory for launch Xbox One hardware to function,<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |last=Schreier |first=Jason |date=May 21, 2013 |title=Xbox One Requires Kinect To Function |url=https://kotaku.com/xbox-one-requires-kinect-to-function-509112572 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260508072708/https://kotaku.com/xbox-one-requires-kinect-to-function-509112572 |archive-date=2026-05-08 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=Kotaku}}</ref> however due to consumer backlash,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Crecente |first=Brian |date=Jun 5, 2013 |title=Privacy concerns threaten to overshadow Microsoft's new console |url=https://www.polygon.com/2013/6/5/4398440/privacy-microsoft-xbox-one/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250517133629/https://www.polygon.com/2013/6/5/4398440/privacy-microsoft-xbox-one |archive-date=2025-05-17 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=Polygon}}</ref> this was lifted before launch. In 2014, the hardware stopped being bundled with Xbox One consoles.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Futter |first=Mike |date=May 13, 2014 |title=Microsoft Completes Its 180 And Drops Kinect From Xbox One |url=https://gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2014/05/13/microsoft-completes-its-180-and-drops-kinect-from-xbox-one.aspx |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260115030312/https://gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2014/05/13/microsoft-completes-its-180-and-drops-kinect-from-xbox-one.aspx |archive-date=2026-01-15 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=GameInformer}}</ref>

In 2019, the Azure Kinect released,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Liao |first=Shannon |date=May 7, 2018 |title=Microsoft is moving Kinect to the cloud |url=https://www.theverge.com/2018/5/7/17318690/microsoft-kinect-cloud-announced-build-2018 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250824053827/https://www.theverge.com/2018/5/7/17318690/microsoft-kinect-cloud-announced-build-2018 |archive-date=2025-08-24 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=The Verge}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Ranger |first=Steve |date=Feb 25, 2019 |title=What is Microsoft's Azure Kinect DK? |url=https://www.zdnet.com/article/what-is-microsofts-azure-kinect-dk/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251218114414/https://www.zdnet.com/web/20251218114414/https:/www.zdnet.com/article/what-is-microsofts-azure-kinect-dk/ |archive-date=2025-12-18 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=ZDNet}}</ref> being the first standalone Kinect hardware that did not see a shared release on Xbox. On Aug 21, 2023 it was discontinued and the Kinect line was deprecated.<ref name=":1">{{Cite news |last=Peters |first=Jay |date=Aug 21, 2023 |title=Microsoft kills Kinect again |url=https://www.theverge.com/2023/8/21/23840327/microsoft-azure-kinect-developer-kit-discontinued |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=The Verge}}</ref>

==Consumer-impact summary==

*User Freedom: Formerly planned to be mandatory for use with Xbox One on launch;<ref name=":0" /> currently unsupported by Microsoft and incompatible with Xbox Series consoles and later.<ref name=":2">{{Cite news |last=Gartenberg |first=Chaim |date=Jan 2, 2018 |title=Microsoft has discontinued the Kinect Adapter for newer Xbox One consoles |url=https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2018/1/2/16842738/microsoft-kinect-adapter-xbox-one-x-s-discontinued |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=The Verge}}</ref> Users have reported questionable compatibility on Windows for all models except for Azure.<ref>{{Cite web |last=u/Edmundo-Studios |date=Mar 19, 2022 |title=Windows 11 compatibility |url=https://old.reddit.com/r/kinect/comments/thtal1/windows_11_compatibility/ |access-date=May 7, 2026 |website=[[Reddit]] - r/Kinect}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Chelsea |date=Sep 3, 2022 |title=Why won't my Xbox 360 Kinect work with windows 11? Should I upgrade to an Xbox One Kinect? |url=https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/993064/why-wont-my-xbox-360-kinect-work-with-windows-11-s |access-date=May 7, 2026 |website=[[Microsoft]] Learn forums}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Garcia |date=Aug 20, 2023 |title=problems with kinect v2 (Xbox One) on pc |url=https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/1349001/problems-with-kinect-v2-(xbox-one)-on-pc |access-date=May 7, 2026 |website=[[Microsoft]] Learn Forums}}</ref>
*User Privacy: Patents showed the Kinect potentially monitoring its users for advertising purposes,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Sottek |first=T.C. |date=May 27, 2013 |title=Microsoft may award achievements for watching TV and ads by monitoring you with Kinect |url=https://www.theverge.com/2013/5/27/4370676/microsoft-kinect-tv-monitoring-achievements-ads |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=The Verge}}</ref> despite claims from Microsoft that it would be in violation of their Privacy Policy.<ref>{{Cite news |last=McWhertor |first=Michael |date=Jun 6, 2013 |title=Kinect on Xbox One will not record or upload your conversations, Microsoft says |url=https://www.polygon.com/2013/6/6/4403926/kinect-on-xbox-one-will-not-record-or-upload-your-conversations/ |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=Polygon}}</ref>
*Business Model: Sales as hardware accessory and mandatory for some games, such as Kinect Adventures.
*Market Control: Not Applicable; Deprecated product line since 2023.<ref name=":1" />

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

===Mandatory usage for Xbox One===
[To Be Written]

===Harmful discontinuations of support===

====Xbox One Kinect====
In October 2017, [[Microsoft]] stopped manufacturing the ''Kinect for Xbox One'',<ref>{{Cite news |last=Reisinger |first=Don |date=October 25, 2017 |title=Microsoft Has Finally Killed the Kinect Xbox Sensor |url=https://fortune.com/2017/10/25/microsoft-kinect-xbox-sensor/ |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=Fortune}}</ref> and 3 months later, discontinued the adapter necessary for connecting this hardware to both newer [[Xbox]] consoles, as well as [[Microsoft Windows|Windows]] computers.<ref name=":2" /> When the Xbox Series consoles released, they were incompatible with the Kinect, even if the end user has the necessary adapter.<ref name=":2" /> This means that any games that rely on Kinect hardware are additionally unplayable on Xbox Series consoles, despite being fully compatible with the rest of the Xbox One library.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Bonthuys |first=Darryn |date=Oct 28, 2020 |title=Xbox Series X/S Officially Plays Every Game That Works On Xbox One (Except The Kinect Ones) |url=https://www.gamespot.com/articles/xbox-series-x-s-officially-plays-every-game-that-works-on-xbox-one-except-the-kinect-ones/1100-6483849/ |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=GameSpot}}</ref>

==Products==

*Kinect for Xbox 360 (2010)
*Kinect for Windows (2012)
*Kinect for Xbox One (2013)
*Kinect 2 for Windows (2014)
*Azure Kinect (2020)

==See also==
==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]

Kinect

2026-05-08T17:31:01Z

SomebodyThatMayContribute: Add Archive URL for cite 6 to the closest fully working Archive on IA

{{StubNotice}}{{ProductLineCargo
|Company=Xbox, Microsoft
|ReleaseYear=2010
|InProduction=No
|ArticleType=Product
|Category=accessory, peripheral
|Logo=Kinect Logo.png
|Description=The Kinect was a line of accessories for both Xbox hardware and Windows. The Xbox One release was formerly mandatory for the console to function.
}}The '''Kinect''' was a line of peripherals sold by Microsoft for the ''[[Xbox]] 360'', ''Xbox One'', and [[Microsoft Windows|''Windows'']] hardware. Its first public release was for the ''Xbox 360'' on November 4th, 2010.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Thorsen |first=Tor |date=August 11, 2010 |title=4GB Xbox 360 official, $300 Kinect bundle coming |url=https://www.gamespot.com/articles/4gb-xbox-360-official-300-kinect-bundle-coming/1100-6270112/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250219091726/https://www.gamespot.com/articles/4gb-xbox-360-official-300-kinect-bundle-coming/1100-6270112/ |archive-date=2025-02-19 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=GameSpot}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Chen |first=Jason |date=Jun 14, 2010 |title=Microsoft Xbox 360 Kinect Launches November 4 |url=https://gizmodo.com/microsoft-xbox-360-kinect-launches-november-4-5563148 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=Gizmodo}}</ref> It was formerly planned by [[Microsoft]] that the ''Kinect for Xbox One'' would be mandatory for launch Xbox One hardware to function,<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |last=Schreier |first=Jason |date=May 21, 2013 |title=Xbox One Requires Kinect To Function |url=https://kotaku.com/xbox-one-requires-kinect-to-function-509112572 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260508072708/https://kotaku.com/xbox-one-requires-kinect-to-function-509112572 |archive-date=2026-05-08 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=Kotaku}}</ref> however due to consumer backlash,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Crecente |first=Brian |date=Jun 5, 2013 |title=Privacy concerns threaten to overshadow Microsoft's new console |url=https://www.polygon.com/2013/6/5/4398440/privacy-microsoft-xbox-one/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250517133629/https://www.polygon.com/2013/6/5/4398440/privacy-microsoft-xbox-one |archive-date=2025-05-17 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=Polygon}}</ref> this was lifted before launch. In 2014, the hardware stopped being bundled with Xbox One consoles.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Futter |first=Mike |date=May 13, 2014 |title=Microsoft Completes Its 180 And Drops Kinect From Xbox One |url=https://gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2014/05/13/microsoft-completes-its-180-and-drops-kinect-from-xbox-one.aspx |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260115030312/https://gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2014/05/13/microsoft-completes-its-180-and-drops-kinect-from-xbox-one.aspx |archive-date=2026-01-15 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=GameInformer}}</ref>

In 2019, the Azure Kinect released,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Liao |first=Shannon |date=May 7, 2018 |title=Microsoft is moving Kinect to the cloud |url=https://www.theverge.com/2018/5/7/17318690/microsoft-kinect-cloud-announced-build-2018 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250824053827/https://www.theverge.com/2018/5/7/17318690/microsoft-kinect-cloud-announced-build-2018 |archive-date=2025-08-24 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=The Verge}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Ranger |first=Steve |date=Feb 25, 2019 |title=What is Microsoft's Azure Kinect DK? |url=https://www.zdnet.com/article/what-is-microsofts-azure-kinect-dk/ |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=ZDNet}}</ref> being the first standalone Kinect hardware that did not see a shared release on Xbox. On Aug 21, 2023 it was discontinued and the Kinect line was deprecated.<ref name=":1">{{Cite news |last=Peters |first=Jay |date=Aug 21, 2023 |title=Microsoft kills Kinect again |url=https://www.theverge.com/2023/8/21/23840327/microsoft-azure-kinect-developer-kit-discontinued |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=The Verge}}</ref>

==Consumer-impact summary==

*User Freedom: Formerly planned to be mandatory for use with Xbox One on launch;<ref name=":0" /> currently unsupported by Microsoft and incompatible with Xbox Series consoles and later.<ref name=":2">{{Cite news |last=Gartenberg |first=Chaim |date=Jan 2, 2018 |title=Microsoft has discontinued the Kinect Adapter for newer Xbox One consoles |url=https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2018/1/2/16842738/microsoft-kinect-adapter-xbox-one-x-s-discontinued |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=The Verge}}</ref> Users have reported questionable compatibility on Windows for all models except for Azure.<ref>{{Cite web |last=u/Edmundo-Studios |date=Mar 19, 2022 |title=Windows 11 compatibility |url=https://old.reddit.com/r/kinect/comments/thtal1/windows_11_compatibility/ |access-date=May 7, 2026 |website=[[Reddit]] - r/Kinect}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Chelsea |date=Sep 3, 2022 |title=Why won't my Xbox 360 Kinect work with windows 11? Should I upgrade to an Xbox One Kinect? |url=https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/993064/why-wont-my-xbox-360-kinect-work-with-windows-11-s |access-date=May 7, 2026 |website=[[Microsoft]] Learn forums}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Garcia |date=Aug 20, 2023 |title=problems with kinect v2 (Xbox One) on pc |url=https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/1349001/problems-with-kinect-v2-(xbox-one)-on-pc |access-date=May 7, 2026 |website=[[Microsoft]] Learn Forums}}</ref>
*User Privacy: Patents showed the Kinect potentially monitoring its users for advertising purposes,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Sottek |first=T.C. |date=May 27, 2013 |title=Microsoft may award achievements for watching TV and ads by monitoring you with Kinect |url=https://www.theverge.com/2013/5/27/4370676/microsoft-kinect-tv-monitoring-achievements-ads |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=The Verge}}</ref> despite claims from Microsoft that it would be in violation of their Privacy Policy.<ref>{{Cite news |last=McWhertor |first=Michael |date=Jun 6, 2013 |title=Kinect on Xbox One will not record or upload your conversations, Microsoft says |url=https://www.polygon.com/2013/6/6/4403926/kinect-on-xbox-one-will-not-record-or-upload-your-conversations/ |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=Polygon}}</ref>
*Business Model: Sales as hardware accessory and mandatory for some games, such as Kinect Adventures.
*Market Control: Not Applicable; Deprecated product line since 2023.<ref name=":1" />

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

===Mandatory usage for Xbox One===
[To Be Written]

===Harmful discontinuations of support===

====Xbox One Kinect====
In October 2017, [[Microsoft]] stopped manufacturing the ''Kinect for Xbox One'',<ref>{{Cite news |last=Reisinger |first=Don |date=October 25, 2017 |title=Microsoft Has Finally Killed the Kinect Xbox Sensor |url=https://fortune.com/2017/10/25/microsoft-kinect-xbox-sensor/ |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=Fortune}}</ref> and 3 months later, discontinued the adapter necessary for connecting this hardware to both newer [[Xbox]] consoles, as well as [[Microsoft Windows|Windows]] computers.<ref name=":2" /> When the Xbox Series consoles released, they were incompatible with the Kinect, even if the end user has the necessary adapter.<ref name=":2" /> This means that any games that rely on Kinect hardware are additionally unplayable on Xbox Series consoles, despite being fully compatible with the rest of the Xbox One library.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Bonthuys |first=Darryn |date=Oct 28, 2020 |title=Xbox Series X/S Officially Plays Every Game That Works On Xbox One (Except The Kinect Ones) |url=https://www.gamespot.com/articles/xbox-series-x-s-officially-plays-every-game-that-works-on-xbox-one-except-the-kinect-ones/1100-6483849/ |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=GameSpot}}</ref>

==Products==

*Kinect for Xbox 360 (2010)
*Kinect for Windows (2012)
*Kinect for Xbox One (2013)
*Kinect 2 for Windows (2014)
*Azure Kinect (2020)

==See also==
==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]

Kinect

2026-05-08T17:23:46Z

SomebodyThatMayContribute: Add Archive URL for cite 5 to the closest fully working Archive on IA

{{StubNotice}}{{ProductLineCargo
|Company=Xbox, Microsoft
|ReleaseYear=2010
|InProduction=No
|ArticleType=Product
|Category=accessory, peripheral
|Logo=Kinect Logo.png
|Description=The Kinect was a line of accessories for both Xbox hardware and Windows. The Xbox One release was formerly mandatory for the console to function.
}}The '''Kinect''' was a line of peripherals sold by Microsoft for the ''[[Xbox]] 360'', ''Xbox One'', and [[Microsoft Windows|''Windows'']] hardware. Its first public release was for the ''Xbox 360'' on November 4th, 2010.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Thorsen |first=Tor |date=August 11, 2010 |title=4GB Xbox 360 official, $300 Kinect bundle coming |url=https://www.gamespot.com/articles/4gb-xbox-360-official-300-kinect-bundle-coming/1100-6270112/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250219091726/https://www.gamespot.com/articles/4gb-xbox-360-official-300-kinect-bundle-coming/1100-6270112/ |archive-date=2025-02-19 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=GameSpot}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Chen |first=Jason |date=Jun 14, 2010 |title=Microsoft Xbox 360 Kinect Launches November 4 |url=https://gizmodo.com/microsoft-xbox-360-kinect-launches-november-4-5563148 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=Gizmodo}}</ref> It was formerly planned by [[Microsoft]] that the ''Kinect for Xbox One'' would be mandatory for launch Xbox One hardware to function,<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |last=Schreier |first=Jason |date=May 21, 2013 |title=Xbox One Requires Kinect To Function |url=https://kotaku.com/xbox-one-requires-kinect-to-function-509112572 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260508072708/https://kotaku.com/xbox-one-requires-kinect-to-function-509112572 |archive-date=2026-05-08 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=Kotaku}}</ref> however due to consumer backlash,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Crecente |first=Brian |date=Jun 5, 2013 |title=Privacy concerns threaten to overshadow Microsoft's new console |url=https://www.polygon.com/2013/6/5/4398440/privacy-microsoft-xbox-one/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250517133629/https://www.polygon.com/2013/6/5/4398440/privacy-microsoft-xbox-one |archive-date=2025-05-17 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=Polygon}}</ref> this was lifted before launch. In 2014, the hardware stopped being bundled with Xbox One consoles.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Futter |first=Mike |date=May 13, 2014 |title=Microsoft Completes Its 180 And Drops Kinect From Xbox One |url=https://gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2014/05/13/microsoft-completes-its-180-and-drops-kinect-from-xbox-one.aspx |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260115030312/https://gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2014/05/13/microsoft-completes-its-180-and-drops-kinect-from-xbox-one.aspx |archive-date=2026-01-15 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=GameInformer}}</ref>

In 2019, the Azure Kinect released,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Liao |first=Shannon |date=May 7, 2018 |title=Microsoft is moving Kinect to the cloud |url=https://www.theverge.com/2018/5/7/17318690/microsoft-kinect-cloud-announced-build-2018 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=The Verge}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Ranger |first=Steve |date=Feb 25, 2019 |title=What is Microsoft's Azure Kinect DK? |url=https://www.zdnet.com/article/what-is-microsofts-azure-kinect-dk/ |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=ZDNet}}</ref> being the first standalone Kinect hardware that did not see a shared release on Xbox. On Aug 21, 2023 it was discontinued and the Kinect line was deprecated.<ref name=":1">{{Cite news |last=Peters |first=Jay |date=Aug 21, 2023 |title=Microsoft kills Kinect again |url=https://www.theverge.com/2023/8/21/23840327/microsoft-azure-kinect-developer-kit-discontinued |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=The Verge}}</ref>

==Consumer-impact summary==

*User Freedom: Formerly planned to be mandatory for use with Xbox One on launch;<ref name=":0" /> currently unsupported by Microsoft and incompatible with Xbox Series consoles and later.<ref name=":2">{{Cite news |last=Gartenberg |first=Chaim |date=Jan 2, 2018 |title=Microsoft has discontinued the Kinect Adapter for newer Xbox One consoles |url=https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2018/1/2/16842738/microsoft-kinect-adapter-xbox-one-x-s-discontinued |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=The Verge}}</ref> Users have reported questionable compatibility on Windows for all models except for Azure.<ref>{{Cite web |last=u/Edmundo-Studios |date=Mar 19, 2022 |title=Windows 11 compatibility |url=https://old.reddit.com/r/kinect/comments/thtal1/windows_11_compatibility/ |access-date=May 7, 2026 |website=[[Reddit]] - r/Kinect}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Chelsea |date=Sep 3, 2022 |title=Why won't my Xbox 360 Kinect work with windows 11? Should I upgrade to an Xbox One Kinect? |url=https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/993064/why-wont-my-xbox-360-kinect-work-with-windows-11-s |access-date=May 7, 2026 |website=[[Microsoft]] Learn forums}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Garcia |date=Aug 20, 2023 |title=problems with kinect v2 (Xbox One) on pc |url=https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/1349001/problems-with-kinect-v2-(xbox-one)-on-pc |access-date=May 7, 2026 |website=[[Microsoft]] Learn Forums}}</ref>
*User Privacy: Patents showed the Kinect potentially monitoring its users for advertising purposes,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Sottek |first=T.C. |date=May 27, 2013 |title=Microsoft may award achievements for watching TV and ads by monitoring you with Kinect |url=https://www.theverge.com/2013/5/27/4370676/microsoft-kinect-tv-monitoring-achievements-ads |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=The Verge}}</ref> despite claims from Microsoft that it would be in violation of their Privacy Policy.<ref>{{Cite news |last=McWhertor |first=Michael |date=Jun 6, 2013 |title=Kinect on Xbox One will not record or upload your conversations, Microsoft says |url=https://www.polygon.com/2013/6/6/4403926/kinect-on-xbox-one-will-not-record-or-upload-your-conversations/ |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=Polygon}}</ref>
*Business Model: Sales as hardware accessory and mandatory for some games, such as Kinect Adventures.
*Market Control: Not Applicable; Deprecated product line since 2023.<ref name=":1" />

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

===Mandatory usage for Xbox One===
[To Be Written]

===Harmful discontinuations of support===

====Xbox One Kinect====
In October 2017, [[Microsoft]] stopped manufacturing the ''Kinect for Xbox One'',<ref>{{Cite news |last=Reisinger |first=Don |date=October 25, 2017 |title=Microsoft Has Finally Killed the Kinect Xbox Sensor |url=https://fortune.com/2017/10/25/microsoft-kinect-xbox-sensor/ |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=Fortune}}</ref> and 3 months later, discontinued the adapter necessary for connecting this hardware to both newer [[Xbox]] consoles, as well as [[Microsoft Windows|Windows]] computers.<ref name=":2" /> When the Xbox Series consoles released, they were incompatible with the Kinect, even if the end user has the necessary adapter.<ref name=":2" /> This means that any games that rely on Kinect hardware are additionally unplayable on Xbox Series consoles, despite being fully compatible with the rest of the Xbox One library.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Bonthuys |first=Darryn |date=Oct 28, 2020 |title=Xbox Series X/S Officially Plays Every Game That Works On Xbox One (Except The Kinect Ones) |url=https://www.gamespot.com/articles/xbox-series-x-s-officially-plays-every-game-that-works-on-xbox-one-except-the-kinect-ones/1100-6483849/ |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=GameSpot}}</ref>

==Products==

*Kinect for Xbox 360 (2010)
*Kinect for Windows (2012)
*Kinect for Xbox One (2013)
*Kinect 2 for Windows (2014)
*Azure Kinect (2020)

==See also==
==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]

Kinect

2026-05-08T17:13:09Z

SomebodyThatMayContribute: Add Archive URL for cite 3 to the closest fully working Archive on IA

{{StubNotice}}{{ProductLineCargo
|Company=Xbox, Microsoft
|ReleaseYear=2010
|InProduction=No
|ArticleType=Product
|Category=accessory, peripheral
|Logo=Kinect Logo.png
|Description=The Kinect was a line of accessories for both Xbox hardware and Windows. The Xbox One release was formerly mandatory for the console to function.
}}The '''Kinect''' was a line of peripherals sold by Microsoft for the ''[[Xbox]] 360'', ''Xbox One'', and [[Microsoft Windows|''Windows'']] hardware. Its first public release was for the ''Xbox 360'' on November 4th, 2010.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Thorsen |first=Tor |date=August 11, 2010 |title=4GB Xbox 360 official, $300 Kinect bundle coming |url=https://www.gamespot.com/articles/4gb-xbox-360-official-300-kinect-bundle-coming/1100-6270112/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250219091726/https://www.gamespot.com/articles/4gb-xbox-360-official-300-kinect-bundle-coming/1100-6270112/ |archive-date=2025-02-19 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=GameSpot}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Chen |first=Jason |date=Jun 14, 2010 |title=Microsoft Xbox 360 Kinect Launches November 4 |url=https://gizmodo.com/microsoft-xbox-360-kinect-launches-november-4-5563148 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=Gizmodo}}</ref> It was formerly planned by [[Microsoft]] that the ''Kinect for Xbox One'' would be mandatory for launch Xbox One hardware to function,<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |last=Schreier |first=Jason |date=May 21, 2013 |title=Xbox One Requires Kinect To Function |url=https://kotaku.com/xbox-one-requires-kinect-to-function-509112572 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260508072708/https://kotaku.com/xbox-one-requires-kinect-to-function-509112572 |archive-date=2026-05-08 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=Kotaku}}</ref> however due to consumer backlash,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Crecente |first=Brian |date=Jun 5, 2013 |title=Privacy concerns threaten to overshadow Microsoft's new console |url=https://www.polygon.com/2013/6/5/4398440/privacy-microsoft-xbox-one/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250517133629/https://www.polygon.com/2013/6/5/4398440/privacy-microsoft-xbox-one |archive-date=2025-05-17 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=Polygon}}</ref> this was lifted before launch. In 2014, the hardware stopped being bundled with Xbox One consoles.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Futter |first=Mike |date=May 13, 2014 |title=Microsoft Completes Its 180 And Drops Kinect From Xbox One |url=https://gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2014/05/13/microsoft-completes-its-180-and-drops-kinect-from-xbox-one.aspx |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=GameInformer}}</ref>

In 2019, the Azure Kinect released,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Liao |first=Shannon |date=May 7, 2018 |title=Microsoft is moving Kinect to the cloud |url=https://www.theverge.com/2018/5/7/17318690/microsoft-kinect-cloud-announced-build-2018 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=The Verge}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Ranger |first=Steve |date=Feb 25, 2019 |title=What is Microsoft's Azure Kinect DK? |url=https://www.zdnet.com/article/what-is-microsofts-azure-kinect-dk/ |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=ZDNet}}</ref> being the first standalone Kinect hardware that did not see a shared release on Xbox. On Aug 21, 2023 it was discontinued and the Kinect line was deprecated.<ref name=":1">{{Cite news |last=Peters |first=Jay |date=Aug 21, 2023 |title=Microsoft kills Kinect again |url=https://www.theverge.com/2023/8/21/23840327/microsoft-azure-kinect-developer-kit-discontinued |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=The Verge}}</ref>

==Consumer-impact summary==

*User Freedom: Formerly planned to be mandatory for use with Xbox One on launch;<ref name=":0" /> currently unsupported by Microsoft and incompatible with Xbox Series consoles and later.<ref name=":2">{{Cite news |last=Gartenberg |first=Chaim |date=Jan 2, 2018 |title=Microsoft has discontinued the Kinect Adapter for newer Xbox One consoles |url=https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2018/1/2/16842738/microsoft-kinect-adapter-xbox-one-x-s-discontinued |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=The Verge}}</ref> Users have reported questionable compatibility on Windows for all models except for Azure.<ref>{{Cite web |last=u/Edmundo-Studios |date=Mar 19, 2022 |title=Windows 11 compatibility |url=https://old.reddit.com/r/kinect/comments/thtal1/windows_11_compatibility/ |access-date=May 7, 2026 |website=[[Reddit]] - r/Kinect}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Chelsea |date=Sep 3, 2022 |title=Why won't my Xbox 360 Kinect work with windows 11? Should I upgrade to an Xbox One Kinect? |url=https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/993064/why-wont-my-xbox-360-kinect-work-with-windows-11-s |access-date=May 7, 2026 |website=[[Microsoft]] Learn forums}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Garcia |date=Aug 20, 2023 |title=problems with kinect v2 (Xbox One) on pc |url=https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/1349001/problems-with-kinect-v2-(xbox-one)-on-pc |access-date=May 7, 2026 |website=[[Microsoft]] Learn Forums}}</ref>
*User Privacy: Patents showed the Kinect potentially monitoring its users for advertising purposes,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Sottek |first=T.C. |date=May 27, 2013 |title=Microsoft may award achievements for watching TV and ads by monitoring you with Kinect |url=https://www.theverge.com/2013/5/27/4370676/microsoft-kinect-tv-monitoring-achievements-ads |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=The Verge}}</ref> despite claims from Microsoft that it would be in violation of their Privacy Policy.<ref>{{Cite news |last=McWhertor |first=Michael |date=Jun 6, 2013 |title=Kinect on Xbox One will not record or upload your conversations, Microsoft says |url=https://www.polygon.com/2013/6/6/4403926/kinect-on-xbox-one-will-not-record-or-upload-your-conversations/ |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=Polygon}}</ref>
*Business Model: Sales as hardware accessory and mandatory for some games, such as Kinect Adventures.
*Market Control: Not Applicable; Deprecated product line since 2023.<ref name=":1" />

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

===Mandatory usage for Xbox One===
[To Be Written]

===Harmful discontinuations of support===

====Xbox One Kinect====
In October 2017, [[Microsoft]] stopped manufacturing the ''Kinect for Xbox One'',<ref>{{Cite news |last=Reisinger |first=Don |date=October 25, 2017 |title=Microsoft Has Finally Killed the Kinect Xbox Sensor |url=https://fortune.com/2017/10/25/microsoft-kinect-xbox-sensor/ |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=Fortune}}</ref> and 3 months later, discontinued the adapter necessary for connecting this hardware to both newer [[Xbox]] consoles, as well as [[Microsoft Windows|Windows]] computers.<ref name=":2" /> When the Xbox Series consoles released, they were incompatible with the Kinect, even if the end user has the necessary adapter.<ref name=":2" /> This means that any games that rely on Kinect hardware are additionally unplayable on Xbox Series consoles, despite being fully compatible with the rest of the Xbox One library.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Bonthuys |first=Darryn |date=Oct 28, 2020 |title=Xbox Series X/S Officially Plays Every Game That Works On Xbox One (Except The Kinect Ones) |url=https://www.gamespot.com/articles/xbox-series-x-s-officially-plays-every-game-that-works-on-xbox-one-except-the-kinect-ones/1100-6483849/ |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=GameSpot}}</ref>

==Products==

*Kinect for Xbox 360 (2010)
*Kinect for Windows (2012)
*Kinect for Xbox One (2013)
*Kinect 2 for Windows (2014)
*Azure Kinect (2020)

==See also==
==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]

Kinect

2026-05-08T07:43:56Z

SomebodyThatMayContribute: Archived cite 3 on IA & updated it.

{{StubNotice}}{{ProductLineCargo
|Company=Xbox, Microsoft
|ReleaseYear=2010
|InProduction=No
|ArticleType=Product
|Category=accessory, peripheral
|Logo=Kinect Logo.png
|Description=The Kinect was a line of accessories for both Xbox hardware and Windows. The Xbox One release was formerly mandatory for the console to function.
}}The '''Kinect''' was a line of peripherals sold by Microsoft for the ''[[Xbox]] 360'', ''Xbox One'', and [[Microsoft Windows|''Windows'']] hardware. Its first public release was for the ''Xbox 360'' on November 4th, 2010.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Thorsen |first=Tor |date=August 11, 2010 |title=4GB Xbox 360 official, $300 Kinect bundle coming |url=https://www.gamespot.com/articles/4gb-xbox-360-official-300-kinect-bundle-coming/1100-6270112/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250219091726/https://www.gamespot.com/articles/4gb-xbox-360-official-300-kinect-bundle-coming/1100-6270112/ |archive-date=2025-02-19 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=GameSpot}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Chen |first=Jason |date=Jun 14, 2010 |title=Microsoft Xbox 360 Kinect Launches November 4 |url=https://gizmodo.com/microsoft-xbox-360-kinect-launches-november-4-5563148 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=Gizmodo}}</ref> It was formerly planned by [[Microsoft]] that the ''Kinect for Xbox One'' would be mandatory for launch Xbox One hardware to function,<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |last=Schreier |first=Jason |date=May 21, 2013 |title=Xbox One Requires Kinect To Function |url=https://kotaku.com/xbox-one-requires-kinect-to-function-509112572 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260508072708/https://kotaku.com/xbox-one-requires-kinect-to-function-509112572 |archive-date=2026-05-08 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=Kotaku}}</ref> however due to consumer backlash,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Crecente |first=Brian |date=Jun 5, 2013 |title=Privacy concerns threaten to overshadow Microsoft's new console |url=https://www.polygon.com/2013/6/5/4398440/privacy-microsoft-xbox-one/ |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=Polygon}}</ref> this was lifted before launch. In 2014, the hardware stopped being bundled with Xbox One consoles.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Futter |first=Mike |date=May 13, 2014 |title=Microsoft Completes Its 180 And Drops Kinect From Xbox One |url=https://gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2014/05/13/microsoft-completes-its-180-and-drops-kinect-from-xbox-one.aspx |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=GameInformer}}</ref>

In 2019, the Azure Kinect released,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Liao |first=Shannon |date=May 7, 2018 |title=Microsoft is moving Kinect to the cloud |url=https://www.theverge.com/2018/5/7/17318690/microsoft-kinect-cloud-announced-build-2018 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=The Verge}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Ranger |first=Steve |date=Feb 25, 2019 |title=What is Microsoft's Azure Kinect DK? |url=https://www.zdnet.com/article/what-is-microsofts-azure-kinect-dk/ |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=ZDNet}}</ref> being the first standalone Kinect hardware that did not see a shared release on Xbox. On Aug 21, 2023 it was discontinued and the Kinect line was deprecated.<ref name=":1">{{Cite news |last=Peters |first=Jay |date=Aug 21, 2023 |title=Microsoft kills Kinect again |url=https://www.theverge.com/2023/8/21/23840327/microsoft-azure-kinect-developer-kit-discontinued |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=The Verge}}</ref>

==Consumer-impact summary==

*User Freedom: Formerly planned to be mandatory for use with Xbox One on launch;<ref name=":0" /> currently unsupported by Microsoft and incompatible with Xbox Series consoles and later.<ref name=":2">{{Cite news |last=Gartenberg |first=Chaim |date=Jan 2, 2018 |title=Microsoft has discontinued the Kinect Adapter for newer Xbox One consoles |url=https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2018/1/2/16842738/microsoft-kinect-adapter-xbox-one-x-s-discontinued |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=The Verge}}</ref> Users have reported questionable compatibility on Windows for all models except for Azure.<ref>{{Cite web |last=u/Edmundo-Studios |date=Mar 19, 2022 |title=Windows 11 compatibility |url=https://old.reddit.com/r/kinect/comments/thtal1/windows_11_compatibility/ |access-date=May 7, 2026 |website=[[Reddit]] - r/Kinect}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Chelsea |date=Sep 3, 2022 |title=Why won't my Xbox 360 Kinect work with windows 11? Should I upgrade to an Xbox One Kinect? |url=https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/993064/why-wont-my-xbox-360-kinect-work-with-windows-11-s |access-date=May 7, 2026 |website=[[Microsoft]] Learn forums}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Garcia |date=Aug 20, 2023 |title=problems with kinect v2 (Xbox One) on pc |url=https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/1349001/problems-with-kinect-v2-(xbox-one)-on-pc |access-date=May 7, 2026 |website=[[Microsoft]] Learn Forums}}</ref>
*User Privacy: Patents showed the Kinect potentially monitoring its users for advertising purposes,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Sottek |first=T.C. |date=May 27, 2013 |title=Microsoft may award achievements for watching TV and ads by monitoring you with Kinect |url=https://www.theverge.com/2013/5/27/4370676/microsoft-kinect-tv-monitoring-achievements-ads |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=The Verge}}</ref> despite claims from Microsoft that it would be in violation of their Privacy Policy.<ref>{{Cite news |last=McWhertor |first=Michael |date=Jun 6, 2013 |title=Kinect on Xbox One will not record or upload your conversations, Microsoft says |url=https://www.polygon.com/2013/6/6/4403926/kinect-on-xbox-one-will-not-record-or-upload-your-conversations/ |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=Polygon}}</ref>
*Business Model: Sales as hardware accessory and mandatory for some games, such as Kinect Adventures.
*Market Control: Not Applicable; Deprecated product line since 2023.<ref name=":1" />

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

===Mandatory usage for Xbox One===
[To Be Written]

===Harmful discontinuations of support===

====Xbox One Kinect====
In October 2017, [[Microsoft]] stopped manufacturing the ''Kinect for Xbox One'',<ref>{{Cite news |last=Reisinger |first=Don |date=October 25, 2017 |title=Microsoft Has Finally Killed the Kinect Xbox Sensor |url=https://fortune.com/2017/10/25/microsoft-kinect-xbox-sensor/ |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=Fortune}}</ref> and 3 months later, discontinued the adapter necessary for connecting this hardware to both newer [[Xbox]] consoles, as well as [[Microsoft Windows|Windows]] computers.<ref name=":2" /> When the Xbox Series consoles released, they were incompatible with the Kinect, even if the end user has the necessary adapter.<ref name=":2" /> This means that any games that rely on Kinect hardware are additionally unplayable on Xbox Series consoles, despite being fully compatible with the rest of the Xbox One library.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Bonthuys |first=Darryn |date=Oct 28, 2020 |title=Xbox Series X/S Officially Plays Every Game That Works On Xbox One (Except The Kinect Ones) |url=https://www.gamespot.com/articles/xbox-series-x-s-officially-plays-every-game-that-works-on-xbox-one-except-the-kinect-ones/1100-6483849/ |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=GameSpot}}</ref>

==Products==

*Kinect for Xbox 360 (2010)
*Kinect for Windows (2012)
*Kinect for Xbox One (2013)
*Kinect 2 for Windows (2014)
*Azure Kinect (2020)

==See also==
==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]

Kinect

2026-05-08T07:06:51Z

SomebodyThatMayContribute: Archive cite 1 to the closest fully working Archive on IA

{{StubNotice}}{{ProductLineCargo
|Company=Xbox, Microsoft
|ReleaseYear=2010
|InProduction=No
|ArticleType=Product
|Category=accessory, peripheral
|Logo=Kinect Logo.png
|Description=The Kinect was a line of accessories for both Xbox hardware and Windows. The Xbox One release was formerly mandatory for the console to function.
}}The '''Kinect''' was a line of peripherals sold by Microsoft for the ''[[Xbox]] 360'', ''Xbox One'', and [[Microsoft Windows|''Windows'']] hardware. Its first public release was for the ''Xbox 360'' on November 4th, 2010.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Thorsen |first=Tor |date=August 11, 2010 |title=4GB Xbox 360 official, $300 Kinect bundle coming |url=https://www.gamespot.com/articles/4gb-xbox-360-official-300-kinect-bundle-coming/1100-6270112/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250219091726/https://www.gamespot.com/articles/4gb-xbox-360-official-300-kinect-bundle-coming/1100-6270112/ |archive-date=2025-02-19 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=GameSpot}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Chen |first=Jason |date=Jun 14, 2010 |title=Microsoft Xbox 360 Kinect Launches November 4 |url=https://gizmodo.com/microsoft-xbox-360-kinect-launches-november-4-5563148 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=Gizmodo}}</ref> It was formerly planned by [[Microsoft]] that the ''Kinect for Xbox One'' would be mandatory for launch Xbox One hardware to function,<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |last=Schreier |first=Jason |date=May 21, 2013 |title=Xbox One Requires Kinect To Function |url=https://kotaku.com/xbox-one-requires-kinect-to-function-509112572 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=Kotaku}}</ref> however due to consumer backlash,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Crecente |first=Brian |date=Jun 5, 2013 |title=Privacy concerns threaten to overshadow Microsoft's new console |url=https://www.polygon.com/2013/6/5/4398440/privacy-microsoft-xbox-one/ |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=Polygon}}</ref> this was lifted before launch. In 2014, the hardware stopped being bundled with Xbox One consoles.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Futter |first=Mike |date=May 13, 2014 |title=Microsoft Completes Its 180 And Drops Kinect From Xbox One |url=https://gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2014/05/13/microsoft-completes-its-180-and-drops-kinect-from-xbox-one.aspx |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=GameInformer}}</ref>

In 2019, the Azure Kinect released,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Liao |first=Shannon |date=May 7, 2018 |title=Microsoft is moving Kinect to the cloud |url=https://www.theverge.com/2018/5/7/17318690/microsoft-kinect-cloud-announced-build-2018 |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=The Verge}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Ranger |first=Steve |date=Feb 25, 2019 |title=What is Microsoft's Azure Kinect DK? |url=https://www.zdnet.com/article/what-is-microsofts-azure-kinect-dk/ |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=ZDNet}}</ref> being the first standalone Kinect hardware that did not see a shared release on Xbox. On Aug 21, 2023 it was discontinued and the Kinect line was deprecated.<ref name=":1">{{Cite news |last=Peters |first=Jay |date=Aug 21, 2023 |title=Microsoft kills Kinect again |url=https://www.theverge.com/2023/8/21/23840327/microsoft-azure-kinect-developer-kit-discontinued |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=The Verge}}</ref>

==Consumer-impact summary==

*User Freedom: Formerly planned to be mandatory for use with Xbox One on launch;<ref name=":0" /> currently unsupported by Microsoft and incompatible with Xbox Series consoles and later.<ref name=":2">{{Cite news |last=Gartenberg |first=Chaim |date=Jan 2, 2018 |title=Microsoft has discontinued the Kinect Adapter for newer Xbox One consoles |url=https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2018/1/2/16842738/microsoft-kinect-adapter-xbox-one-x-s-discontinued |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=The Verge}}</ref> Users have reported questionable compatibility on Windows for all models except for Azure.<ref>{{Cite web |last=u/Edmundo-Studios |date=Mar 19, 2022 |title=Windows 11 compatibility |url=https://old.reddit.com/r/kinect/comments/thtal1/windows_11_compatibility/ |access-date=May 7, 2026 |website=[[Reddit]] - r/Kinect}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Chelsea |date=Sep 3, 2022 |title=Why won't my Xbox 360 Kinect work with windows 11? Should I upgrade to an Xbox One Kinect? |url=https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/993064/why-wont-my-xbox-360-kinect-work-with-windows-11-s |access-date=May 7, 2026 |website=[[Microsoft]] Learn forums}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Garcia |date=Aug 20, 2023 |title=problems with kinect v2 (Xbox One) on pc |url=https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/1349001/problems-with-kinect-v2-(xbox-one)-on-pc |access-date=May 7, 2026 |website=[[Microsoft]] Learn Forums}}</ref>
*User Privacy: Patents showed the Kinect potentially monitoring its users for advertising purposes,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Sottek |first=T.C. |date=May 27, 2013 |title=Microsoft may award achievements for watching TV and ads by monitoring you with Kinect |url=https://www.theverge.com/2013/5/27/4370676/microsoft-kinect-tv-monitoring-achievements-ads |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=The Verge}}</ref> despite claims from Microsoft that it would be in violation of their Privacy Policy.<ref>{{Cite news |last=McWhertor |first=Michael |date=Jun 6, 2013 |title=Kinect on Xbox One will not record or upload your conversations, Microsoft says |url=https://www.polygon.com/2013/6/6/4403926/kinect-on-xbox-one-will-not-record-or-upload-your-conversations/ |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=Polygon}}</ref>
*Business Model: Sales as hardware accessory and mandatory for some games, such as Kinect Adventures.
*Market Control: Not Applicable; Deprecated product line since 2023.<ref name=":1" />

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

===Mandatory usage for Xbox One===
[To Be Written]

===Harmful discontinuations of support===

====Xbox One Kinect====
In October 2017, [[Microsoft]] stopped manufacturing the ''Kinect for Xbox One'',<ref>{{Cite news |last=Reisinger |first=Don |date=October 25, 2017 |title=Microsoft Has Finally Killed the Kinect Xbox Sensor |url=https://fortune.com/2017/10/25/microsoft-kinect-xbox-sensor/ |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=Fortune}}</ref> and 3 months later, discontinued the adapter necessary for connecting this hardware to both newer [[Xbox]] consoles, as well as [[Microsoft Windows|Windows]] computers.<ref name=":2" /> When the Xbox Series consoles released, they were incompatible with the Kinect, even if the end user has the necessary adapter.<ref name=":2" /> This means that any games that rely on Kinect hardware are additionally unplayable on Xbox Series consoles, despite being fully compatible with the rest of the Xbox One library.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Bonthuys |first=Darryn |date=Oct 28, 2020 |title=Xbox Series X/S Officially Plays Every Game That Works On Xbox One (Except The Kinect Ones) |url=https://www.gamespot.com/articles/xbox-series-x-s-officially-plays-every-game-that-works-on-xbox-one-except-the-kinect-ones/1100-6483849/ |access-date=May 7, 2026 |work=GameSpot}}</ref>

==Products==

*Kinect for Xbox 360 (2010)
*Kinect for Windows (2012)
*Kinect for Xbox One (2013)
*Kinect 2 for Windows (2014)
*Azure Kinect (2020)

==See also==
==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]

Texas Data Privacy and Security Act

2026-04-25T05:38:20Z

SomebodyThatMayContribute: Convert citation 4 to use cite web template.

{{Incomplete|Issue 1=needs to use [[Template:Cite web]]}}

The [https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/consumer-protection/file-consumer-complaint/consumer-privacy-rights/texas-data-privacy-and-security-act Texas Data Privacy and Security Act] ("TDPSA") is a law in the U.S State of Texas that establishes digital privacy rights for Texas state residents and enforces these rights against any company providing services to residents, rather they reside in Texas or not. The law was signed by Governor Greg Abbott on June 18th, 2023, with the majority of the law going into effect on July 1st, 2024, and the universal opt-out mechanisms going into effect January 1st, 2025.

==Rights Codified==

The TDPSA codified the following privacy rights for Texas residents<ref>{{Cite web |title=Texas Data Privacy And Security Act {{!}} Office of the Attorney General |url=https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/consumer-protection/file-consumer-complaint/consumer-privacy-rights/texas-data-privacy-and-security-act |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260418021327/https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/consumer-protection/file-consumer-complaint/consumer-privacy-rights/texas-data-privacy-and-security-act |archive-date=2026-04-18 |access-date=31 Mar 2026 |website=Office of the Attorney General}}</ref>:

*'''Right to Access:''' Individuals have the right to confirm whether a controller is processing their personal data and to access such data.

*'''Right to Correction:''' Individuals may request corrections to inaccuracies in their personal data held by a controller.

*'''Right to Deletion:''' Individuals have the right to request the deletion of personal data collected by or provided to a controller.

*'''Right to Data Portability:''' Individuals can obtain a copy of their personal data in a readily usable and transferable format.

*'''Right to Opt-Out:''' Individuals may opt out of the processing of personal data for purposes of targeted advertising, the sale of personal data, or profiling that produces significant legal effects.

==Controller and Processor Obligations==

The TDPSA imposes various obligations on data controllers and processors<ref>{{Cite web |title=FAQs for Businesses as Texas Data Privacy Law Takes Effect July 1 |url=https://www.fisherphillips.com/en/insights/insights/faqs-businesses-texas-data-privacy-law |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260425051507/https://www.fisherphillips.com/en/insights/insights/faqs-businesses-texas-data-privacy-law |archive-date=2026-04-25 |access-date=31 Mar 2026 |website=Fisher Phillips LLP}}</ref>
<ref>{{Cite web |date=31 Dec 2023 |title=The Texas Data Privacy Law: An Overview |url=https://www.cliffordchance.com/insights/resources/blogs/talking-tech/en/articles/2023/12/the-texas-data-privacy-law-an-overview.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260425052448/https://www.cliffordchance.com/insights/resources/blogs/talking-tech/en/articles/2023/12/the-texas-data-privacy-law-an-overview.html |archive-date=2026-04-25 |access-date=31 Mar 2026 |website=Clifford Chance}}</ref>, including:

*Limiting data collection to what is adequate, relevant, and reasonably necessary for processing purposes.

*Implementing reasonable administrative, technical, and physical data security practices.

*Providing a clear and accessible privacy notice that outlines data collection and processing practices.

*Conducting and documenting data protection assessments for high-risk processing activities.

*Ensuring contracts between controllers and processors include specific provisions governing personal data handling.

==Enforcement==

The Texas Attorney General holds exclusive enforcement authority under the TDPSA. Entities found to be in violation are subject to civil penalties of up to $7,500 per violation. Prior to enforcement, the Attorney General may grant a 30-day cure period for organizations to remedy identified violations.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Texas Data Privacy and Security Act (TDPSA) |url=https://www.consumerprivacyact.com/texas-data-privacy-and-security-act-tdpsa/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260414203132/https://www.consumerprivacyact.com/texas-data-privacy-and-security-act-tdpsa/ |archive-date=2026-04-14 |access-date=31 Mar 2026 |website=Consumer Privacy Act (CPA)}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:US legislation]]

Texas Data Privacy and Security Act

2026-04-25T05:31:32Z

SomebodyThatMayContribute: convert citation 3 to use cite web template (re-archived today as last available is 11 Mar)

{{Incomplete|Issue 1=needs to use [[Template:Cite web]]}}

The [https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/consumer-protection/file-consumer-complaint/consumer-privacy-rights/texas-data-privacy-and-security-act Texas Data Privacy and Security Act] ("TDPSA") is a law in the U.S State of Texas that establishes digital privacy rights for Texas state residents and enforces these rights against any company providing services to residents, rather they reside in Texas or not. The law was signed by Governor Greg Abbott on June 18th, 2023, with the majority of the law going into effect on July 1st, 2024, and the universal opt-out mechanisms going into effect January 1st, 2025.

==Rights Codified==

The TDPSA codified the following privacy rights for Texas residents<ref>{{Cite web |title=Texas Data Privacy And Security Act {{!}} Office of the Attorney General |url=https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/consumer-protection/file-consumer-complaint/consumer-privacy-rights/texas-data-privacy-and-security-act |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260418021327/https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/consumer-protection/file-consumer-complaint/consumer-privacy-rights/texas-data-privacy-and-security-act |archive-date=2026-04-18 |access-date=31 Mar 2026 |website=Office of the Attorney General}}</ref>:

*'''Right to Access:''' Individuals have the right to confirm whether a controller is processing their personal data and to access such data.

*'''Right to Correction:''' Individuals may request corrections to inaccuracies in their personal data held by a controller.

*'''Right to Deletion:''' Individuals have the right to request the deletion of personal data collected by or provided to a controller.

*'''Right to Data Portability:''' Individuals can obtain a copy of their personal data in a readily usable and transferable format.

*'''Right to Opt-Out:''' Individuals may opt out of the processing of personal data for purposes of targeted advertising, the sale of personal data, or profiling that produces significant legal effects.

==Controller and Processor Obligations==

The TDPSA imposes various obligations on data controllers and processors<ref>{{Cite web |title=FAQs for Businesses as Texas Data Privacy Law Takes Effect July 1 |url=https://www.fisherphillips.com/en/insights/insights/faqs-businesses-texas-data-privacy-law |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260425051507/https://www.fisherphillips.com/en/insights/insights/faqs-businesses-texas-data-privacy-law |archive-date=2026-04-25 |access-date=31 Mar 2026 |website=Fisher Phillips LLP}}</ref>
<ref>{{Cite web |date=31 Dec 2023 |title=The Texas Data Privacy Law: An Overview |url=https://www.cliffordchance.com/insights/resources/blogs/talking-tech/en/articles/2023/12/the-texas-data-privacy-law-an-overview.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260425052448/https://www.cliffordchance.com/insights/resources/blogs/talking-tech/en/articles/2023/12/the-texas-data-privacy-law-an-overview.html |archive-date=2026-04-25 |access-date=31 Mar 2026 |website=Clifford Chance}}</ref>, including:

*Limiting data collection to what is adequate, relevant, and reasonably necessary for processing purposes.

*Implementing reasonable administrative, technical, and physical data security practices.

*Providing a clear and accessible privacy notice that outlines data collection and processing practices.

*Conducting and documenting data protection assessments for high-risk processing activities.

*Ensuring contracts between controllers and processors include specific provisions governing personal data handling.

==Enforcement==

The Texas Attorney General holds exclusive enforcement authority under the TDPSA. Entities found to be in violation are subject to civil penalties of up to $7,500 per violation. Prior to enforcement, the Attorney General may grant a 30-day cure period for organizations to remedy identified violations.<ref>[https://www.consumerprivacyact.com/texas-data-privacy-and-security-act-tdpsa/ Consumer Privacy Act TDPSA overview]</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:US legislation]]

Texas Data Privacy and Security Act

2026-04-25T05:18:29Z

SomebodyThatMayContribute: convert citation 2 to use cite web template (re-archived today as last available is 09 Mar)

{{Incomplete|Issue 1=needs to use [[Template:Cite web]]}}

The [https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/consumer-protection/file-consumer-complaint/consumer-privacy-rights/texas-data-privacy-and-security-act Texas Data Privacy and Security Act] ("TDPSA") is a law in the U.S State of Texas that establishes digital privacy rights for Texas state residents and enforces these rights against any company providing services to residents, rather they reside in Texas or not. The law was signed by Governor Greg Abbott on June 18th, 2023, with the majority of the law going into effect on July 1st, 2024, and the universal opt-out mechanisms going into effect January 1st, 2025.

==Rights Codified==

The TDPSA codified the following privacy rights for Texas residents<ref>{{Cite web |title=Texas Data Privacy And Security Act {{!}} Office of the Attorney General |url=https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/consumer-protection/file-consumer-complaint/consumer-privacy-rights/texas-data-privacy-and-security-act |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260418021327/https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/consumer-protection/file-consumer-complaint/consumer-privacy-rights/texas-data-privacy-and-security-act |archive-date=2026-04-18 |access-date=31 Mar 2026 |website=Office of the Attorney General}}</ref>:

*'''Right to Access:''' Individuals have the right to confirm whether a controller is processing their personal data and to access such data.

*'''Right to Correction:''' Individuals may request corrections to inaccuracies in their personal data held by a controller.

*'''Right to Deletion:''' Individuals have the right to request the deletion of personal data collected by or provided to a controller.

*'''Right to Data Portability:''' Individuals can obtain a copy of their personal data in a readily usable and transferable format.

*'''Right to Opt-Out:''' Individuals may opt out of the processing of personal data for purposes of targeted advertising, the sale of personal data, or profiling that produces significant legal effects.

==Controller and Processor Obligations==

The TDPSA imposes various obligations on data controllers and processors<ref>{{Cite web |title=FAQs for Businesses as Texas Data Privacy Law Takes Effect July 1 |url=https://www.fisherphillips.com/en/insights/insights/faqs-businesses-texas-data-privacy-law |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260425051507/https://www.fisherphillips.com/en/insights/insights/faqs-businesses-texas-data-privacy-law |archive-date=2026-04-25 |access-date=31 Mar 2026 |website=Fisher Phillips LLP}}</ref>
<ref>[https://www.cliffordchance.com/insights/resources/blogs/talking-tech/en/articles/2023/12/the-texas-data-privacy-law-an-overview.html Clifford Chance overview]</ref>, including:

*Limiting data collection to what is adequate, relevant, and reasonably necessary for processing purposes.

*Implementing reasonable administrative, technical, and physical data security practices.

*Providing a clear and accessible privacy notice that outlines data collection and processing practices.

*Conducting and documenting data protection assessments for high-risk processing activities.

*Ensuring contracts between controllers and processors include specific provisions governing personal data handling.

==Enforcement==

The Texas Attorney General holds exclusive enforcement authority under the TDPSA. Entities found to be in violation are subject to civil penalties of up to $7,500 per violation. Prior to enforcement, the Attorney General may grant a 30-day cure period for organizations to remedy identified violations.<ref>[https://www.consumerprivacyact.com/texas-data-privacy-and-security-act-tdpsa/ Consumer Privacy Act TDPSA overview]</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:US legislation]]

Texas Data Privacy and Security Act

2026-04-25T05:00:24Z

SomebodyThatMayContribute: convert citation 1 to use cite web template

{{Incomplete|Issue 1=needs to use [[Template:Cite web]]}}

The [https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/consumer-protection/file-consumer-complaint/consumer-privacy-rights/texas-data-privacy-and-security-act Texas Data Privacy and Security Act] ("TDPSA") is a law in the U.S State of Texas that establishes digital privacy rights for Texas state residents and enforces these rights against any company providing services to residents, rather they reside in Texas or not. The law was signed by Governor Greg Abbott on June 18th, 2023, with the majority of the law going into effect on July 1st, 2024, and the universal opt-out mechanisms going into effect January 1st, 2025.

==Rights Codified==

The TDPSA codified the following privacy rights for Texas residents<ref>{{Cite web |title=Texas Data Privacy And Security Act {{!}} Office of the Attorney General |url=https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/consumer-protection/file-consumer-complaint/consumer-privacy-rights/texas-data-privacy-and-security-act |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260418021327/https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/consumer-protection/file-consumer-complaint/consumer-privacy-rights/texas-data-privacy-and-security-act |archive-date=2026-04-18 |access-date=31 Mar 2026 |website=Office of the Attorney General}}</ref>:

*'''Right to Access:''' Individuals have the right to confirm whether a controller is processing their personal data and to access such data.

*'''Right to Correction:''' Individuals may request corrections to inaccuracies in their personal data held by a controller.

*'''Right to Deletion:''' Individuals have the right to request the deletion of personal data collected by or provided to a controller.

*'''Right to Data Portability:''' Individuals can obtain a copy of their personal data in a readily usable and transferable format.

*'''Right to Opt-Out:''' Individuals may opt out of the processing of personal data for purposes of targeted advertising, the sale of personal data, or profiling that produces significant legal effects.

==Controller and Processor Obligations==

The TDPSA imposes various obligations on data controllers and processors<ref>[https://www.fisherphillips.com/en/insights/insights/faqs-businesses-texas-data-privacy-law Fisher Phillips FAQ]</ref>
<ref>[https://www.cliffordchance.com/insights/resources/blogs/talking-tech/en/articles/2023/12/the-texas-data-privacy-law-an-overview.html Clifford Chance overview]</ref>, including:

*Limiting data collection to what is adequate, relevant, and reasonably necessary for processing purposes.

*Implementing reasonable administrative, technical, and physical data security practices.

*Providing a clear and accessible privacy notice that outlines data collection and processing practices.

*Conducting and documenting data protection assessments for high-risk processing activities.

*Ensuring contracts between controllers and processors include specific provisions governing personal data handling.

==Enforcement==

The Texas Attorney General holds exclusive enforcement authority under the TDPSA. Entities found to be in violation are subject to civil penalties of up to $7,500 per violation. Prior to enforcement, the Attorney General may grant a 30-day cure period for organizations to remedy identified violations.<ref>[https://www.consumerprivacyact.com/texas-data-privacy-and-security-act-tdpsa/ Consumer Privacy Act TDPSA overview]</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:US legislation]]

Bosch Spexor

2026-04-14T09:16:32Z

SomebodyThatMayContribute: Replace achive url of cite "Team spexor says Goodbye" from AT to IA (closest available 2025-05-27).

{{ProductCargo
|ArticleType=
|Category=Electronics, Security
|Company=Bosch
|Description=
|InProduction=No
|Logo=Bosch Spexor.jpg
|ProductLine=
|ReleaseYear=2019
|Website=https://www.spexor-bosch.com/
}}

'''Bosch Spexor''' is a portable alarm device sold by [[Bosch]], dependent on cloud services from the manufacturer.

==Incidents==
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]].

===Built-in battery (2019 until EOL)===
The device has an integrated battery that cannot be replaced easily (in fact, Bosch warns in their end of life FAQ: "Please do not open the housing: permanently installed batteries may only be removed for disposal by qualified personnel.").<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-05-26 |title=FAQ – End of operations |url=https://www.spexor-bosch.com/en/faq/faq-end-of-operations/#accordion-7388694-1 |access-date=2025-05-26 |website=Bosch spexor |url-status=live |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20250923061946/https://www.spexor-bosch.com/en/faq/faq-end-of-operations/ |archive-date=23 Sep 2025}}</ref>

As lithium ion batteries deteriorate over time, this articifially limits the lifetime of the product and makes servicing unnecessarily complicated. It also makes it impossible to temporarily ensure that no data is being collected and transmitted to any cloud service by simply removing the battery, or even to simply reboot the device in case of a software hang.

===Devices deactivated due to Bosch switching off cloud service (''July 2025'')===
In May 2025, Bosch announced that the device would become unusable later that year when cloud services are scheduled to be switched off. All associated data would also be erased from their servers. As a reason, Bosch cites unexpectedly low demand for the device.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-05-26 |title=Team spexor says Goodbye |url=https://www.spexor-bosch.com/en/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250527175744/https://www.spexor-bosch.com/en/ |archive-date=2025-05-27 |access-date=2025-05-26 |website=Bosch}}</ref>

Since the device offers no official way for it to be accessed locally without cloud, neither through an app nor a smart home system like Home Assistant, users are left with no options to keep using their purchased devices, which remain technically fully capable of continued function.

A German tech website [https://www.heise.de Heise Online] posted pictures of the interior in the hope of finding a way to give the device a second life.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Knop |first=Dirk |date=2025-05-26 |title=Bosch versetzt spexor-Geräten den Todesstoß [German] |url=https://www.heise.de/news/Bosch-versetzt-spexor-Geraeten-den-Todesstoss-10396152.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250528230613/https://www.heise.de/news/Bosch-versetzt-spexor-Geraeten-den-Todesstoss-10396152.html |archive-date=28 May 2025 |access-date=2025-05-26 |website=Heise Online}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]
[[Category:Products]]
[[Category:Discontinuation bricking]]

File:Amazon store Belkin Wemo works.jpg

2026-04-14T07:50:53Z

SomebodyThatMayContribute: replaced cite to closest available (2026-02-27 compared to 14 Jul 2025 on AT;) on IA

==Summary==
Belkin claiming on their amazon Wemo store that their devices work with a wide variety of platforms from Amazon alexa, apple homekit, google assistant, nest, etc. in spite of the fact that they have already announces that they will not work at all six months from now. <ref>{{Cite web |title=Amazon.com: Wemo |url=https://www.amazon.com/stores/Wemo/page/E33F6EA2-93FC-48CD-8BF6-EE10D5398795 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260227172544/https://www.amazon.com/stores/Wemo/page/E33F6EA2-93FC-48CD-8BF6-EE10D5398795 |archive-date=2026-02-27 |access-date=2025-07-13 |website=Amazon.com: Wemo}}</ref> <references />

==Licensing==
{{No license}}

[[Category:Files]]

File:Belkin still selling Wemo dimmer.jpg

2026-04-14T07:43:29Z

SomebodyThatMayContribute: replaced cite to closest available (20250714 compared to 2025-07-13 on AT;) on IA

==Summary==
Belkin light switch still for sale on amazon after they announced that the product will no longer retain full functionality in less than six months. <ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Amazon.com: WeMo Smart Light Switch 2ND Gen |url=https://www.amazon.com/WeMo-Smart-Light-Switch-2ND/dp/B07RT8H9WH |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250714012505/https://www.amazon.com/WeMo-Smart-Light-Switch-2ND/dp/B07RT8H9WH?th=1 |archive-date=2025-07-14 |access-date=2025-07-13 |website=Amazon.com: WeMo Smart Light Switch 2ND Gen}}</ref> <references />

==Licensing==
{{No license}}

[[Category:Files]]

Bosch Spexor

2026-04-14T07:30:09Z

SomebodyThatMayContribute: Replaced cite "Bosch versetzt spexor-Geräten den Todesstoß [German]" archive url from AT to IA (same available archived dt: 20250528230613)

{{ProductCargo
|ArticleType=
|Category=Electronics, Security
|Company=Bosch
|Description=
|InProduction=No
|Logo=Bosch Spexor.jpg
|ProductLine=
|ReleaseYear=2019
|Website=https://www.spexor-bosch.com/
}}

'''Bosch Spexor''' is a portable alarm device sold by [[Bosch]], dependent on cloud services from the manufacturer.

==Incidents==
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]].

===Built-in battery (2019 until EOL)===
The device has an integrated battery that cannot be replaced easily (in fact, Bosch warns in their end of life FAQ: "Please do not open the housing: permanently installed batteries may only be removed for disposal by qualified personnel.").<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-05-26 |title=FAQ – End of operations |url=https://www.spexor-bosch.com/en/faq/faq-end-of-operations/#accordion-7388694-1 |access-date=2025-05-26 |website=Bosch spexor |url-status=live |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20250923061946/https://www.spexor-bosch.com/en/faq/faq-end-of-operations/ |archive-date=23 Sep 2025}}</ref>

As lithium ion batteries deteriorate over time, this articifially limits the lifetime of the product and makes servicing unnecessarily complicated. It also makes it impossible to temporarily ensure that no data is being collected and transmitted to any cloud service by simply removing the battery, or even to simply reboot the device in case of a software hang.

===Devices deactivated due to Bosch switching off cloud service (''July 2025'')===
In May 2025, Bosch announced that the device would become unusable later that year when cloud services are scheduled to be switched off. All associated data would also be erased from their servers. As a reason, Bosch cites unexpectedly low demand for the device.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-05-26 |title=Team spexor says Goodbye |url=https://www.spexor-bosch.com/en/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.ph/BkNKD |archive-date=2025-05-26 |access-date=2025-05-26 |website=Bosch}}</ref>

Since the device offers no official way for it to be accessed locally without cloud, neither through an app nor a smart home system like Home Assistant, users are left with no options to keep using their purchased devices, which remain technically fully capable of continued function.

A German tech website [https://www.heise.de Heise Online] posted pictures of the interior in the hope of finding a way to give the device a second life.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Knop |first=Dirk |date=2025-05-26 |title=Bosch versetzt spexor-Geräten den Todesstoß [German] |url=https://www.heise.de/news/Bosch-versetzt-spexor-Geraeten-den-Todesstoss-10396152.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250528230613/https://www.heise.de/news/Bosch-versetzt-spexor-Geraeten-den-Todesstoss-10396152.html |archive-date=28 May 2025 |access-date=2025-05-26 |website=Heise Online}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]
[[Category:Products]]
[[Category:Discontinuation bricking]]

Duolingo

2026-04-14T07:14:46Z

SomebodyThatMayContribute: Replaced cite "haa888 comments on How am I supposed to legendary?" archive url from AT to IA (Archived it today as none existed)

{{CompanyCargo
|Founded=2011
|Industry=Education, Software
|Logo=Duolingo.svg
|Type=Public
|Website=https://duolingo.com
|Description=A language learning app with a mission to make learning "universally available". In the 2020s, paywalled content and data breaches affected users.
}}

'''{{Wplink|Duolingo}}''' is a publicly owned, American language-learning website founded in 2011 by Luis von Ahn and Severin Hacker.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://press.duolingo.com/#about|title=Our Mission|work=Duolingo Press Room|access-date=2025-03-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250319203900/https://press.duolingo.com/#about|archive-date=2025-03-19|url-status=live}}</ref> On July 28, 2021, the company began trading on the Nasdaq Global Select Market.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://investors.duolingo.com/news-releases/news-release-details/duolingo-announces-pricing-initial-public-offering|title=Duolingo Announces Pricing of Initial Public Offering|date=2021-07-27|work=Duolingo Press Room|access-date=2025-03-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250124122817/https://investors.duolingo.com/news-releases/news-release-details/duolingo-announces-pricing-initial-public-offering|archive-date=2025-01-24|url-status=live}}</ref> As of Q3 2024, the app has over 37 million daily active users and 8.6 million paid subscribers, with a net income of $23.4 million.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://investors.duolingo.com/financials|title=Financials|work=Duolingo Press Room|access-date=2025-03-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250124101114/https://investors.duolingo.com/financials|archive-date=2025-01-24|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Consumer impact summary==
===Freedom===
Users can delete their Duolingo account through the app settings and request their account data through the "[https://drive-thru.duolingo.com/ Duolingo Data Vault]". Users can also allow or deny the collection of optional information through the settings, such as location and anonymous speech data.

===Privacy===
According to the privacy policy, if a Duolingo Max user utilizes artificial-intelligence (AI) features, a copy of their text or audio data will be shared with vendors such as [[OpenAI]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.duolingo.com/privacy|title=Privacy Policy|work=Duolingo|date=2024-09-11|access-date=2025-03-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250124094802/https://www.duolingo.com/privacy|archive-date=2025-01-24|url-status=live}}</ref> This is also similar for non-AI features, as Duolingo "may also collect and analyze your speech to help [it] understand the effectiveness of [its] lessons and to improve the product", though the data is anonymized.

It is also mentioned that when completing a lesson, a video of a user's lesson "will be logged by a service called FullStory". This service records usage patterns, device specs, and learning activity, and is only disabled by default for child users. Opting out requires going to FullStory's website.

The policy states the app works with third-party advertising networks to [[Personalized ads|personalize advertising]], such as with [[Google]], [[Meta]], [[OAuth]], and [[Unity Engine runtime fee|Unity]]. Personalized advertising can be disabled in the app's settings.

The Exodus Privacy project lists as many as 13 tracking, advertising and analytics service libraries being present in the Android version of the app.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://reports.exodus-privacy.eu.org/de/reports/com.duolingo/latest/|title=Report for com.duolingo 6.22.3|work=exodus|date=2025-03-25|access-date=2025-03-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250326193207/https://reports.exodus-privacy.eu.org/de/reports/com.duolingo/latest/|archive-date=2025-03-26|url-status=live}}</ref> The app does not work for more than about one lesson without internet access, hence turning off internet access is not an option to prevent data exfiltration. The [https://trackercontrol.org/ F-Droid version of Tracker Control] can help with blocking some of the traffic to these services without impacting the functionality of the app.

===Business model===
Duolingo relies on in-app advertising and paid memberships for revenue. The company also sells merchandise on their website.

===Market control===
Duolingo is the most popular language-learning application, having 60% market control as of 2025.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.businessofapps.com/data/language-learning-app-market/|title=Language Learning App Revenue and Usage Statistics (2025)|first=David|last=Curry|date=2025-02-27|work=Business of Apps|access-date=2025-03-15|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250112232036/https://www.businessofapps.com/data/language-learning-app-market/|archive-date=2025-01-12|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Incidents==
This is a list of all consumer-protection incidents this company is involved in. Any incidents not mentioned here can be found in the [[:Category:{{FULLPAGENAME}}|{{PAGENAME}} category]].

===Data breach (''2023'')===
In January 2023, the data of 2.6 million users were posted to an online hacking forum for $1,500.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/scraped-data-of-26-million-duolingo-users-released-on-hacking-forum/|title=Scraped data of 2.6 million Duolingo users released on hacking forum|first=Lawrence|last=Abrams|work=Bleeping Computer|date=2023-08-22|access-date=2025-03-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250309233352/https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/scraped-data-of-26-million-duolingo-users-released-on-hacking-forum/|archive-date=2025-03-09|url-status=live}}</ref> The data were scraped from a vulnerable API, with email addresses, usernames, languages spoken, and real names being included.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://haveibeenpwned.com/PwnedWebsites#Duolingo|title=Pwned websites|work=haveibeenpwned.com|access-date=2025-03-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250309182649/https://haveibeenpwned.com/PwnedWebsites#Duolingo|archive-date=2025-03-09|url-status=live}}</ref> A spokesperson for Duolingo stressed that "these records were obtained by data-scraping public profile information" and "no data breach or hack has occurred".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://therecord.media/duolingo-investigating-dark-web-post-offering-data-from-2-6-million-accounts|title=DuoLingo investigating dark web post offering data from 2.6 million accounts|first=Jonathan|last=Greig|date=2023-01-23|work=The Record.|access-date=2025-03-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250307194542/https://therecord.media/duolingo-investigating-dark-web-post-offering-data-from-2-6-million-accounts|archive-date=2025-03-07|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Paywalled content (''2023'')===
On March 14, 2023, a new subscription service was released called "Duolingo Max", that promised highly personalized language learning with [[ChatGPT]]-4 integration.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://blog.duolingo.com/duolingo-max/|title=Duolingo Max Uses OpenAI's GPT-4 For New Learning Features|author=Duolingo Team|date=2023-03-14|work=Duolingo Blog|access-date=2025-03-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250304001440/https://blog.duolingo.com/duolingo-max/|archive-date=2025-03-04|url-status=live}}</ref> In September 2024, a new feature was added to the subscription that allowed users to interact with a character named Lily.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://blog.duolingo.com/video-call/|title=Duolingo's Video Call Offers Realistic Conversation Practice|author=Duolingo Team|date=2024-09-24|access-date=2025-03-26|work=Duolingo Blog|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250306000114/https://blog.duolingo.com/video-call/|archive-date=2025-03-06|url-status=live}}</ref> This subscription feature would show on the "learning path"<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://blog.duolingo.com/new-duolingo-home-screen-design/|title=The Science Behind Duolingo's Home Screen Redesign|first1=Holly|last1=Munson|first2=Anton|last2=Yu|first3=Ananya|last3=Rajgarhia|first4=Aj|last4=Noh|work=Duolingo Blog|date=2022-05-06|access-date=2025-03-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250302080539/https://blog.duolingo.com/new-duolingo-home-screen-design/|archive-date=2025-03-02|url-status=live}}</ref> for all users, regardless of their subscription status.

On September 3, 2024, users alleged they could not make a lesson have "legendary" status unless they paid for the "Duolingo Max" subscription to access the video-call lessons.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.reddit.com/r/duolingo/comments/1f7wlul/how_am_i_supposed_to_legendary/|title=How am I supposed to legendary?|author=u/ChasingKilts|date=2024-09-03|work=Reddit|access-date=2025-03-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260222215616/https://old.reddit.com/r/duolingo/comments/1f7wlul/how_am_i_supposed_to_legendary/|archive-date=22 Feb 2026|url-status=live}}</ref> At the time, the subscription was $30 per month and to get a legendary status for a lesson, each attempt would be 100 gems for free users<ref>{{Cite web |author=u/Bluerious518 |date=2024-09-03 |title=Bluerious518 comments on How am I supposed to legendary? |url=https://www.reddit.com/r/duolingo/comments/1f7wlul/comment/llbedvt/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260406045620/https://old.reddit.com/r/duolingo/comments/1f7wlul/how_am_i_supposed_to_legendary/llbedvt/ |archive-date=2026-04-06 |access-date=2025-03-27 |work=Reddit}}</ref> (not including Super Duolingo users).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://blog.duolingo.com/super-duolingo-launch/|title=Super Duolingo Is Duolingo's New Premium Product|first=Jay|last=Fanelli|work=Duolingo Blog|date=2022-06-08|access-date=2025-03-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250124090707/https://blog.duolingo.com/super-duolingo-launch/|archive-date=2025-01-24|url-status=live}}</ref> Some users were able to fix the behavior, though the "go to legendary" button would still not bring users to a skipped or new level.<ref>{{Cite web |author=u/haa888 |date=2025-01-13 |title=haa888 comments on How am I supposed to legendary? |url=https://www.reddit.com/r/duolingo/comments/1f7wlul/how_am_i_supposed_to_legendary/m6uspad/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260414070845/https://old.reddit.com/r/duolingo/comments/1f7wlul/how_am_i_supposed_to_legendary/m6uspad/ |archive-date=2026-04-14 |access-date=2025-03-27 |work=Reddit}}</ref>

====Implications====
According to Duolingo's mission statement, the goal of Duolingo is to make language learning "universally available."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://investors.duolingo.com/|title=Investor Relations|work=Duolingo Investors|access-date=2025-03-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250123181839/https://investors.duolingo.com/|archive-date=2025-01-23|url-status=live}}</ref> It states, "We created Duolingo so that everyone could have a chance. Free language education – no hidden fees, no premium content, just free."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.duolingo.com/info|title=About Us|work=Duolingo|access-date=2025-03-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250123075248/https://www.duolingo.com/info|archive-date=2025-01-23|url-status=live}}</ref> It goes on to say, "We believe true equality is when spending more can't buy you a better education."

===Pay-to-win pattern===
Recently, some of the timed learning games inside the app are impossible to complete in the time allowed, even for a native speaker of the language.{{Cite}} In order to win, the user needs to pay for a subscription to buy more time. This also means that the learning high scores can essentially be bought.

===Abusing iPhone Dynamic Island Feature for advertising (''2026'')===
Ignoring Apple's app store guidelines, the company used the Dynamic Island feature, an area of the iOS screen reserved for notifying users of progress of background processes, to push a sales promotion with a countdown via its iPhone app.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Schwan |first=Ben |date=2026-01-05 |title=Duolingo is putting ads in Apple's Dynamic Island – even though it's not allowed |url=https://www.heise.de/en/news/Duolingo-is-putting-ads-in-Apple-s-Dynamic-Island-even-though-it-s-not-allowed-11128917.html |access-date=2026-01-05 |website=Heise Online |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20260106005825/https://www.heise.de/en/news/Duolingo-is-putting-ads-in-Apple-s-Dynamic-Island-even-though-it-s-not-allowed-11128917.html |archive-date=6 Jan 2026}}</ref>

==Products==
*Learn to Read – Duolingo ABC (2021)
*Duolingo Math (2022)<ref name="blog">{{Cite web|url=https://blog.duolingo.com/new-subjects/|title=Duolingo is bringing language, math, and music under one roof!|date=2023-10-11|work=Duolingo Blog|access-date=2025-03-14|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250120233940/https://blog.duolingo.com/new-subjects/|archive-date=2025-01-20|url-status=live}}</ref>
*Duolingo Music (2023)<ref name="blog" />

==References==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]
[[Category:Companies]]

Duolingo

2026-04-14T07:03:12Z

SomebodyThatMayContribute: Replaced cite "Bluerious518 comments on How am I supposed to legendary?" archive url from AT to IA (Archived on 20260406 as none existed)

{{CompanyCargo
|Founded=2011
|Industry=Education, Software
|Logo=Duolingo.svg
|Type=Public
|Website=https://duolingo.com
|Description=A language learning app with a mission to make learning "universally available". In the 2020s, paywalled content and data breaches affected users.
}}

'''{{Wplink|Duolingo}}''' is a publicly owned, American language-learning website founded in 2011 by Luis von Ahn and Severin Hacker.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://press.duolingo.com/#about|title=Our Mission|work=Duolingo Press Room|access-date=2025-03-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250319203900/https://press.duolingo.com/#about|archive-date=2025-03-19|url-status=live}}</ref> On July 28, 2021, the company began trading on the Nasdaq Global Select Market.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://investors.duolingo.com/news-releases/news-release-details/duolingo-announces-pricing-initial-public-offering|title=Duolingo Announces Pricing of Initial Public Offering|date=2021-07-27|work=Duolingo Press Room|access-date=2025-03-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250124122817/https://investors.duolingo.com/news-releases/news-release-details/duolingo-announces-pricing-initial-public-offering|archive-date=2025-01-24|url-status=live}}</ref> As of Q3 2024, the app has over 37 million daily active users and 8.6 million paid subscribers, with a net income of $23.4 million.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://investors.duolingo.com/financials|title=Financials|work=Duolingo Press Room|access-date=2025-03-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250124101114/https://investors.duolingo.com/financials|archive-date=2025-01-24|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Consumer impact summary==
===Freedom===
Users can delete their Duolingo account through the app settings and request their account data through the "[https://drive-thru.duolingo.com/ Duolingo Data Vault]". Users can also allow or deny the collection of optional information through the settings, such as location and anonymous speech data.

===Privacy===
According to the privacy policy, if a Duolingo Max user utilizes artificial-intelligence (AI) features, a copy of their text or audio data will be shared with vendors such as [[OpenAI]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.duolingo.com/privacy|title=Privacy Policy|work=Duolingo|date=2024-09-11|access-date=2025-03-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250124094802/https://www.duolingo.com/privacy|archive-date=2025-01-24|url-status=live}}</ref> This is also similar for non-AI features, as Duolingo "may also collect and analyze your speech to help [it] understand the effectiveness of [its] lessons and to improve the product", though the data is anonymized.

It is also mentioned that when completing a lesson, a video of a user's lesson "will be logged by a service called FullStory". This service records usage patterns, device specs, and learning activity, and is only disabled by default for child users. Opting out requires going to FullStory's website.

The policy states the app works with third-party advertising networks to [[Personalized ads|personalize advertising]], such as with [[Google]], [[Meta]], [[OAuth]], and [[Unity Engine runtime fee|Unity]]. Personalized advertising can be disabled in the app's settings.

The Exodus Privacy project lists as many as 13 tracking, advertising and analytics service libraries being present in the Android version of the app.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://reports.exodus-privacy.eu.org/de/reports/com.duolingo/latest/|title=Report for com.duolingo 6.22.3|work=exodus|date=2025-03-25|access-date=2025-03-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250326193207/https://reports.exodus-privacy.eu.org/de/reports/com.duolingo/latest/|archive-date=2025-03-26|url-status=live}}</ref> The app does not work for more than about one lesson without internet access, hence turning off internet access is not an option to prevent data exfiltration. The [https://trackercontrol.org/ F-Droid version of Tracker Control] can help with blocking some of the traffic to these services without impacting the functionality of the app.

===Business model===
Duolingo relies on in-app advertising and paid memberships for revenue. The company also sells merchandise on their website.

===Market control===
Duolingo is the most popular language-learning application, having 60% market control as of 2025.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.businessofapps.com/data/language-learning-app-market/|title=Language Learning App Revenue and Usage Statistics (2025)|first=David|last=Curry|date=2025-02-27|work=Business of Apps|access-date=2025-03-15|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250112232036/https://www.businessofapps.com/data/language-learning-app-market/|archive-date=2025-01-12|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Incidents==
This is a list of all consumer-protection incidents this company is involved in. Any incidents not mentioned here can be found in the [[:Category:{{FULLPAGENAME}}|{{PAGENAME}} category]].

===Data breach (''2023'')===
In January 2023, the data of 2.6 million users were posted to an online hacking forum for $1,500.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/scraped-data-of-26-million-duolingo-users-released-on-hacking-forum/|title=Scraped data of 2.6 million Duolingo users released on hacking forum|first=Lawrence|last=Abrams|work=Bleeping Computer|date=2023-08-22|access-date=2025-03-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250309233352/https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/scraped-data-of-26-million-duolingo-users-released-on-hacking-forum/|archive-date=2025-03-09|url-status=live}}</ref> The data were scraped from a vulnerable API, with email addresses, usernames, languages spoken, and real names being included.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://haveibeenpwned.com/PwnedWebsites#Duolingo|title=Pwned websites|work=haveibeenpwned.com|access-date=2025-03-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250309182649/https://haveibeenpwned.com/PwnedWebsites#Duolingo|archive-date=2025-03-09|url-status=live}}</ref> A spokesperson for Duolingo stressed that "these records were obtained by data-scraping public profile information" and "no data breach or hack has occurred".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://therecord.media/duolingo-investigating-dark-web-post-offering-data-from-2-6-million-accounts|title=DuoLingo investigating dark web post offering data from 2.6 million accounts|first=Jonathan|last=Greig|date=2023-01-23|work=The Record.|access-date=2025-03-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250307194542/https://therecord.media/duolingo-investigating-dark-web-post-offering-data-from-2-6-million-accounts|archive-date=2025-03-07|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Paywalled content (''2023'')===
On March 14, 2023, a new subscription service was released called "Duolingo Max", that promised highly personalized language learning with [[ChatGPT]]-4 integration.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://blog.duolingo.com/duolingo-max/|title=Duolingo Max Uses OpenAI's GPT-4 For New Learning Features|author=Duolingo Team|date=2023-03-14|work=Duolingo Blog|access-date=2025-03-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250304001440/https://blog.duolingo.com/duolingo-max/|archive-date=2025-03-04|url-status=live}}</ref> In September 2024, a new feature was added to the subscription that allowed users to interact with a character named Lily.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://blog.duolingo.com/video-call/|title=Duolingo's Video Call Offers Realistic Conversation Practice|author=Duolingo Team|date=2024-09-24|access-date=2025-03-26|work=Duolingo Blog|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250306000114/https://blog.duolingo.com/video-call/|archive-date=2025-03-06|url-status=live}}</ref> This subscription feature would show on the "learning path"<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://blog.duolingo.com/new-duolingo-home-screen-design/|title=The Science Behind Duolingo's Home Screen Redesign|first1=Holly|last1=Munson|first2=Anton|last2=Yu|first3=Ananya|last3=Rajgarhia|first4=Aj|last4=Noh|work=Duolingo Blog|date=2022-05-06|access-date=2025-03-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250302080539/https://blog.duolingo.com/new-duolingo-home-screen-design/|archive-date=2025-03-02|url-status=live}}</ref> for all users, regardless of their subscription status.

On September 3, 2024, users alleged they could not make a lesson have "legendary" status unless they paid for the "Duolingo Max" subscription to access the video-call lessons.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.reddit.com/r/duolingo/comments/1f7wlul/how_am_i_supposed_to_legendary/|title=How am I supposed to legendary?|author=u/ChasingKilts|date=2024-09-03|work=Reddit|access-date=2025-03-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260222215616/https://old.reddit.com/r/duolingo/comments/1f7wlul/how_am_i_supposed_to_legendary/|archive-date=22 Feb 2026|url-status=live}}</ref> At the time, the subscription was $30 per month and to get a legendary status for a lesson, each attempt would be 100 gems for free users<ref>{{Cite web |author=u/Bluerious518 |date=2024-09-03 |title=Bluerious518 comments on How am I supposed to legendary? |url=https://www.reddit.com/r/duolingo/comments/1f7wlul/comment/llbedvt/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260406045620/https://old.reddit.com/r/duolingo/comments/1f7wlul/how_am_i_supposed_to_legendary/llbedvt/ |archive-date=2026-04-06 |access-date=2025-03-27 |work=Reddit}}</ref> (not including Super Duolingo users).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://blog.duolingo.com/super-duolingo-launch/|title=Super Duolingo Is Duolingo's New Premium Product|first=Jay|last=Fanelli|work=Duolingo Blog|date=2022-06-08|access-date=2025-03-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250124090707/https://blog.duolingo.com/super-duolingo-launch/|archive-date=2025-01-24|url-status=live}}</ref> Some users were able to fix the behavior, though the "go to legendary" button would still not bring users to a skipped or new level.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.reddit.com/r/duolingo/comments/1f7wlul/how_am_i_supposed_to_legendary/m6uspad/|title=haa888 comments on How am I supposed to legendary?|author=u/haa888|work=Reddit|date=2025-01-13|access-date=2025-03-27|archive-url=https://archive.ph/Jzon1|archive-date=2025-01-23|url-status=live}}</ref>

====Implications====
According to Duolingo's mission statement, the goal of Duolingo is to make language learning "universally available."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://investors.duolingo.com/|title=Investor Relations|work=Duolingo Investors|access-date=2025-03-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250123181839/https://investors.duolingo.com/|archive-date=2025-01-23|url-status=live}}</ref> It states, "We created Duolingo so that everyone could have a chance. Free language education – no hidden fees, no premium content, just free."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.duolingo.com/info|title=About Us|work=Duolingo|access-date=2025-03-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250123075248/https://www.duolingo.com/info|archive-date=2025-01-23|url-status=live}}</ref> It goes on to say, "We believe true equality is when spending more can't buy you a better education."

===Pay-to-win pattern===
Recently, some of the timed learning games inside the app are impossible to complete in the time allowed, even for a native speaker of the language.{{Cite}} In order to win, the user needs to pay for a subscription to buy more time. This also means that the learning high scores can essentially be bought.

===Abusing iPhone Dynamic Island Feature for advertising (''2026'')===
Ignoring Apple's app store guidelines, the company used the Dynamic Island feature, an area of the iOS screen reserved for notifying users of progress of background processes, to push a sales promotion with a countdown via its iPhone app.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Schwan |first=Ben |date=2026-01-05 |title=Duolingo is putting ads in Apple's Dynamic Island – even though it's not allowed |url=https://www.heise.de/en/news/Duolingo-is-putting-ads-in-Apple-s-Dynamic-Island-even-though-it-s-not-allowed-11128917.html |access-date=2026-01-05 |website=Heise Online |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20260106005825/https://www.heise.de/en/news/Duolingo-is-putting-ads-in-Apple-s-Dynamic-Island-even-though-it-s-not-allowed-11128917.html |archive-date=6 Jan 2026}}</ref>

==Products==
*Learn to Read – Duolingo ABC (2021)
*Duolingo Math (2022)<ref name="blog">{{Cite web|url=https://blog.duolingo.com/new-subjects/|title=Duolingo is bringing language, math, and music under one roof!|date=2023-10-11|work=Duolingo Blog|access-date=2025-03-14|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250120233940/https://blog.duolingo.com/new-subjects/|archive-date=2025-01-20|url-status=live}}</ref>
*Duolingo Music (2023)<ref name="blog" />

==References==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]
[[Category:Companies]]

Volkswagen car-location data-exposure incident

2026-03-30T07:10:34Z

SomebodyThatMayContribute: Replaced cite "Volkswagen Data Breach: 800,000 Electric Car Owners’ Data Leaked" from archive.ph to IA (archived it today)

{{OngoingEvent}}
{{IncidentCargo
|Company=Volkswagen
|StartDate=2024
|EndDate=
|Status=Active
|ProductLine=
|Product=
|ArticleType=Product
|Type=Privacy, Surveillance
|Description=Volkswagen suffered a large databreach, revealing customer's location data, battery statistics, and sensitive personal information.
}}
In 2024, Volkswagen experienced a data-security incident involving customer vehicle information stored on [[Amazon Web Services]] (AWS). The incident occurred when Volkswagen's implementation of [[CARIAD]], a system used for storing terabytes of customer data, was discovered to have publicly accessible storage instances, because of a misconfiguration<ref name=":0">[https://cybersecuritynews.com/volkswagen-data-breach/]"Volkswagen Data Breach: 800,000 Electric Car Owners’ Data Leaked" written by Guru Baran (co-founder of Cyber Security News and GBHackers On Security). [https://web.archive.org/web/20260330070402/https://cybersecuritynews.com/volkswagen-data-breach/ Archived] from the original on December 28, 2024. Retrieved on January 15, 2025.</ref>.

==Background==

This incident occurred within a broader context of automotive data-security concerns. Modern vehicles increasingly collect and transmit various types of data, including location information, driving patterns, and user identification<ref name=":1">[https://www.ftc.gov/policy/advocacy-research/tech-at-ftc/2024/05/cars-consumer-data-unlawful-collection-use]"Cars & Consumer Data: On Unlawful Collection & Use" written in collaboration by the Office of Technology and the Division of Privacy and Identity Protection in the Bureau of Consumer Protection. [https://web.archive.org/web/20240514181955/https://www.ftc.gov/policy/advocacy-research/tech-at-ftc/2024/05/cars-consumer-data-unlawful-collection-use Archived] from the original on May 14, 2024. Retrieved January 15, 2025.</ref>. The automotive industry has previously faced scrutiny regarding data-collection practices, with documented instances of manufacturers collecting and sharing vehicle data with third parties.

==The incident==
[[File:Volkswagen geo-location pie chart.png|alt=Pie chart showing the total cars affected including the severity of each(whether its location was exposed down to a radius of 10cm or 10km) and breakdown by brand|thumb|Pie chart showing the total cars affected and breakdown by brand]]
The core issue stemmed from a misconfiguration in Volkswagen's AWS storage implementation, which left customer data publicly accessible without proper authentication or access restrictions<ref name=":0" />. This exposed sensitive information about vehicle locations, EV-battery statistics and sensitive customer information. The incident not only breached customer trust, but Volkswagen's own [[Terms of Service]].

==Industry context==

The incident highlighted ongoing discussions about automotive data security and privacy. Similar concerns were raised during the [[2020 Massachusetts Right to Repair ballot initiative]], where major automotive manufacturers including [[General Motors]], [[Ford]], [[Nissan]], [[Toyota]], and [[Honda]] invested approximately $25 million in campaign advertising discussing data security implications.

==Regulatory response==

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has previously expressed concerns about automotive data security. Following the 2020 Massachusetts Right to Repair initiative, NHTSA official Carrie Gules issued a letter addressing potential security vulnerabilities in vehicle data systems.<ref>https://www.nhtsa.gov/sites/nhtsa.gov/files/documents/vehicle_cybersecurity_best_practices_01072021.pdf. [https://web.archive.org/web/20210720041841/https://www.nhtsa.gov/sites/nhtsa.gov/files/documents/vehicle_cybersecurity_best_practices_01072021.pdf Archived] from the original on July 20, 2021. Retrieved January 27, 2025.</ref>

==Broader implications==

This incident demonstrates the broader challenges facing the automotive industry regarding data security and privacy. It has been documented that automotive manufacturers regularly collect various types of vehicle data,<ref name=":1" /> including:
*Location information
*Driving patterns
*Vehicle-operation metrics
*User-behavior data

Some manufacturers have established partnerships with data aggregators and insurance companies for data-sharing purposes. For example, General Motors has been documented to share driving data with LexisNexis and insurance companies, including information about:

*Vehicle-location data
*Turning-radius information
*Stop times
*Drive times

==See also==
*Data privacy
*[[Right to repair]]
*[[CARIAD]]
*[[Volkswagen]]
*[[2020 Massachusetts Right to Repair ballot initiative]]
*[[General Motors data collection and sharing controversy]]

==References==
<references />

[[Category:Data breaches]]

[[Category:AWS security incidents]]


==Further Reading==
*[https://www.spiegel.de/netzwelt/web/volkswagen-konzern-datenleck-wir-wissen-wo-dein-auto-steht-a-e12d33d0-97bc-493c-96d1-aa5892861027 For the link to the news source which was tipped off by a German hacktivist group]. [https://web.archive.org/web/20241227094207/https://www.spiegel.de/netzwelt/web/volkswagen-konzern-datenleck-wir-wissen-wo-dein-auto-steht-a-e12d33d0-97bc-493c-96d1-aa5892861027 Archived] from the original on December 27, 2024. Retrieved January 15, 2025.
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Agcp37iiWLc&t=188s Youtube video with mentioned credits for more information].
[[Category:Automotive privacy]]
[[Category:Right to repair]]
[[Category:CARIAD]]
[[Category:Incidents]]
[[Category:Articles based on videos]]

Data lock-in

2026-02-28T07:50:11Z

SomebodyThatMayContribute: change line 5, 12 cites to https

'''Data lock-in''' limits how device owners can access and manage data stored on the device they own. For example, some mobile applications store user data in a way they can only be viewed from inside the app, with no possibility of creating backups or moving them to external storage to free space. Many social media platforms make it difficult to export data. '''Data portability''' is a more consumer friendly approach, where it is easy to move data from one application or platform to alternatives.

==Incidents==
===Saved pages in Samsung Internet===
The mobile web browser by Samsung stores saved pages in the <code>/data</code> directory. This is a locked-in directory where apps store data only accessible to themselves.

Users have requested Samsung developers to change its browser to store saved pages in a non-locked-in place that makes them accessible from other applications and makes it possible to create backups, or to let users export copies of saved pages, but Samsung refused to implement this change. Some users have stored thousands of web pages this way before realizing they are unable to create backups or move them to external storage.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20250806152342/https://forum.developer.samsung.com/t/regarding-saved-webpages/5304/1 Regarding saved webpages - Samsung Internet - Samsung Developer Forums]</ref>

Rooting a device would make the <code>/data</code> folder accessible, but this requires an unlocked bootloader. The process of unlocking the bootloader involves a factory reset, which deletes all user-generated files from internal storage.

In comparison, Google Chrome on mobile stores web pages as MHTML files in the download folder where they are not locked in, and Firefox on mobile completely lacks a feature to save pages.

===Saved pages in Apple Safari on iPhone===
Apple refers to saved pages as the "reading list", a name that implies the feature is intended for storing pages only until they are read, not for archival. Like with Samsung, people have asked for an ability to export saved pages. Apple has not responded.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20250806152342/https://forum.developer.samsung.com/t/regarding-saved-webpages/5304/1 How do you EXPORT your Reading List from Safari - Apple Community]</ref>

===User data in mobile web browsers===
No major mobile web browser lets the user export their session (list of opened tabs) and browsing history and bookmarks to a local file. Exporting all tabs may be desirable to start with a fresh session without losing the existing session, and exporting the history makes it easier to search for pages a long time after visiting, beyond what the browser retains.<ref>[https://beepb00p.xyz/sad-infra.html The sad state of personal data and infrastructure] - Karl Icoss ([http://web.archive.org/web/20260203233117/https://beepb00p.xyz/sad-infra.html Archived])</ref>

Some web browsers have a "Sync" feature that allows synchronizing tabs and bookmarks across devices, but it is cloud-based, meaning it depends on an online service that can cease to operate at any time.<ref>[https://karl-voit.at/cloud/ You Can't Control Your Data in the Cloud] - Karl Voit ([http://web.archive.org/web/20260202071758/https://karl-voit.at/cloud/ Archived])</ref><ref>[https://workona.com/pages/how-to-export-chrome-bookmarks/ How to Export Chrome Bookmarks for the Last Time] - Workona ([http://web.archive.org/web/20251126072849/https://workona.com/pages/how-to-export-chrome-bookmarks/ Archived])</ref>

===Text messages===
The built-in text messaging applications of both Android and iOS lack a built-in local export option.

On Android, the third-party app "SMS Backup+" can create exports, but they can not be directly stored locally, only uploaded to the middleman GMail, which requires Internet connection and a Google account, and can cease to function at any time due to Google API changes.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20250314125929/https://github.com/jberkel/sms-backup-plus/issues/974 Feature request: save to local file · Issue #974 · jberkel/sms-backup-plus · GitHub]</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20250313124817/https://github.com/jberkel/sms-backup-plus/issues/1110 SMS -Backup+ unable to log into my email to backup SMS messages · Issue #1110 · jberkel/sms-backup-plus · GitHub]</ref>

On iOS, exporting apps require payment, an external computer, and save as PDF, resulting in much larger files than plain text.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20251111204709/https://discussions.apple.com/thread/255416051?sortBy=rank Export iMessage conversation - Apple Community]</ref><ref>[https://megalodon.jp/2026-0228-1623-45/https://discussions.apple.com:443/thread/255674743?sortBy=rank I want to download my messages to an external drive (flash drive) - Apple Community]</ref>

Chat messages can be archived manually with screenshots and screen recordings, but this takes lots of time and manual work, and the resulting files can not be searched for text and will be much larger in size than a plain text-based export would be.

[[WhatsApp]] lets the user export messages to a text file, but this has to be done for each conversation individually, and starting with an April 2025 update, exporting can be remotely disabled by the other participant.<ref>[https://archive.today/2025.08.28-001731/https://faq.whatsapp.com/715385484388016/?cms_platform=web About advanced chat privacy | WhatsApp Help Center]</ref>

===Android data folder===
Since Android 11, apps can no longer browse the <code>Android/data</code> folder in the shared user storage (not to be confused with <code>/data</code>, which was locked in since the beginning).<ref>[https://developer.android.com/about/versions/11/privacy/storage Storage updates in Android 11 | Android Developers]: If your app targets Android 11, it cannot access the files in any other app's data directory, even if the other app targets Android 8.1 (API level 27) or lower and has made the files in its data directory world-readable ([http://web.archive.org/web/20260130032658/https://developer.android.com/about/versions/11/privacy/storage Archived]).</ref>

===Videos downloaded inside the YouTube app===
YouTube provides no official way for people to create permanent local copies of videos. This includes Creative Commons media.<ref>[https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/L1S0SiBuJN8 Google is Locking Down Android - Mental Outlaw], 07:20</ref> The only exception is YouTube Studio allowing channel owners to download their own videos in up to 720p.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6UHS1-vDMM Changes to Unlisted Videos Uploaded Before 2017], 4:30 ([https://preservetube.com/watch?v=l6UHS1-vDMM Archived])</ref>

While the YouTube app lets paying YouTube Premium subscribers download videos for offline viewing, the videos are only accessible through the YouTube app, encoded in a proprietary format, and forcibly deleted after 29 days.<ref>[https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/L1S0SiBuJN8 Google is Locking Down Android - Mental Outlaw], 06:41</ref><ref>[https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/7381437 YouTube videos offline FAQs - YouTube Help] ([http://web.archive.org/web/20260207132551/https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/7381437 Archived])</ref><ref>[https://www.virtualcuriosities.com/articles/3383/warning-youtube-premium-downloads-arent-mp4-files Warning: Youtube Premium "Downloads" aren't MP4 Files - Virtual Curiosities] ([http://web.archive.org/web/20251126100053/https://www.virtualcuriosities.com/articles/3383/warning-youtube-premium-downloads-arent-mp4-files Archived])</ref><ref>[https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/whats-wrong-with-youtube.html What's Wrong with YouTube - GNU Project - Free Software Foundation] ([https://web.archive.org/web/20260216041246/https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/whats-wrong-with-youtube.html Archived])</ref>

Permanent local copies are necessary to preserve Internet history when YouTube ceases to operate:
<blockquote>
Whenever I tell people that we need to plan for the day when YouTube goes offline, I mostly receive weird reactions. It seems to be the case that people can't think of YouTube being gone. Unfortunately, I'm convinced that most people will face the day when we lose this enormous library of videos.
</blockquote>
<ref>[https://karl-voit.at/cloud-dependencies/ My Dependencies on the Cloud] - Karl Voit ([https://web.archive.org/web/20260216041319/https://karl-voit.at/cloud-dependencies/ Archived])</ref>

===Telekom Entertain media receiver recordings===
The German Telekom, an Internet and Internet Television provider, sells landline Internet television receivers and recorders. A former product line were the "Entertain" Media Receiver 300, 301, 303, and 500. (The 100 and 102 were secondary devices with no internal hard drives. The others had hard drives between 160 and 500 GB.<ref>[https://archive.today/2026.01.27-101349/https://www.telekom-profis.de/vermitteln/news/media-receiver-mr-102-wieder-erhaeltlich-60.html Media Receiver MR 102 wieder erhältlich! - Telekom Profis] (June 2011)</ref><ref>[https://archive.org/details/manualzilla-id-6725650 Media Receiver 100] (user manual)</ref><ref>[https://www.woogmedia.de:443/downloads/BDA_MR300.pdf Media Receiver 300 Bedienungsanleitung] (user manual) ([http://web.archive.org/web/20260210175058/https://www.woogmedia.de/downloads/BDA_MR300.pdf Archived])</ref><ref name="MR300">[https://www.hifitest.de/test/stereoanlage-und-komplettanlage/deutsche-telekom-t-home-media-receiver-300-380 Deutsche Telekom T-Home Media Receiver 300] - hifitest.de (June 2009) ([http://web.archive.org/web/20260208092154/https://www.hifitest.de/test/stereoanlage-und-komplettanlage/deutsche-telekom-t-home-media-receiver-300-380 Archived])</ref><ref>[https://archive.today/2026.01.27-101343/https://www.golem.de/1101/80856.html Media Receiver 303: Neuer Festplattenrekorder für Telekom Entertain - Golem.de] (January 2011)</ref><ref name="MR500" />)

Their operating systems were designed in a way that they would not boot without connecting to Telekom servers, and the devices stored the television recordings on their internal hard drive in a proprietary format, and provided the user with no means of copying or moving recordings to external media such as an external flash drive or hard drive, meaning users were forced to delete recordings when running out of disk space. While the devices featured up to two USB ports, some even an eSATA port, they had no use other than supplying electrical power.<ref name="MR500">[https://www.hifitest.de/test/sat-receiver-mit-festplatte/deutsche-telekom-media-receiver-500-sat-6114 Deutsche Telekom Media Receiver 500 Sat] - hifitest.de (June 2012) ([http://web.archive.org/web/20250621145244/https://www.hifitest.de/test/sat-receiver-mit-festplatte/deutsche-telekom-media-receiver-500-sat-6114 Archived])</ref><ref name="MR300" /><ref>[https://telekom.tarife-angebote.de/magenta-zuhause/entertain/media-receiver-empfaenger/mr303-iptv-festplattenrekorder Telekom Media-Receiver 303 (MR303 Festplattenrekorder)] - telekom.tarife-angebote.de ([http://web.archive.org/web/20260127112814/https://telekom.tarife-angebote.de/magenta-zuhause/entertain/media-receiver-empfaenger/mr303-iptv-festplattenrekorder Archived])</ref>

In 2019, its users lost access to all recordings stored locally on the devices when the online service their operating system depended on was shut down. The devices were in service for eight years (since 2011), meaning users would lose access to up to eight years of television recordings.<ref>[https://archive.today/2026.01.27-095619/https://web.archive.org/web/20190825100604/https://www.telekom.com/de/konzern/details/magentatv-loest-entertain-ab-558808 MagentaTV löst Entertain ab | Deutsche Telekom]</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20210412055921/https://www.onlinekosten.de/news/telekom-zieht-2019-beim-alten-entertain-den-stecker_214313.html Telekom zieht 2019 beim alten "Entertain" den Stecker]</ref>

==See also==
*[[Enshittification]]
*[[Right to own]]

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

Data lock-in

2026-02-28T07:42:40Z

SomebodyThatMayContribute: replaced cite to closest available (20250806 compared to 2024.10.12 on AT;) on IA (as the original page doesn't exists - for any more recent capture

'''Data lock-in''' limits how device owners can access and manage data stored on the device they own. For example, some mobile applications store user data in a way they can only be viewed from inside the app, with no possibility of creating backups or moving them to external storage to free space. Many social media platforms make it difficult to export data. '''Data portability''' is a more consumer friendly approach, where it is easy to move data from one application or platform to alternatives.

==Incidents==
===Saved pages in Samsung Internet===
The mobile web browser by Samsung stores saved pages in the <code>/data</code> directory. This is a locked-in directory where apps store data only accessible to themselves.

Users have requested Samsung developers to change its browser to store saved pages in a non-locked-in place that makes them accessible from other applications and makes it possible to create backups, or to let users export copies of saved pages, but Samsung refused to implement this change. Some users have stored thousands of web pages this way before realizing they are unable to create backups or move them to external storage.<ref>[http://web.archive.org/web/20250806152342/https://forum.developer.samsung.com/t/regarding-saved-webpages/5304/1 Regarding saved webpages - Samsung Internet - Samsung Developer Forums]</ref>

Rooting a device would make the <code>/data</code> folder accessible, but this requires an unlocked bootloader. The process of unlocking the bootloader involves a factory reset, which deletes all user-generated files from internal storage.

In comparison, Google Chrome on mobile stores web pages as MHTML files in the download folder where they are not locked in, and Firefox on mobile completely lacks a feature to save pages.

===Saved pages in Apple Safari on iPhone===
Apple refers to saved pages as the "reading list", a name that implies the feature is intended for storing pages only until they are read, not for archival. Like with Samsung, people have asked for an ability to export saved pages. Apple has not responded.<ref>[http://web.archive.org/web/20250806152342/https://forum.developer.samsung.com/t/regarding-saved-webpages/5304/1 How do you EXPORT your Reading List from Safari - Apple Community]</ref>

===User data in mobile web browsers===
No major mobile web browser lets the user export their session (list of opened tabs) and browsing history and bookmarks to a local file. Exporting all tabs may be desirable to start with a fresh session without losing the existing session, and exporting the history makes it easier to search for pages a long time after visiting, beyond what the browser retains.<ref>[https://beepb00p.xyz/sad-infra.html The sad state of personal data and infrastructure] - Karl Icoss ([http://web.archive.org/web/20260203233117/https://beepb00p.xyz/sad-infra.html Archived])</ref>

Some web browsers have a "Sync" feature that allows synchronizing tabs and bookmarks across devices, but it is cloud-based, meaning it depends on an online service that can cease to operate at any time.<ref>[https://karl-voit.at/cloud/ You Can't Control Your Data in the Cloud] - Karl Voit ([http://web.archive.org/web/20260202071758/https://karl-voit.at/cloud/ Archived])</ref><ref>[https://workona.com/pages/how-to-export-chrome-bookmarks/ How to Export Chrome Bookmarks for the Last Time] - Workona ([http://web.archive.org/web/20251126072849/https://workona.com/pages/how-to-export-chrome-bookmarks/ Archived])</ref>

===Text messages===
The built-in text messaging applications of both Android and iOS lack a built-in local export option.

On Android, the third-party app "SMS Backup+" can create exports, but they can not be directly stored locally, only uploaded to the middleman GMail, which requires Internet connection and a Google account, and can cease to function at any time due to Google API changes.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20250314125929/https://github.com/jberkel/sms-backup-plus/issues/974 Feature request: save to local file · Issue #974 · jberkel/sms-backup-plus · GitHub]</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20250313124817/https://github.com/jberkel/sms-backup-plus/issues/1110 SMS -Backup+ unable to log into my email to backup SMS messages · Issue #1110 · jberkel/sms-backup-plus · GitHub]</ref>

On iOS, exporting apps require payment, an external computer, and save as PDF, resulting in much larger files than plain text.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20251111204709/https://discussions.apple.com/thread/255416051?sortBy=rank Export iMessage conversation - Apple Community]</ref><ref>[https://megalodon.jp/2026-0228-1623-45/https://discussions.apple.com:443/thread/255674743?sortBy=rank I want to download my messages to an external drive (flash drive) - Apple Community]</ref>

Chat messages can be archived manually with screenshots and screen recordings, but this takes lots of time and manual work, and the resulting files can not be searched for text and will be much larger in size than a plain text-based export would be.

[[WhatsApp]] lets the user export messages to a text file, but this has to be done for each conversation individually, and starting with an April 2025 update, exporting can be remotely disabled by the other participant.<ref>[https://archive.today/2025.08.28-001731/https://faq.whatsapp.com/715385484388016/?cms_platform=web About advanced chat privacy | WhatsApp Help Center]</ref>

===Android data folder===
Since Android 11, apps can no longer browse the <code>Android/data</code> folder in the shared user storage (not to be confused with <code>/data</code>, which was locked in since the beginning).<ref>[https://developer.android.com/about/versions/11/privacy/storage Storage updates in Android 11 | Android Developers]: If your app targets Android 11, it cannot access the files in any other app's data directory, even if the other app targets Android 8.1 (API level 27) or lower and has made the files in its data directory world-readable ([http://web.archive.org/web/20260130032658/https://developer.android.com/about/versions/11/privacy/storage Archived]).</ref>

===Videos downloaded inside the YouTube app===
YouTube provides no official way for people to create permanent local copies of videos. This includes Creative Commons media.<ref>[https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/L1S0SiBuJN8 Google is Locking Down Android - Mental Outlaw], 07:20</ref> The only exception is YouTube Studio allowing channel owners to download their own videos in up to 720p.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6UHS1-vDMM Changes to Unlisted Videos Uploaded Before 2017], 4:30 ([https://preservetube.com/watch?v=l6UHS1-vDMM Archived])</ref>

While the YouTube app lets paying YouTube Premium subscribers download videos for offline viewing, the videos are only accessible through the YouTube app, encoded in a proprietary format, and forcibly deleted after 29 days.<ref>[https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/L1S0SiBuJN8 Google is Locking Down Android - Mental Outlaw], 06:41</ref><ref>[https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/7381437 YouTube videos offline FAQs - YouTube Help] ([http://web.archive.org/web/20260207132551/https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/7381437 Archived])</ref><ref>[https://www.virtualcuriosities.com/articles/3383/warning-youtube-premium-downloads-arent-mp4-files Warning: Youtube Premium "Downloads" aren't MP4 Files - Virtual Curiosities] ([http://web.archive.org/web/20251126100053/https://www.virtualcuriosities.com/articles/3383/warning-youtube-premium-downloads-arent-mp4-files Archived])</ref><ref>[https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/whats-wrong-with-youtube.html What's Wrong with YouTube - GNU Project - Free Software Foundation] ([https://web.archive.org/web/20260216041246/https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/whats-wrong-with-youtube.html Archived])</ref>

Permanent local copies are necessary to preserve Internet history when YouTube ceases to operate:
<blockquote>
Whenever I tell people that we need to plan for the day when YouTube goes offline, I mostly receive weird reactions. It seems to be the case that people can't think of YouTube being gone. Unfortunately, I'm convinced that most people will face the day when we lose this enormous library of videos.
</blockquote>
<ref>[https://karl-voit.at/cloud-dependencies/ My Dependencies on the Cloud] - Karl Voit ([https://web.archive.org/web/20260216041319/https://karl-voit.at/cloud-dependencies/ Archived])</ref>

===Telekom Entertain media receiver recordings===
The German Telekom, an Internet and Internet Television provider, sells landline Internet television receivers and recorders. A former product line were the "Entertain" Media Receiver 300, 301, 303, and 500. (The 100 and 102 were secondary devices with no internal hard drives. The others had hard drives between 160 and 500 GB.<ref>[https://archive.today/2026.01.27-101349/https://www.telekom-profis.de/vermitteln/news/media-receiver-mr-102-wieder-erhaeltlich-60.html Media Receiver MR 102 wieder erhältlich! - Telekom Profis] (June 2011)</ref><ref>[https://archive.org/details/manualzilla-id-6725650 Media Receiver 100] (user manual)</ref><ref>[https://www.woogmedia.de:443/downloads/BDA_MR300.pdf Media Receiver 300 Bedienungsanleitung] (user manual) ([http://web.archive.org/web/20260210175058/https://www.woogmedia.de/downloads/BDA_MR300.pdf Archived])</ref><ref name="MR300">[https://www.hifitest.de/test/stereoanlage-und-komplettanlage/deutsche-telekom-t-home-media-receiver-300-380 Deutsche Telekom T-Home Media Receiver 300] - hifitest.de (June 2009) ([http://web.archive.org/web/20260208092154/https://www.hifitest.de/test/stereoanlage-und-komplettanlage/deutsche-telekom-t-home-media-receiver-300-380 Archived])</ref><ref>[https://archive.today/2026.01.27-101343/https://www.golem.de/1101/80856.html Media Receiver 303: Neuer Festplattenrekorder für Telekom Entertain - Golem.de] (January 2011)</ref><ref name="MR500" />)

Their operating systems were designed in a way that they would not boot without connecting to Telekom servers, and the devices stored the television recordings on their internal hard drive in a proprietary format, and provided the user with no means of copying or moving recordings to external media such as an external flash drive or hard drive, meaning users were forced to delete recordings when running out of disk space. While the devices featured up to two USB ports, some even an eSATA port, they had no use other than supplying electrical power.<ref name="MR500">[https://www.hifitest.de/test/sat-receiver-mit-festplatte/deutsche-telekom-media-receiver-500-sat-6114 Deutsche Telekom Media Receiver 500 Sat] - hifitest.de (June 2012) ([http://web.archive.org/web/20250621145244/https://www.hifitest.de/test/sat-receiver-mit-festplatte/deutsche-telekom-media-receiver-500-sat-6114 Archived])</ref><ref name="MR300" /><ref>[https://telekom.tarife-angebote.de/magenta-zuhause/entertain/media-receiver-empfaenger/mr303-iptv-festplattenrekorder Telekom Media-Receiver 303 (MR303 Festplattenrekorder)] - telekom.tarife-angebote.de ([http://web.archive.org/web/20260127112814/https://telekom.tarife-angebote.de/magenta-zuhause/entertain/media-receiver-empfaenger/mr303-iptv-festplattenrekorder Archived])</ref>

In 2019, its users lost access to all recordings stored locally on the devices when the online service their operating system depended on was shut down. The devices were in service for eight years (since 2011), meaning users would lose access to up to eight years of television recordings.<ref>[https://archive.today/2026.01.27-095619/https://web.archive.org/web/20190825100604/https://www.telekom.com/de/konzern/details/magentatv-loest-entertain-ab-558808 MagentaTV löst Entertain ab | Deutsche Telekom]</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20210412055921/https://www.onlinekosten.de/news/telekom-zieht-2019-beim-alten-entertain-den-stecker_214313.html Telekom zieht 2019 beim alten "Entertain" den Stecker]</ref>

==See also==
*[[Enshittification]]
*[[Right to own]]

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

Data lock-in

2026-02-28T07:37:52Z

SomebodyThatMayContribute: replaced cite to closest available (20250806 compared to 2025.10.10 on AT) on IA (as the original page doesn't exists - for any more recent capture)

'''Data lock-in''' limits how device owners can access and manage data stored on the device they own. For example, some mobile applications store user data in a way they can only be viewed from inside the app, with no possibility of creating backups or moving them to external storage to free space. Many social media platforms make it difficult to export data. '''Data portability''' is a more consumer friendly approach, where it is easy to move data from one application or platform to alternatives.

==Incidents==
===Saved pages in Samsung Internet===
The mobile web browser by Samsung stores saved pages in the <code>/data</code> directory. This is a locked-in directory where apps store data only accessible to themselves.

Users have requested Samsung developers to change its browser to store saved pages in a non-locked-in place that makes them accessible from other applications and makes it possible to create backups, or to let users export copies of saved pages, but Samsung refused to implement this change. Some users have stored thousands of web pages this way before realizing they are unable to create backups or move them to external storage.<ref>[https://archive.today/2024.10.12-140435/https://forum.developer.samsung.com/t/regarding-saved-webpages/5304/1 Regarding saved webpages - Samsung Internet - Samsung Developer Forums]</ref>

Rooting a device would make the <code>/data</code> folder accessible, but this requires an unlocked bootloader. The process of unlocking the bootloader involves a factory reset, which deletes all user-generated files from internal storage.

In comparison, Google Chrome on mobile stores web pages as MHTML files in the download folder where they are not locked in, and Firefox on mobile completely lacks a feature to save pages.

===Saved pages in Apple Safari on iPhone===
Apple refers to saved pages as the "reading list", a name that implies the feature is intended for storing pages only until they are read, not for archival. Like with Samsung, people have asked for an ability to export saved pages. Apple has not responded.<ref>[http://web.archive.org/web/20250806152342/https://forum.developer.samsung.com/t/regarding-saved-webpages/5304/1 How do you EXPORT your Reading List from Safari - Apple Community]</ref>

===User data in mobile web browsers===
No major mobile web browser lets the user export their session (list of opened tabs) and browsing history and bookmarks to a local file. Exporting all tabs may be desirable to start with a fresh session without losing the existing session, and exporting the history makes it easier to search for pages a long time after visiting, beyond what the browser retains.<ref>[https://beepb00p.xyz/sad-infra.html The sad state of personal data and infrastructure] - Karl Icoss ([http://web.archive.org/web/20260203233117/https://beepb00p.xyz/sad-infra.html Archived])</ref>

Some web browsers have a "Sync" feature that allows synchronizing tabs and bookmarks across devices, but it is cloud-based, meaning it depends on an online service that can cease to operate at any time.<ref>[https://karl-voit.at/cloud/ You Can't Control Your Data in the Cloud] - Karl Voit ([http://web.archive.org/web/20260202071758/https://karl-voit.at/cloud/ Archived])</ref><ref>[https://workona.com/pages/how-to-export-chrome-bookmarks/ How to Export Chrome Bookmarks for the Last Time] - Workona ([http://web.archive.org/web/20251126072849/https://workona.com/pages/how-to-export-chrome-bookmarks/ Archived])</ref>

===Text messages===
The built-in text messaging applications of both Android and iOS lack a built-in local export option.

On Android, the third-party app "SMS Backup+" can create exports, but they can not be directly stored locally, only uploaded to the middleman GMail, which requires Internet connection and a Google account, and can cease to function at any time due to Google API changes.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20250314125929/https://github.com/jberkel/sms-backup-plus/issues/974 Feature request: save to local file · Issue #974 · jberkel/sms-backup-plus · GitHub]</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20250313124817/https://github.com/jberkel/sms-backup-plus/issues/1110 SMS -Backup+ unable to log into my email to backup SMS messages · Issue #1110 · jberkel/sms-backup-plus · GitHub]</ref>

On iOS, exporting apps require payment, an external computer, and save as PDF, resulting in much larger files than plain text.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20251111204709/https://discussions.apple.com/thread/255416051?sortBy=rank Export iMessage conversation - Apple Community]</ref><ref>[https://megalodon.jp/2026-0228-1623-45/https://discussions.apple.com:443/thread/255674743?sortBy=rank I want to download my messages to an external drive (flash drive) - Apple Community]</ref>

Chat messages can be archived manually with screenshots and screen recordings, but this takes lots of time and manual work, and the resulting files can not be searched for text and will be much larger in size than a plain text-based export would be.

[[WhatsApp]] lets the user export messages to a text file, but this has to be done for each conversation individually, and starting with an April 2025 update, exporting can be remotely disabled by the other participant.<ref>[https://archive.today/2025.08.28-001731/https://faq.whatsapp.com/715385484388016/?cms_platform=web About advanced chat privacy | WhatsApp Help Center]</ref>

===Android data folder===
Since Android 11, apps can no longer browse the <code>Android/data</code> folder in the shared user storage (not to be confused with <code>/data</code>, which was locked in since the beginning).<ref>[https://developer.android.com/about/versions/11/privacy/storage Storage updates in Android 11 | Android Developers]: If your app targets Android 11, it cannot access the files in any other app's data directory, even if the other app targets Android 8.1 (API level 27) or lower and has made the files in its data directory world-readable ([http://web.archive.org/web/20260130032658/https://developer.android.com/about/versions/11/privacy/storage Archived]).</ref>

===Videos downloaded inside the YouTube app===
YouTube provides no official way for people to create permanent local copies of videos. This includes Creative Commons media.<ref>[https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/L1S0SiBuJN8 Google is Locking Down Android - Mental Outlaw], 07:20</ref> The only exception is YouTube Studio allowing channel owners to download their own videos in up to 720p.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6UHS1-vDMM Changes to Unlisted Videos Uploaded Before 2017], 4:30 ([https://preservetube.com/watch?v=l6UHS1-vDMM Archived])</ref>

While the YouTube app lets paying YouTube Premium subscribers download videos for offline viewing, the videos are only accessible through the YouTube app, encoded in a proprietary format, and forcibly deleted after 29 days.<ref>[https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/L1S0SiBuJN8 Google is Locking Down Android - Mental Outlaw], 06:41</ref><ref>[https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/7381437 YouTube videos offline FAQs - YouTube Help] ([http://web.archive.org/web/20260207132551/https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/7381437 Archived])</ref><ref>[https://www.virtualcuriosities.com/articles/3383/warning-youtube-premium-downloads-arent-mp4-files Warning: Youtube Premium "Downloads" aren't MP4 Files - Virtual Curiosities] ([http://web.archive.org/web/20251126100053/https://www.virtualcuriosities.com/articles/3383/warning-youtube-premium-downloads-arent-mp4-files Archived])</ref><ref>[https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/whats-wrong-with-youtube.html What's Wrong with YouTube - GNU Project - Free Software Foundation] ([https://web.archive.org/web/20260216041246/https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/whats-wrong-with-youtube.html Archived])</ref>

Permanent local copies are necessary to preserve Internet history when YouTube ceases to operate:
<blockquote>
Whenever I tell people that we need to plan for the day when YouTube goes offline, I mostly receive weird reactions. It seems to be the case that people can't think of YouTube being gone. Unfortunately, I'm convinced that most people will face the day when we lose this enormous library of videos.
</blockquote>
<ref>[https://karl-voit.at/cloud-dependencies/ My Dependencies on the Cloud] - Karl Voit ([https://web.archive.org/web/20260216041319/https://karl-voit.at/cloud-dependencies/ Archived])</ref>

===Telekom Entertain media receiver recordings===
The German Telekom, an Internet and Internet Television provider, sells landline Internet television receivers and recorders. A former product line were the "Entertain" Media Receiver 300, 301, 303, and 500. (The 100 and 102 were secondary devices with no internal hard drives. The others had hard drives between 160 and 500 GB.<ref>[https://archive.today/2026.01.27-101349/https://www.telekom-profis.de/vermitteln/news/media-receiver-mr-102-wieder-erhaeltlich-60.html Media Receiver MR 102 wieder erhältlich! - Telekom Profis] (June 2011)</ref><ref>[https://archive.org/details/manualzilla-id-6725650 Media Receiver 100] (user manual)</ref><ref>[https://www.woogmedia.de:443/downloads/BDA_MR300.pdf Media Receiver 300 Bedienungsanleitung] (user manual) ([http://web.archive.org/web/20260210175058/https://www.woogmedia.de/downloads/BDA_MR300.pdf Archived])</ref><ref name="MR300">[https://www.hifitest.de/test/stereoanlage-und-komplettanlage/deutsche-telekom-t-home-media-receiver-300-380 Deutsche Telekom T-Home Media Receiver 300] - hifitest.de (June 2009) ([http://web.archive.org/web/20260208092154/https://www.hifitest.de/test/stereoanlage-und-komplettanlage/deutsche-telekom-t-home-media-receiver-300-380 Archived])</ref><ref>[https://archive.today/2026.01.27-101343/https://www.golem.de/1101/80856.html Media Receiver 303: Neuer Festplattenrekorder für Telekom Entertain - Golem.de] (January 2011)</ref><ref name="MR500" />)

Their operating systems were designed in a way that they would not boot without connecting to Telekom servers, and the devices stored the television recordings on their internal hard drive in a proprietary format, and provided the user with no means of copying or moving recordings to external media such as an external flash drive or hard drive, meaning users were forced to delete recordings when running out of disk space. While the devices featured up to two USB ports, some even an eSATA port, they had no use other than supplying electrical power.<ref name="MR500">[https://www.hifitest.de/test/sat-receiver-mit-festplatte/deutsche-telekom-media-receiver-500-sat-6114 Deutsche Telekom Media Receiver 500 Sat] - hifitest.de (June 2012) ([http://web.archive.org/web/20250621145244/https://www.hifitest.de/test/sat-receiver-mit-festplatte/deutsche-telekom-media-receiver-500-sat-6114 Archived])</ref><ref name="MR300" /><ref>[https://telekom.tarife-angebote.de/magenta-zuhause/entertain/media-receiver-empfaenger/mr303-iptv-festplattenrekorder Telekom Media-Receiver 303 (MR303 Festplattenrekorder)] - telekom.tarife-angebote.de ([http://web.archive.org/web/20260127112814/https://telekom.tarife-angebote.de/magenta-zuhause/entertain/media-receiver-empfaenger/mr303-iptv-festplattenrekorder Archived])</ref>

In 2019, its users lost access to all recordings stored locally on the devices when the online service their operating system depended on was shut down. The devices were in service for eight years (since 2011), meaning users would lose access to up to eight years of television recordings.<ref>[https://archive.today/2026.01.27-095619/https://web.archive.org/web/20190825100604/https://www.telekom.com/de/konzern/details/magentatv-loest-entertain-ab-558808 MagentaTV löst Entertain ab | Deutsche Telekom]</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20210412055921/https://www.onlinekosten.de/news/telekom-zieht-2019-beim-alten-entertain-den-stecker_214313.html Telekom zieht 2019 beim alten "Entertain" den Stecker]</ref>

==See also==
*[[Enshittification]]
*[[Right to own]]

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

Persona

2026-02-28T07:33:30Z

SomebodyThatMayContribute: replaced redact.dev cite to ghostarchive (archived it today) as IA doesn't support/want it.

{{CompanyCargo
|Logo=Persona.png
|Type=Private
|Website=https://withpersona.com/
|Description=Identity Verification
|Industry=Software}}

Persona is an Identity Verification company, founded in 2018 by Rick Song and Charles Yeh. It is funded by Founders Fund<ref>{{Cite web |title=Persona |url=https://foundersfund.com/company/persona/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260228040423/https://foundersfund.com/company/persona/ |archive-date=2026-02-28 |website=Founders Fund}}</ref> which is an adventure capitalist firm c-founded by Peter Theil.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Peter Thiel |url=https://foundersfund.com/team/peter-thiel/ |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160528193728/http://foundersfund.com/team/peter-thiel/ |archive-date=2016-05-28 |website=Founders Fund}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Redacto |date=2026-02-16 |title=Discord Tested Age Verification Vendor Persona: What Users Should Know |url=https://redact.dev/blog/discord-persona-age-verification-experiment |url-status=live |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/PAWXp |archive-date=2026-02-26 |website=redact.dev}}</ref> 

From the 14th July 2025 they started working with [[Reddit]] to perform ID checks on it's UK site, as part of the UK's Online Safety Act.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2025-07-14 |title=Reddit starts verifying ages of users in the UK |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cj4ep1znk4zo |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260225142635/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cj4ep1znk4zo |archive-date=2026-02-25 |access-date=2026-02-20 |work=BBC News}}</ref>

In February 2026 [[Discord]] announced they would be experimenting with Persona to perform ID checks worldwide.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Bubbles |date=2026-02-24 |title=How to Complete Age Assurance on Discord |url=https://support.discord.com/hc/en-us/articles/30326565624343-How-to-Complete-Age-Assurance-on-Discord |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260212201755/https://support.discord.com/hc/en-us/articles/30326565624343-How-to-Complete-Age-Assurance-on-Discord |archive-date=2026-02-12 |website=Discord}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=2026-02-09 |title=Discord is rolling out facial scanning and ID checks globally in March for users who don't want to be locked into a 'teen-appropriate experience' |url=https://www.pcgamer.com/games/discord-is-rolling-out-facial-scanning-and-id-checks-in-march-for-everyone-who-doesnt-want-to-be-locked-into-a-teen-appropriate-experience/ |url-status=live |access-date=2026-02-20 |work=PC Gamer |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20260214175605/https://www.pcgamer.com/games/discord-is-rolling-out-facial-scanning-and-id-checks-in-march-for-everyone-who-doesnt-want-to-be-locked-into-a-teen-appropriate-experience/ |archive-date=14 Feb 2026}}</ref>

==Consumer-impact summary==
===User Freedom===
Products and services with the services provided by Persona usually block functionalities and content (generally content or functionalities flagged as "adult" content) until the verification is complete or bypassed. If the user is verified as an adult, they'll be able to have total or most access to the content of that product or service.

Their Privacy Policy contains [[forced arbitration]] that applies to users belonging to the United States:<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |author=Persona |date=18 Nov 2025 |title=Privacy Policy |url=https://withpersona.com/legal/privacy-policy |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260224203606/https://withpersona.com/legal/privacy-policy |archive-date=2026-02-24 |access-date=24 Feb 2026 |website=Persona}}</ref>
{{Quote| YOU (IF YOUR ARE A RESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES) AND PERSONA IDENTITIES, INC., INCLUDING ITS PARENTS, SUBSIDIARIES, AFFILIATES, SUCCESSORS, AND ASSIGNS (“COMPANY”) AGREE THAT ANY PROCEEDINGS TO RESOLVE OR LITIGATE ANY DISPUTE WILL BE CONDUCTED SOLELY ON AN INDIVIDUAL BASIS, AND THAT NEITHER YOU NOR COMPANY WILL SEEK TO HAVE ANY DISPUTE HEARD AS A CLASS ACTION, A REPRESENTATIVE ACTION, A COLLECTIVE ACTION, A PRIVATE ATTORNEY-GENERAL ACTION, OR IN ANY PROCEEDING IN WHICH YOU OR COMPANY ACTS OR PROPOSES TO ACT IN A REPRESENTATIVE CAPACITY. YOU AND COMPANY FURTHER AGREE THAT NO PROCEEDING WILL BE JOINED, CONSOLIDATED, OR COMBINED WITH ANOTHER PROCEEDING WITHOUT THE PRIOR WRITTEN CONSENT OF YOU, COMPANY, AND ALL PARTIES TO ANY SUCH PROCEEDING. THIS CLASS ACTION WAIVER COVERS ALL DISPUTES BETWEEN YOU AND COMPANY AND ALSO INCLUDES ANY DISPUTE BETWEEN YOU AND ANY OFFICER, DIRECTOR, BOARD MEMBER, AGENT, EMPLOYEE, VENDOR, AFFILIATE, OR CLIENT OF COMPANY, IF COMPANY COULD BE LIABLE, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, FOR SUCH DISPUTE.

THE TERM “DISPUTE” SHALL BE INTERPRETED AS BROADLY AS PERMITTED UNDER THE LAW AND SHALL APPLY TO ALL PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE LEGAL DISPUTES AND LEGAL CLAIMS BETWEEN YOU AND COMPANY THAT ARE NOW IN EXISTENCE OR THAT MAY ARISE IN THE FUTURE, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO LEGAL DISPUTES OR LEGAL CLAIMS ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING IN ANY WAY TO THESE TERMS, THE COLLECTION OF FACIAL SCANS OR BIOMETRIC INFORMATION, THE PRIVACY POLICY OR COMPANY’S SERVICES; YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH COMPANY; YOUR USE OF ANY COMPANY PRODUCT OR SERVICE; COMPANY’S CONDUCT; AND ANY FEDERAL, STATE, OR LOCAL STATUTE, LAW, RULE, REGULATION OR ORDINANCE APPLICABLE TO THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN YOU AND COMPANY AS TO WHICH A COURT WOULD BE AUTHORIZED BY LAW TO GRANT RELIEF IF THE CLAIM WERE SUCCESSFUL (“DISPUTE” OR “DISPUTES”).}}
===User Privacy===
Information submitted by users can be retained up to three years. This data might be used to track the user's identity or to train AI models.
Examples of data collected are:
*Name and contact information
*Demographic data
*Uploaded files
*Government documents, barcodes and identifiers
*Audio, videos and images
===Business Model===
Persona provides their services to products and services like social media or video games.
===Market Control===

==Privacy Concerns==
Persona has raised privacy concerns due to the extensive amount of data they collect and process to verify an user's identity. According to their Privacy Policy, this is the type of data they collect<ref name=":0" />:
{{Quote| You may directly provide:

*Name and contact information, including name, email address, address, and phone number;

*Demographic data, including birthdate and age;

*Files you upload, such as tax forms and utility bills;

*Government documents, barcodes, and identifiers, such as driver's license and Social Security Number; and

*Audio, Video, and Photos of you, namely from the selfie or video you provide and from your government identification document.}}

The Privacy Policy also mentions additional data that might be collected by third-parties<ref name=":0" />:
{{Quote| Our Services may also collect the following from you, our Customer, or third parties:

*Current and previous name and contact information, including name, email address, address, and phone number;

*Demographic data, including birthdate and age, gender, marital status, and similar demographic details;

*Government documents, barcodes, and identifiers, such as drivers license and Social Security Numbers;

*Device information, including IP address, device type, your device’s operating system, browser, cookie and device identifiers, and other software including type, version, language, settings, and configuration;

*Account information, such as details about your account with our Customer or other third parties;

*Publicly available data, including data from governmental public records, the public internet and social media;

*Geolocation data as we may infer your general geographic location (such as city, state, and country) based on your IP address;

*Biometric Data, only with your express consent, including a scan of your facial geometry based on the photos or video you provide. For more information about Biometric Data, see the Facial Scan and Biometrics Information section below.}}

==Incidents==

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

===AI-Powered Ages Verification leads to inaccurate age verification on Roblox ''(Jan 2026)''===
Children were being identified as adults and vice versa on [[Roblox]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Gilbert |first=David |date=2026-01-13 |title=Roblox’s AI-Powered Age Verification Is a Complete Mess |url=https://www.wired.com/story/robloxs-ai-powered-age-verification-is-a-complete-mess/ |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260226005411/https://www.wired.com/story/robloxs-ai-powered-age-verification-is-a-complete-mess/ |archive-date=2026-02-26 |access-date=2026-02-20 |website=Wired}}</ref> The age verification restricted who the users could talk to. This implementation was criticised as not helping to address safety concerns, and harming the user experience.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2026-01-09 |title=Age Check to Chat Update & Fast Follow Roadmap |url=https://devforum.roblox.com/t/age-check-to-chat-update-fast-follow-roadmap/4238626/5 |url-status=live |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20260203031742/https://devforum.roblox.com/t/age-check-to-chat-update-fast-follow-roadmap/4238626/5 |archive-date=3 Feb 2026 |access-date=2026-01-20 |website=devforum.roblox.com}}</ref>

===User tracking and ties with the US government===
On the 16th of February, 2026, a security researcher known as Celeste published an article showing that Persona was building profiles on users and sharing said profiles with the US government, even having a flagging system to flag users that seem suspicious. A code to track cypto-addresses has also been found.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Celeste |date=2026-02-16 |title=the watchers: how openai, the US government, and persona built an identity surveillance machine that files reports on you to the feds |url=https://vmfunc.re/blog/persona |url-status=live |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20260221231714/https://vmfunc.re/blog/persona |archive-date=2026-02-21 |website=vmfunc.re}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Celeste |date=2026-02-24 |title=the watchers, pt. 2: the correspondence |url=https://vmfunc.re/blog/persona-2 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260225233304/https://vmfunc.re/blog/persona-2 |archive-date=2026-02-25 |access-date=2026-02-26 |website=vmfunc.re}}</ref> Alongside that, it was also discovered that 269 different checks were used for verification, which included things like phone carrier queries and death record matching. With their privacy policy hiding these checks under vague terms like "public government documents".<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-12-04 |title=Privacy Policy |url=https://withpersona.com/legal/privacy-policy-roblox |url-status=live |archive-url= |website=Persona}}</ref> 

==Products==
*Identity Verification (2021)
*Age Verification (2025)

==Clients==
Persona provides their service to these companies and products:{{CitationNeeded}}
{| class="wikitable sortable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"
|+
!'''Company/Product'''
!'''Used for'''
!Additional notes
|-
|Brex
|
|
|-
|Carahsoft
|
|
|-
|Coursera
|
|
|-
|[[Discord]]
|Age Verification
|Discord claimed they allegedly ceased partnership with Persona and that the usage of their service was for "experimental" purposes in the United Kingdom.
|-
|DoorDash
|
|
|-
|Eaze
|
|
|-
|[[Etsy]]
|
|
|-
|Fire & Flower Holdings
|
|
|-
|First Republic
|
|
|-
|Grailed
|
|
|-
|Mercury
|
|
|-
|[[LinkedIn]]
|Age Verification, User Verification
|
|-
|[[OpenAI]] ([[ChatGPT]])
|Age Verification
|Users verified as adults allow the models to generate explicit and sensitive content
|-
|[[Reddit]]
|Age Verifiaction
|Used by Reddit to comply with the UK Online Safety Act
|-
|[[Roblox]]
|Age Verification
|Verification sets players in a certain age brackets according to the estimations or provided data. Unverified players are unable to chat with others. Feature launched globally on Jan 7 2026
|-
|Serviap Global
|
|
|-
|Stifel Financial Corp
|
|
|-
|Swan Bitcoin
|
|
|-
|Wealthsimple
|
|
|-
|WeTravel
|
|
|}

==Third Parties==
These are third parties that can receive and use the data provided by Persona:<ref>{{Cite web |author=Unknown |date=16 Feb 2026 |title=I Verified My LinkedIn Identity. Here's What I Actually Handed Over. |url=https://thelocalstack.eu/posts/linkedin-identity-verification-privacy/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.is/4IUtj |archive-date=2026-02-23 |access-date=24 Feb 2026 |website=The Local Stack}}</ref>
{| class="wikitable sortable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"
|+
!'''Company'''
!What is data used for
!Additional notes
|-
|[[Anthropic]]
|Data Extraction and Analysis
|Data used to train AI models
|-
|OpenAI
|Data Extraction and Analysis
|Data used to train AI models
|-
|Groqcloud
|Data Extraction and Analysis
|Data used to train AI models
|-
|AWS
|Infrastructure, Image Processing
|
|-
|Google Cloud Platform
|Infrastructure as Service
|
|-
|Resistant AI
|Document Analysis
|
|-
|FingerprintJS
|Device Analysis
|
|-
|MongoDB
|Database Services
|
|-
|Snowflake
|Database Services
|
|-
|Elasticsearch
|Search and Analytics Engine
|
|-
|Confluent
|ETL Services
|
|-
|DBT
|ETL Services
|
|-
|Sigma Computing
|Data Analytics
|
|-
|Tableau
|Data Analytics
|
|-
|Stripe
|Credit Card Processing
|
|-
|Twilio
|Communication APIs (Phone, SMS)
|
|-
|Persona Identities Canada
|Customer Support & Development
|
|}
==See also==
*[[Online Safety Act]]
*[[Age Verification]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]

Data lock-in

2026-02-28T07:28:38Z

SomebodyThatMayContribute: replaced cite to megalodon as IA wasn't working on this

'''Data lock-in''' limits how device owners can access and manage data stored on the device they own. For example, some mobile applications store user data in a way they can only be viewed from inside the app, with no possibility of creating backups or moving them to external storage to free space. Many social media platforms make it difficult to export data. '''Data portability''' is a more consumer friendly approach, where it is easy to move data from one application or platform to alternatives.

==Incidents==
===Saved pages in Samsung Internet===
The mobile web browser by Samsung stores saved pages in the <code>/data</code> directory. This is a locked-in directory where apps store data only accessible to themselves.

Users have requested Samsung developers to change its browser to store saved pages in a non-locked-in place that makes them accessible from other applications and makes it possible to create backups, or to let users export copies of saved pages, but Samsung refused to implement this change. Some users have stored thousands of web pages this way before realizing they are unable to create backups or move them to external storage.<ref>[https://archive.today/2024.10.12-140435/https://forum.developer.samsung.com/t/regarding-saved-webpages/5304/1 Regarding saved webpages - Samsung Internet - Samsung Developer Forums]</ref>

Rooting a device would make the <code>/data</code> folder accessible, but this requires an unlocked bootloader. The process of unlocking the bootloader involves a factory reset, which deletes all user-generated files from internal storage.

In comparison, Google Chrome on mobile stores web pages as MHTML files in the download folder where they are not locked in, and Firefox on mobile completely lacks a feature to save pages.

===Saved pages in Apple Safari on iPhone===
Apple refers to saved pages as the "reading list", a name that implies the feature is intended for storing pages only until they are read, not for archival. Like with Samsung, people have asked for an ability to export saved pages. Apple has not responded.<ref>[https://archive.today/2025.10.10-130524/https://discussions.apple.com/thread/8293638?sortBy=rank How do you EXPORT your Reading List from Safari - Apple Community]</ref>

===User data in mobile web browsers===
No major mobile web browser lets the user export their session (list of opened tabs) and browsing history and bookmarks to a local file. Exporting all tabs may be desirable to start with a fresh session without losing the existing session, and exporting the history makes it easier to search for pages a long time after visiting, beyond what the browser retains.<ref>[https://beepb00p.xyz/sad-infra.html The sad state of personal data and infrastructure] - Karl Icoss ([http://web.archive.org/web/20260203233117/https://beepb00p.xyz/sad-infra.html Archived])</ref>

Some web browsers have a "Sync" feature that allows synchronizing tabs and bookmarks across devices, but it is cloud-based, meaning it depends on an online service that can cease to operate at any time.<ref>[https://karl-voit.at/cloud/ You Can't Control Your Data in the Cloud] - Karl Voit ([http://web.archive.org/web/20260202071758/https://karl-voit.at/cloud/ Archived])</ref><ref>[https://workona.com/pages/how-to-export-chrome-bookmarks/ How to Export Chrome Bookmarks for the Last Time] - Workona ([http://web.archive.org/web/20251126072849/https://workona.com/pages/how-to-export-chrome-bookmarks/ Archived])</ref>

===Text messages===
The built-in text messaging applications of both Android and iOS lack a built-in local export option.

On Android, the third-party app "SMS Backup+" can create exports, but they can not be directly stored locally, only uploaded to the middleman GMail, which requires Internet connection and a Google account, and can cease to function at any time due to Google API changes.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20250314125929/https://github.com/jberkel/sms-backup-plus/issues/974 Feature request: save to local file · Issue #974 · jberkel/sms-backup-plus · GitHub]</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20250313124817/https://github.com/jberkel/sms-backup-plus/issues/1110 SMS -Backup+ unable to log into my email to backup SMS messages · Issue #1110 · jberkel/sms-backup-plus · GitHub]</ref>

On iOS, exporting apps require payment, an external computer, and save as PDF, resulting in much larger files than plain text.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20251111204709/https://discussions.apple.com/thread/255416051?sortBy=rank Export iMessage conversation - Apple Community]</ref><ref>[https://megalodon.jp/2026-0228-1623-45/https://discussions.apple.com:443/thread/255674743?sortBy=rank I want to download my messages to an external drive (flash drive) - Apple Community]</ref>

Chat messages can be archived manually with screenshots and screen recordings, but this takes lots of time and manual work, and the resulting files can not be searched for text and will be much larger in size than a plain text-based export would be.

[[WhatsApp]] lets the user export messages to a text file, but this has to be done for each conversation individually, and starting with an April 2025 update, exporting can be remotely disabled by the other participant.<ref>[https://archive.today/2025.08.28-001731/https://faq.whatsapp.com/715385484388016/?cms_platform=web About advanced chat privacy | WhatsApp Help Center]</ref>

===Android data folder===
Since Android 11, apps can no longer browse the <code>Android/data</code> folder in the shared user storage (not to be confused with <code>/data</code>, which was locked in since the beginning).<ref>[https://developer.android.com/about/versions/11/privacy/storage Storage updates in Android 11 | Android Developers]: If your app targets Android 11, it cannot access the files in any other app's data directory, even if the other app targets Android 8.1 (API level 27) or lower and has made the files in its data directory world-readable ([http://web.archive.org/web/20260130032658/https://developer.android.com/about/versions/11/privacy/storage Archived]).</ref>

===Videos downloaded inside the YouTube app===
YouTube provides no official way for people to create permanent local copies of videos. This includes Creative Commons media.<ref>[https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/L1S0SiBuJN8 Google is Locking Down Android - Mental Outlaw], 07:20</ref> The only exception is YouTube Studio allowing channel owners to download their own videos in up to 720p.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6UHS1-vDMM Changes to Unlisted Videos Uploaded Before 2017], 4:30 ([https://preservetube.com/watch?v=l6UHS1-vDMM Archived])</ref>

While the YouTube app lets paying YouTube Premium subscribers download videos for offline viewing, the videos are only accessible through the YouTube app, encoded in a proprietary format, and forcibly deleted after 29 days.<ref>[https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/L1S0SiBuJN8 Google is Locking Down Android - Mental Outlaw], 06:41</ref><ref>[https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/7381437 YouTube videos offline FAQs - YouTube Help] ([http://web.archive.org/web/20260207132551/https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/7381437 Archived])</ref><ref>[https://www.virtualcuriosities.com/articles/3383/warning-youtube-premium-downloads-arent-mp4-files Warning: Youtube Premium "Downloads" aren't MP4 Files - Virtual Curiosities] ([http://web.archive.org/web/20251126100053/https://www.virtualcuriosities.com/articles/3383/warning-youtube-premium-downloads-arent-mp4-files Archived])</ref><ref>[https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/whats-wrong-with-youtube.html What's Wrong with YouTube - GNU Project - Free Software Foundation] ([https://web.archive.org/web/20260216041246/https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/whats-wrong-with-youtube.html Archived])</ref>

Permanent local copies are necessary to preserve Internet history when YouTube ceases to operate:
<blockquote>
Whenever I tell people that we need to plan for the day when YouTube goes offline, I mostly receive weird reactions. It seems to be the case that people can't think of YouTube being gone. Unfortunately, I'm convinced that most people will face the day when we lose this enormous library of videos.
</blockquote>
<ref>[https://karl-voit.at/cloud-dependencies/ My Dependencies on the Cloud] - Karl Voit ([https://web.archive.org/web/20260216041319/https://karl-voit.at/cloud-dependencies/ Archived])</ref>

===Telekom Entertain media receiver recordings===
The German Telekom, an Internet and Internet Television provider, sells landline Internet television receivers and recorders. A former product line were the "Entertain" Media Receiver 300, 301, 303, and 500. (The 100 and 102 were secondary devices with no internal hard drives. The others had hard drives between 160 and 500 GB.<ref>[https://archive.today/2026.01.27-101349/https://www.telekom-profis.de/vermitteln/news/media-receiver-mr-102-wieder-erhaeltlich-60.html Media Receiver MR 102 wieder erhältlich! - Telekom Profis] (June 2011)</ref><ref>[https://archive.org/details/manualzilla-id-6725650 Media Receiver 100] (user manual)</ref><ref>[https://www.woogmedia.de:443/downloads/BDA_MR300.pdf Media Receiver 300 Bedienungsanleitung] (user manual) ([http://web.archive.org/web/20260210175058/https://www.woogmedia.de/downloads/BDA_MR300.pdf Archived])</ref><ref name="MR300">[https://www.hifitest.de/test/stereoanlage-und-komplettanlage/deutsche-telekom-t-home-media-receiver-300-380 Deutsche Telekom T-Home Media Receiver 300] - hifitest.de (June 2009) ([http://web.archive.org/web/20260208092154/https://www.hifitest.de/test/stereoanlage-und-komplettanlage/deutsche-telekom-t-home-media-receiver-300-380 Archived])</ref><ref>[https://archive.today/2026.01.27-101343/https://www.golem.de/1101/80856.html Media Receiver 303: Neuer Festplattenrekorder für Telekom Entertain - Golem.de] (January 2011)</ref><ref name="MR500" />)

Their operating systems were designed in a way that they would not boot without connecting to Telekom servers, and the devices stored the television recordings on their internal hard drive in a proprietary format, and provided the user with no means of copying or moving recordings to external media such as an external flash drive or hard drive, meaning users were forced to delete recordings when running out of disk space. While the devices featured up to two USB ports, some even an eSATA port, they had no use other than supplying electrical power.<ref name="MR500">[https://www.hifitest.de/test/sat-receiver-mit-festplatte/deutsche-telekom-media-receiver-500-sat-6114 Deutsche Telekom Media Receiver 500 Sat] - hifitest.de (June 2012) ([http://web.archive.org/web/20250621145244/https://www.hifitest.de/test/sat-receiver-mit-festplatte/deutsche-telekom-media-receiver-500-sat-6114 Archived])</ref><ref name="MR300" /><ref>[https://telekom.tarife-angebote.de/magenta-zuhause/entertain/media-receiver-empfaenger/mr303-iptv-festplattenrekorder Telekom Media-Receiver 303 (MR303 Festplattenrekorder)] - telekom.tarife-angebote.de ([http://web.archive.org/web/20260127112814/https://telekom.tarife-angebote.de/magenta-zuhause/entertain/media-receiver-empfaenger/mr303-iptv-festplattenrekorder Archived])</ref>

In 2019, its users lost access to all recordings stored locally on the devices when the online service their operating system depended on was shut down. The devices were in service for eight years (since 2011), meaning users would lose access to up to eight years of television recordings.<ref>[https://archive.today/2026.01.27-095619/https://web.archive.org/web/20190825100604/https://www.telekom.com/de/konzern/details/magentatv-loest-entertain-ab-558808 MagentaTV löst Entertain ab | Deutsche Telekom]</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20210412055921/https://www.onlinekosten.de/news/telekom-zieht-2019-beim-alten-entertain-den-stecker_214313.html Telekom zieht 2019 beim alten "Entertain" den Stecker]</ref>

==See also==
*[[Enshittification]]
*[[Right to own]]

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

Data lock-in

2026-02-28T07:21:46Z

SomebodyThatMayContribute:

'''Data lock-in''' limits how device owners can access and manage data stored on the device they own. For example, some mobile applications store user data in a way they can only be viewed from inside the app, with no possibility of creating backups or moving them to external storage to free space. Many social media platforms make it difficult to export data. '''Data portability''' is a more consumer friendly approach, where it is easy to move data from one application or platform to alternatives.

==Incidents==
===Saved pages in Samsung Internet===
The mobile web browser by Samsung stores saved pages in the <code>/data</code> directory. This is a locked-in directory where apps store data only accessible to themselves.

Users have requested Samsung developers to change its browser to store saved pages in a non-locked-in place that makes them accessible from other applications and makes it possible to create backups, or to let users export copies of saved pages, but Samsung refused to implement this change. Some users have stored thousands of web pages this way before realizing they are unable to create backups or move them to external storage.<ref>[https://archive.today/2024.10.12-140435/https://forum.developer.samsung.com/t/regarding-saved-webpages/5304/1 Regarding saved webpages - Samsung Internet - Samsung Developer Forums]</ref>

Rooting a device would make the <code>/data</code> folder accessible, but this requires an unlocked bootloader. The process of unlocking the bootloader involves a factory reset, which deletes all user-generated files from internal storage.

In comparison, Google Chrome on mobile stores web pages as MHTML files in the download folder where they are not locked in, and Firefox on mobile completely lacks a feature to save pages.

===Saved pages in Apple Safari on iPhone===
Apple refers to saved pages as the "reading list", a name that implies the feature is intended for storing pages only until they are read, not for archival. Like with Samsung, people have asked for an ability to export saved pages. Apple has not responded.<ref>[https://archive.today/2025.10.10-130524/https://discussions.apple.com/thread/8293638?sortBy=rank How do you EXPORT your Reading List from Safari - Apple Community]</ref>

===User data in mobile web browsers===
No major mobile web browser lets the user export their session (list of opened tabs) and browsing history and bookmarks to a local file. Exporting all tabs may be desirable to start with a fresh session without losing the existing session, and exporting the history makes it easier to search for pages a long time after visiting, beyond what the browser retains.<ref>[https://beepb00p.xyz/sad-infra.html The sad state of personal data and infrastructure] - Karl Icoss ([http://web.archive.org/web/20260203233117/https://beepb00p.xyz/sad-infra.html Archived])</ref>

Some web browsers have a "Sync" feature that allows synchronizing tabs and bookmarks across devices, but it is cloud-based, meaning it depends on an online service that can cease to operate at any time.<ref>[https://karl-voit.at/cloud/ You Can't Control Your Data in the Cloud] - Karl Voit ([http://web.archive.org/web/20260202071758/https://karl-voit.at/cloud/ Archived])</ref><ref>[https://workona.com/pages/how-to-export-chrome-bookmarks/ How to Export Chrome Bookmarks for the Last Time] - Workona ([http://web.archive.org/web/20251126072849/https://workona.com/pages/how-to-export-chrome-bookmarks/ Archived])</ref>

===Text messages===
The built-in text messaging applications of both Android and iOS lack a built-in local export option.

On Android, the third-party app "SMS Backup+" can create exports, but they can not be directly stored locally, only uploaded to the middleman GMail, which requires Internet connection and a Google account, and can cease to function at any time due to Google API changes.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20250314125929/https://github.com/jberkel/sms-backup-plus/issues/974 Feature request: save to local file · Issue #974 · jberkel/sms-backup-plus · GitHub]</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20250313124817/https://github.com/jberkel/sms-backup-plus/issues/1110 SMS -Backup+ unable to log into my email to backup SMS messages · Issue #1110 · jberkel/sms-backup-plus · GitHub]</ref>

On iOS, exporting apps require payment, an external computer, and save as PDF, resulting in much larger files than plain text.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20251111204709/https://discussions.apple.com/thread/255416051?sortBy=rank Export iMessage conversation - Apple Community]</ref><ref>[https://archive.today/2025.10.16-053940/https://discussions.apple.com/thread/255674743?sortBy=rank I want to download my messages to an external drive (flash drive) - Apple Community]</ref>

Chat messages can be archived manually with screenshots and screen recordings, but this takes lots of time and manual work, and the resulting files can not be searched for text and will be much larger in size than a plain text-based export would be.

[[WhatsApp]] lets the user export messages to a text file, but this has to be done for each conversation individually, and starting with an April 2025 update, exporting can be remotely disabled by the other participant.<ref>[https://archive.today/2025.08.28-001731/https://faq.whatsapp.com/715385484388016/?cms_platform=web About advanced chat privacy | WhatsApp Help Center]</ref>

===Android data folder===
Since Android 11, apps can no longer browse the <code>Android/data</code> folder in the shared user storage (not to be confused with <code>/data</code>, which was locked in since the beginning).<ref>[https://developer.android.com/about/versions/11/privacy/storage Storage updates in Android 11 | Android Developers]: If your app targets Android 11, it cannot access the files in any other app's data directory, even if the other app targets Android 8.1 (API level 27) or lower and has made the files in its data directory world-readable ([http://web.archive.org/web/20260130032658/https://developer.android.com/about/versions/11/privacy/storage Archived]).</ref>

===Videos downloaded inside the YouTube app===
YouTube provides no official way for people to create permanent local copies of videos. This includes Creative Commons media.<ref>[https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/L1S0SiBuJN8 Google is Locking Down Android - Mental Outlaw], 07:20</ref> The only exception is YouTube Studio allowing channel owners to download their own videos in up to 720p.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6UHS1-vDMM Changes to Unlisted Videos Uploaded Before 2017], 4:30 ([https://preservetube.com/watch?v=l6UHS1-vDMM Archived])</ref>

While the YouTube app lets paying YouTube Premium subscribers download videos for offline viewing, the videos are only accessible through the YouTube app, encoded in a proprietary format, and forcibly deleted after 29 days.<ref>[https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/L1S0SiBuJN8 Google is Locking Down Android - Mental Outlaw], 06:41</ref><ref>[https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/7381437 YouTube videos offline FAQs - YouTube Help] ([http://web.archive.org/web/20260207132551/https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/7381437 Archived])</ref><ref>[https://www.virtualcuriosities.com/articles/3383/warning-youtube-premium-downloads-arent-mp4-files Warning: Youtube Premium "Downloads" aren't MP4 Files - Virtual Curiosities] ([http://web.archive.org/web/20251126100053/https://www.virtualcuriosities.com/articles/3383/warning-youtube-premium-downloads-arent-mp4-files Archived])</ref><ref>[https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/whats-wrong-with-youtube.html What's Wrong with YouTube - GNU Project - Free Software Foundation] ([https://web.archive.org/web/20260216041246/https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/whats-wrong-with-youtube.html Archived])</ref>

Permanent local copies are necessary to preserve Internet history when YouTube ceases to operate:
<blockquote>
Whenever I tell people that we need to plan for the day when YouTube goes offline, I mostly receive weird reactions. It seems to be the case that people can't think of YouTube being gone. Unfortunately, I'm convinced that most people will face the day when we lose this enormous library of videos.
</blockquote>
<ref>[https://karl-voit.at/cloud-dependencies/ My Dependencies on the Cloud] - Karl Voit ([https://web.archive.org/web/20260216041319/https://karl-voit.at/cloud-dependencies/ Archived])</ref>

===Telekom Entertain media receiver recordings===
The German Telekom, an Internet and Internet Television provider, sells landline Internet television receivers and recorders. A former product line were the "Entertain" Media Receiver 300, 301, 303, and 500. (The 100 and 102 were secondary devices with no internal hard drives. The others had hard drives between 160 and 500 GB.<ref>[https://archive.today/2026.01.27-101349/https://www.telekom-profis.de/vermitteln/news/media-receiver-mr-102-wieder-erhaeltlich-60.html Media Receiver MR 102 wieder erhältlich! - Telekom Profis] (June 2011)</ref><ref>[https://archive.org/details/manualzilla-id-6725650 Media Receiver 100] (user manual)</ref><ref>[https://www.woogmedia.de:443/downloads/BDA_MR300.pdf Media Receiver 300 Bedienungsanleitung] (user manual) ([http://web.archive.org/web/20260210175058/https://www.woogmedia.de/downloads/BDA_MR300.pdf Archived])</ref><ref name="MR300">[https://www.hifitest.de/test/stereoanlage-und-komplettanlage/deutsche-telekom-t-home-media-receiver-300-380 Deutsche Telekom T-Home Media Receiver 300] - hifitest.de (June 2009) ([http://web.archive.org/web/20260208092154/https://www.hifitest.de/test/stereoanlage-und-komplettanlage/deutsche-telekom-t-home-media-receiver-300-380 Archived])</ref><ref>[https://archive.today/2026.01.27-101343/https://www.golem.de/1101/80856.html Media Receiver 303: Neuer Festplattenrekorder für Telekom Entertain - Golem.de] (January 2011)</ref><ref name="MR500" />)

Their operating systems were designed in a way that they would not boot without connecting to Telekom servers, and the devices stored the television recordings on their internal hard drive in a proprietary format, and provided the user with no means of copying or moving recordings to external media such as an external flash drive or hard drive, meaning users were forced to delete recordings when running out of disk space. While the devices featured up to two USB ports, some even an eSATA port, they had no use other than supplying electrical power.<ref name="MR500">[https://www.hifitest.de/test/sat-receiver-mit-festplatte/deutsche-telekom-media-receiver-500-sat-6114 Deutsche Telekom Media Receiver 500 Sat] - hifitest.de (June 2012) ([http://web.archive.org/web/20250621145244/https://www.hifitest.de/test/sat-receiver-mit-festplatte/deutsche-telekom-media-receiver-500-sat-6114 Archived])</ref><ref name="MR300" /><ref>[https://telekom.tarife-angebote.de/magenta-zuhause/entertain/media-receiver-empfaenger/mr303-iptv-festplattenrekorder Telekom Media-Receiver 303 (MR303 Festplattenrekorder)] - telekom.tarife-angebote.de ([http://web.archive.org/web/20260127112814/https://telekom.tarife-angebote.de/magenta-zuhause/entertain/media-receiver-empfaenger/mr303-iptv-festplattenrekorder Archived])</ref>

In 2019, its users lost access to all recordings stored locally on the devices when the online service their operating system depended on was shut down. The devices were in service for eight years (since 2011), meaning users would lose access to up to eight years of television recordings.<ref>[https://archive.today/2026.01.27-095619/https://web.archive.org/web/20190825100604/https://www.telekom.com/de/konzern/details/magentatv-loest-entertain-ab-558808 MagentaTV löst Entertain ab | Deutsche Telekom]</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20210412055921/https://www.onlinekosten.de/news/telekom-zieht-2019-beim-alten-entertain-den-stecker_214313.html Telekom zieht 2019 beim alten "Entertain" den Stecker]</ref>

==See also==
*[[Enshittification]]
*[[Right to own]]

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

Data lock-in

2026-02-28T07:02:11Z

SomebodyThatMayContribute: /* References */

'''Data lock-in''' limits how device owners can access and manage data stored on the device they own. For example, some mobile applications store user data in a way they can only be viewed from inside the app, with no possibility of creating backups or moving them to external storage to free space. Many social media platforms make it difficult to export data. '''Data portability''' is a more consumer friendly approach, where it is easy to move data from one application or platform to alternatives.

==Incidents==
===Saved pages in Samsung Internet===
The mobile web browser by Samsung stores saved pages in the <code>/data</code> directory. This is a locked-in directory where apps store data only accessible to themselves.

Users have requested Samsung developers to change its browser to store saved pages in a non-locked-in place that makes them accessible from other applications and makes it possible to create backups, or to let users export copies of saved pages, but Samsung refused to implement this change. Some users have stored thousands of web pages this way before realizing they are unable to create backups or move them to external storage.<ref>[https://archive.today/2024.10.12-140435/https://forum.developer.samsung.com/t/regarding-saved-webpages/5304/1 Regarding saved webpages - Samsung Internet - Samsung Developer Forums]</ref>

Rooting a device would make the <code>/data</code> folder accessible, but this requires an unlocked bootloader. The process of unlocking the bootloader involves a factory reset, which deletes all user-generated files from internal storage.

In comparison, Google Chrome on mobile stores web pages as MHTML files in the download folder where they are not locked in, and Firefox on mobile completely lacks a feature to save pages.

===Saved pages in Apple Safari on iPhone===
Apple refers to saved pages as the "reading list", a name that implies the feature is intended for storing pages only until they are read, not for archival. Like with Samsung, people have asked for an ability to export saved pages. Apple has not responded.<ref>[https://archive.today/2025.10.10-130524/https://discussions.apple.com/thread/8293638?sortBy=rank How do you EXPORT your Reading List from Safari - Apple Community]</ref>

===User data in mobile web browsers===
No major mobile web browser lets the user export their session (list of opened tabs) and browsing history and bookmarks to a local file. Exporting all tabs may be desirable to start with a fresh session without losing the existing session, and exporting the history makes it easier to search for pages a long time after visiting, beyond what the browser retains.<ref>[https://beepb00p.xyz/sad-infra.html The sad state of personal data and infrastructure] - Karl Icoss ([http://web.archive.org/web/20260203233117/https://beepb00p.xyz/sad-infra.html Archived])</ref>

Some web browsers have a "Sync" feature that allows synchronizing tabs and bookmarks across devices, but it is cloud-based, meaning it depends on an online service that can cease to operate at any time.<ref>[https://karl-voit.at/cloud/ You Can't Control Your Data in the Cloud] - Karl Voit ([http://web.archive.org/web/20260202071758/https://karl-voit.at/cloud/ Archived])</ref><ref>[https://workona.com/pages/how-to-export-chrome-bookmarks/ How to Export Chrome Bookmarks for the Last Time] - Workona ([http://web.archive.org/web/20251126072849/https://workona.com/pages/how-to-export-chrome-bookmarks/ Archived])</ref>

===Text messages===
The built-in text messaging applications of both Android and iOS lack a built-in local export option.

On Android, the third-party app "SMS Backup+" can create exports, but they can not be directly stored locally, only uploaded to the middleman GMail, which requires Internet connection and a Google account, and can cease to function at any time due to Google API changes.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20250314125929/https://github.com/jberkel/sms-backup-plus/issues/974 Feature request: save to local file · Issue #974 · jberkel/sms-backup-plus · GitHub]</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20250313124817/https://github.com/jberkel/sms-backup-plus/issues/1110 SMS -Backup+ unable to log into my email to backup SMS messages · Issue #1110 · jberkel/sms-backup-plus · GitHub]</ref>

On iOS, exporting apps require payment, an external computer, and save as PDF, resulting in much larger files than plain text.<ref>[https://archive.today/2025.10.16-053829/https://discussions.apple.com/thread/255416051?sortBy=rank Export iMessage conversation - Apple Community]</ref><ref>[https://archive.today/2025.10.16-053940/https://discussions.apple.com/thread/255674743?sortBy=rank I want to download my messages to an external drive (flash drive) - Apple Community]</ref>

Chat messages can be archived manually with screenshots and screen recordings, but this takes lots of time and manual work, and the resulting files can not be searched for text and will be much larger in size than a plain text-based export would be.

[[WhatsApp]] lets the user export messages to a text file, but this has to be done for each conversation individually, and starting with an April 2025 update, exporting can be remotely disabled by the other participant.<ref>[https://archive.today/2025.08.28-001731/https://faq.whatsapp.com/715385484388016/?cms_platform=web About advanced chat privacy | WhatsApp Help Center]</ref>

===Android data folder===
Since Android 11, apps can no longer browse the <code>Android/data</code> folder in the shared user storage (not to be confused with <code>/data</code>, which was locked in since the beginning).<ref>[https://developer.android.com/about/versions/11/privacy/storage Storage updates in Android 11 | Android Developers]: If your app targets Android 11, it cannot access the files in any other app's data directory, even if the other app targets Android 8.1 (API level 27) or lower and has made the files in its data directory world-readable ([http://web.archive.org/web/20260130032658/https://developer.android.com/about/versions/11/privacy/storage Archived]).</ref>

===Videos downloaded inside the YouTube app===
YouTube provides no official way for people to create permanent local copies of videos. This includes Creative Commons media.<ref>[https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/L1S0SiBuJN8 Google is Locking Down Android - Mental Outlaw], 07:20</ref> The only exception is YouTube Studio allowing channel owners to download their own videos in up to 720p.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6UHS1-vDMM Changes to Unlisted Videos Uploaded Before 2017], 4:30 ([https://preservetube.com/watch?v=l6UHS1-vDMM Archived])</ref>

While the YouTube app lets paying YouTube Premium subscribers download videos for offline viewing, the videos are only accessible through the YouTube app, encoded in a proprietary format, and forcibly deleted after 29 days.<ref>[https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/L1S0SiBuJN8 Google is Locking Down Android - Mental Outlaw], 06:41</ref><ref>[https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/7381437 YouTube videos offline FAQs - YouTube Help] ([http://web.archive.org/web/20260207132551/https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/7381437 Archived])</ref><ref>[https://www.virtualcuriosities.com/articles/3383/warning-youtube-premium-downloads-arent-mp4-files Warning: Youtube Premium "Downloads" aren't MP4 Files - Virtual Curiosities] ([http://web.archive.org/web/20251126100053/https://www.virtualcuriosities.com/articles/3383/warning-youtube-premium-downloads-arent-mp4-files Archived])</ref><ref>[https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/whats-wrong-with-youtube.html What's Wrong with YouTube - GNU Project - Free Software Foundation] ([https://web.archive.org/web/20260216041246/https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/whats-wrong-with-youtube.html Archived])</ref>

Permanent local copies are necessary to preserve Internet history when YouTube ceases to operate:
<blockquote>
Whenever I tell people that we need to plan for the day when YouTube goes offline, I mostly receive weird reactions. It seems to be the case that people can't think of YouTube being gone. Unfortunately, I'm convinced that most people will face the day when we lose this enormous library of videos.
</blockquote>
<ref>[https://karl-voit.at/cloud-dependencies/ My Dependencies on the Cloud] - Karl Voit ([https://web.archive.org/web/20260216041319/https://karl-voit.at/cloud-dependencies/ Archived])</ref>

===Telekom Entertain media receiver recordings===
The German Telekom, an Internet and Internet Television provider, sells landline Internet television receivers and recorders. A former product line were the "Entertain" Media Receiver 300, 301, 303, and 500. (The 100 and 102 were secondary devices with no internal hard drives. The others had hard drives between 160 and 500 GB.<ref>[https://archive.today/2026.01.27-101349/https://www.telekom-profis.de/vermitteln/news/media-receiver-mr-102-wieder-erhaeltlich-60.html Media Receiver MR 102 wieder erhältlich! - Telekom Profis] (June 2011)</ref><ref>[https://archive.org/details/manualzilla-id-6725650 Media Receiver 100] (user manual)</ref><ref>[https://www.woogmedia.de:443/downloads/BDA_MR300.pdf Media Receiver 300 Bedienungsanleitung] (user manual) ([http://web.archive.org/web/20260210175058/https://www.woogmedia.de/downloads/BDA_MR300.pdf Archived])</ref><ref name="MR300">[https://www.hifitest.de/test/stereoanlage-und-komplettanlage/deutsche-telekom-t-home-media-receiver-300-380 Deutsche Telekom T-Home Media Receiver 300] - hifitest.de (June 2009) ([http://web.archive.org/web/20260208092154/https://www.hifitest.de/test/stereoanlage-und-komplettanlage/deutsche-telekom-t-home-media-receiver-300-380 Archived])</ref><ref>[https://archive.today/2026.01.27-101343/https://www.golem.de/1101/80856.html Media Receiver 303: Neuer Festplattenrekorder für Telekom Entertain - Golem.de] (January 2011)</ref><ref name="MR500" />)

Their operating systems were designed in a way that they would not boot without connecting to Telekom servers, and the devices stored the television recordings on their internal hard drive in a proprietary format, and provided the user with no means of copying or moving recordings to external media such as an external flash drive or hard drive, meaning users were forced to delete recordings when running out of disk space. While the devices featured up to two USB ports, some even an eSATA port, they had no use other than supplying electrical power.<ref name="MR500">[https://www.hifitest.de/test/sat-receiver-mit-festplatte/deutsche-telekom-media-receiver-500-sat-6114 Deutsche Telekom Media Receiver 500 Sat] - hifitest.de (June 2012) ([http://web.archive.org/web/20250621145244/https://www.hifitest.de/test/sat-receiver-mit-festplatte/deutsche-telekom-media-receiver-500-sat-6114 Archived])</ref><ref name="MR300" /><ref>[https://telekom.tarife-angebote.de/magenta-zuhause/entertain/media-receiver-empfaenger/mr303-iptv-festplattenrekorder Telekom Media-Receiver 303 (MR303 Festplattenrekorder)] - telekom.tarife-angebote.de ([http://web.archive.org/web/20260127112814/https://telekom.tarife-angebote.de/magenta-zuhause/entertain/media-receiver-empfaenger/mr303-iptv-festplattenrekorder Archived])</ref>

In 2019, its users lost access to all recordings stored locally on the devices when the online service their operating system depended on was shut down. The devices were in service for eight years (since 2011), meaning users would lose access to up to eight years of television recordings.<ref>[https://archive.today/2026.01.27-095619/https://web.archive.org/web/20190825100604/https://www.telekom.com/de/konzern/details/magentatv-loest-entertain-ab-558808 MagentaTV löst Entertain ab | Deutsche Telekom]</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20210412055921/https://www.onlinekosten.de/news/telekom-zieht-2019-beim-alten-entertain-den-stecker_214313.html Telekom zieht 2019 beim alten "Entertain" den Stecker]</ref>

==See also==
*[[Enshittification]]
*[[Right to own]]

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

ChatGPT

2026-02-24T15:02:09Z

SomebodyThatMayContribute: Update archive dates to match actual archived dates (present on URLs by Internet Archive)

{{ProductCargo
|Company=OpenAI
|ProductLine=
|ReleaseYear=2022
|InProduction=Yes
|ArticleType=Product
|Category=Software, Artificial Intelligence, Generative AI, Large Language Models
|Website=https://chat.openai.com/
|Description=ChatGPT data has been mishandled in the past, and is worsening with court-ordered data retention and integrated advertising.
|Logo=OpenAI logo (symbol).svg
}}
'''ChatGPT''' (Chat Generative Pre-trained Transformer) is a generative artificial intelligence application developed and marketed by [[OpenAI]]. It was released on November 30th, 2022.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-11-30 |title=Introducing ChatGPT |url=https://openai.com/index/chatgpt/ |url-status=live |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20260219054935/https://openai.com/index/chatgpt/ |archive-date=19 Feb 2026|access-date=2026-01-26 |website=OpenAI}}</ref> It is a large language model (LLM) specialized in dialog that can perform human-like conversations. Various iterations of ChatGPT include GPT-3, GPT-4, GPT-4o, and previews of OpenAI-o1, OpenAI-o1 mini and GPT-5.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-07-09 |title=ChatGPT version history: Evolution timeline |url=https://nexos.ai/blog/chatgpt-version-history/ |url-status=live |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20260217071448/https://nexos.ai/blog/chatgpt-version-history/ |archive-date=17 Feb 2026|access-date=2026-01-26 |website=nexos.ai}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Hayat |first=Usman |date=2025-08-22 |title=ChatGPT Version History List, Changelog & Latest Releases |url=https://wpexperts.io/blog/chatgpt-version-history/ |url-status=live |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20251023153623/https://wpexperts.io/blog/chatgpt-version-history/ |archive-date=23 Oct 2025|access-date=2026-01-26 |website=WPExperts.io}}</ref>

==Consumer-impact summary==

====Misleading advertising====
ChatGPT terms of service say it should not be used to make decisions about people.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Terms of Use {{!}} OpenAI |url=https://openai.com/policies/terms-of-use/ |url-status=live |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20260123055141/https://openai.com/policies/terms-of-use/ |archive-date=2026-01-23 |access-date=2026-01-27}}</ref> However, their advertising claims it is "PhD level" and makes other claims that seem to imply it is reliable. Many people use ChatGPT as if its output were meaningful, reliable, or a substitute for interaction with a person, with some cases involving "relationships" with the AI. [[ChatGPT-4o]] was one of their models known for inducing a lot of vulnerable users into AI psychosis.

====Billing and moderation====
Credits (money) expire automatically with no notification, and the credit balance interface makes this process confusing. You must maintain a positive account balance, and you are auto-billed a fixed amount if it goes negative. Accounts can be banned and credits confiscated for typing the wrong things in chat, with no recourse.{{Citation needed}}

====Privacy====
A mobile phone number in a friendly country is required to better track your identity.{{Citation needed}}

====User freedom====
Users who are not logged in can use ChatGPT, but their access is limited (for example, they can only have one conversation at a time and cannot save chat history).<ref>{{Cite web |title=The ChatGPT home page |url=https://help.openai.com/en/articles/9125172-the-chatgpt-home-page |url-status=live |access-date=2026-02-19 |website=OpenAI Help Center |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20260214024602/https://help.openai.com/en/articles/9125172-the-chatgpt-home-page |archive-date=14 Feb 2026}}</ref> After GPT-5’s release, manual model selection is not available to all users: OpenAI limits the ChatGPT “model picker” to paid tiers, while other users may be routed automatically (e.g., via “Auto,” which can switch between model variants).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Model Release Notes |url=https://help.openai.com/en/articles/9624314-model-release-notes |website=OpenAI Help Center |access-date=2026-02-19 |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20251230143058/https://help.openai.com/en/articles/9624314-model-release-notes |archive-date=30 Dec 2025}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=ChatGPT Enterprise and Edu - Models & Limits |url=https://help.openai.com/en/articles/11165333-chatgpt-enterprise-and-edu-models-limits |website=OpenAI Help Center |access-date=2026-02-19 |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20251211113140/https://help.openai.com/en/articles/11165333-chatgpt-enterprise-and-edu-models-limits |archive-date=11 Dec 2025}}</ref>

====Data policy====
From OpenAI's data usage policy:<ref>{{Cite web |title=Data Usage for Consumer Services FAQ {{!}} OpenAI Help Center |url=https://help.openai.com/en/articles/7039943-data-usage-for-consumer-services-faq |url-status=live |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20260210234712/https://help.openai.com/en/articles/7039943-data-usage-for-consumer-services-faq |archive-date=2026-02-10 |access-date=2026-01-27}}</ref>
{{Quote|We share content with a select group of trusted service providers that help us provide our services. We share the minimum amount of content we need in order to accomplish this purpose and our service providers are subject to strict confidentiality and security obligations. We do not use or share user content for marketing or advertising purposes.}}
The wording does not detail the extent of conversations shared with OpenAI's trusted service providers.

==Incidents==
===Security breach (2023)===
On March 20, 2023 a bug allowed some users to see other users' conversation titles. Sam Altman, OpenAI's CEO, stated users couldn't view other users' conversation content. After the bug was fixed, users reported they were unable to view their conversation history. Later reports showed this issue was much bigger than it was thought at first, with OpenAI reporting there were leaks of the users' name, last name, e-mail address, payment address, and partial credit card information.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Simo |first=Fidgi |date=20 March 2023 |title=March 20 ChatGPT outage: Here’s what happened |url=https://openai.com/index/march-20-chatgpt-outage/ |url-status=live |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20260210072430/https://openai.com/index/march-20-chatgpt-outage/ |archive-date=10 Feb 2026|access-date=26 Jan 2026 |website=OpenAI}}</ref>

===ChatGPT-4o (2024-2026)===
{{Main|ChatGPT-4o}}
On may 13, 2024, OpenAI announced and released the model ChatGPT-4o.<ref>{{Cite web |author=OpenAI |date=13 May 2024 |title=Hello, GPT-4o |url=https://openai.com/es-ES/index/hello-gpt-4o/ |url-status=live |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20251216045649/https://openai.com/es-ES/index/hello-gpt-4o/ |archive-date=16 Dec 2025|access-date=2026-02-17 |website=OpenAI}}</ref> The model was temporarily retired from the public in April 2025 due to an update that caused the model to have excessive sycophancy. <ref>{{Cite web |last=Franzen |first=Carl |date=30 Apr 2025 |title=OpenAI rolls back ChatGPT's sycophancy and explains what went wrong |url=https://venturebeat.com/ai/openai-rolls-back-chatgpts-sycophancy-and-explains-what-went-wrong |url-status=live |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20250815154215/https://venturebeat.com/ai/openai-rolls-back-chatgpts-sycophancy-and-explains-what-went-wrong/ |archive-date=15 Aug 2025|access-date=15 Feb 2026 |website=VentureBeat}}</ref>It also had several controversies because of users developing [[wikipedia:Chatbot_psychosis|AI psychosis]], with some severe cases ending with users committing suicide. <ref>{{Cite web |last=Hill |first=Kashmir |date=13 Jun 2025 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/13/technology/chatgpt-ai-chatbots-conspiracies.html|title=They Asked an A.I. Chatbot Questions. The Answers Sent Them Spiraling. |url-status=live |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20260117185232/https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/13/technology/chatgpt-ai-chatbots-conspiracies.html |archive-date=17 Jan 2026|access-date=2025-02-15 |website=The New York Times}}</ref>
With the launch of GPT-5 in August 2025, OpenAI removed legacy models from non-API users, such as GPT-4o. This decision caused an outrage, with users complaining about the removal of the models along with the complaints about GPT-5. OpenAI's response was to end paywalling these older models, making them available only for Plus users.
In 2026, OpenAI announced they will be removing definitely GPT-4o and other models, such as GPT-5 and GPT-4.1. On February 13, 2026, 4o and other legacy models were removed for non-API users, causing again controversies in social media. These legacy models will be removed for API-users on April 2026. {{Citation needed}}

===Users' data retention by court mandate (May 2025 - October 2025)===
On May 13, 2025, New York Times filed a lawsuit against OpenAI and Microsoft for copyright infringement. A court in New York mandated OpenAI to preserve users' conversation logs, including data from deleted conversations and temporary conversations. This affected Free, Plus, Pro and Team subscription tiers and also non Zero-Data-Retention API users. Edu, Enterprise tiers and Zero-Data-Retention API users were exempt from this.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Bradbury |first=Danny |date=6 Jun 2025 |title=OpenAI forced to preserve ChatGPT chats |url=https://www.malwarebytes.com/blog/news/2025/06/openai-forced-to-preserve-chatgpt-chats |url-status=live |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20251114012548/https://www.malwarebytes.com/blog/news/2025/06/openai-forced-to-preserve-chatgpt-chats |archive-date=14 Nov 2025|access-date=26 Jan 2026 |website=Malwarebytes}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=R |first=Sudha |date=15 Jul 2025 |title=ChatGPT To Retain Conversations Indefinitely |url=https://medium.com/aimonks/court-orders-openai-to-retain-chatgpt-conversations-indefinitely-what-you-need-to-know-1530f24501a6 |url-status=live |archive-url= |archive-date= |access-date=26 Jan 2026 |website=Medium}}</ref>  On September 26, 2025, the preservation order was revoked. However, some deleted and temporary chats will still be monitored for being flagged.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Belanger |first=Ashley |date=10 Oct 2025 |title=OpenAI will stop saving most ChatGPT users’ deleted chats |url=https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2025/10/openai-no-longer-forced-to-save-deleted-chats-but-some-users-still-affected/ |url-status=live |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20260101145932/https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2025/10/openai-no-longer-forced-to-save-deleted-chats-but-some-users-still-affected/ |archive-date=1 Jan 2026|access-date=26 Jan 2026 |website=Ars Technica}}</ref>

===GPT-5 release (August 2025)===
On August 7, 2025, OpenAI released their newest model, GPT-5. The next day, several users complained in social media about the performance of the model, claiming it was underwhelming and was "dumber" than the previous model. Users also realised OpenAI's platform was most of the time setting the lowest-performance GPT-5 models and discovered they can make the platform to set the better-performance models by adding "think harder" in prompts. Sam Altman claimed that a "malfunction" of the autoswitcher was the reason behind GPT-5 performance.
<ref>{{Cite web |last=Edwards |first=Benj |date=11 Aug 2025 |title=The GPT-5 rollout has been a big mess |url=https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2025/08/the-gpt-5-rollout-has-been-a-big-mess/ |url-status=live |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20260109001515/https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2025/08/the-gpt-5-rollout-has-been-a-big-mess/ |archive-date=9 Jan 2026|access-date=5 Feb 2026 |website=Ars Technica}}</ref> <ref>{{Cite web |last=Franzen |first=Carl |date=8 Aug 2025 |title=OpenAI returns old models to ChatGPT as Sam Altman admits ‘bumpy’ GPT-5 rollout |url=https://venturebeat.com/business/openai-returns-old-models-to-chatgpt-as-sam-altman-admits-bumpy-gpt-5-rollout |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.is/hunUK |archive-date=2026-02-05 |access-date=5 Feb 2026 |website=VentureBeat}}</ref>

===Age verification (2026)===
With a justification to "help teens have an age-appropriate experience on ChatGPT", the platform will be implementing globally an age verification system to detect if a user is over 18 to allow them to access to mature content. OpenAI will scan and analyze the user's account, their conversations and their behavior - including the times of a day they use ChatGPT - to estimate their age. If this system detects a user as underage, it will use third-party tools provided by [[Persona]] to estimate their age, asking the user to upload a selfie or their government ID. If the user refuses to send a selfie or their ID, the platform will limit ChatGPT's generated content.<ref>{{Cite web |date=21 Jan 2026 |title=Age prediction in ChatGPT |url=https://help.openai.com/en/articles/12652064-age-prediction-in-chatgpt |url-status=live |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20260119032400/https://help.openai.com/en/articles/12652064-age-prediction-in-chatgpt |archive-date=19 Jan 2026|access-date=26 Jan 2026 |website=OpenAI}}</ref>

===Integrated ads (February 2026)===
On January 16, 2026, OpenAI announced that they will be implementing ads for "testing purposes". Users reacted to this announcement mostly negatively. <ref>{{Cite web |last=Simo |first=Fidgi |date=16 Jan 2026 |title=Our approach to advertising and expanding access to ChatGPT |url=https://openai.com/index/our-approach-to-advertising-and-expanding-access/ |url-status=live |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20260118192220/https://openai.com/index/our-approach-to-advertising-and-expanding-access/ |archive-date=18 Jan 2026|access-date=25 Jan 2026 |website=OpenAI}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Cirello |first=Rafaelle F |last2=Backholer |first2=Kathryn |date=23 Jan 2026 |title=OpenAI will put ads in ChatGPT. This opens a new door for dangerous influence |url=https://theconversation.com/openai-will-put-ads-in-chatgpt-this-opens-a-new-door-for-dangerous-influence-273806 |url-status=live |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20260125175609/https://theconversation.com/openai-will-put-ads-in-chatgpt-this-opens-a-new-door-for-dangerous-influence-273806 |archive-date=25 Jan 2026|access-date=26 Jan 2026}}</ref> On February 9, 2026, ads rolled out and are currently affecting users from the US that are over 18 and belong to Free and Go tiers. Pro, Business and Enterprise tiers are exempt from this. They appear at the bottom of ChatGPT's messages. OpenAI stated the ads that appear are based on current conversations, ads that user has engaged with, and past chats and ChatGPT's memories. OpenAI also claims the data provided to show ads "it's not shared with advertisers". It is possible to opt-out for getting personalized ads and delete ads data.  <ref>https://x.com/OpenAI/status/2020936703763153010 </ref> <ref> {{Cite web |author=OpenAI |date=9 Feb 2026 |title=Testing ads in ChatGPT |url=https://openai.com/index/testing-ads-in-chatgpt/ |url-status=live |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20260218012302/https://openai.com/index/testing-ads-in-chatgpt/ |archive-date=18 Feb 2026|access-date=13 Feb 2026 |website=OpenAI}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[OpenAI]]
*[[Artificial intelligence]]
*[[Claude]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]
[[Category:OpenAI]]
[[Category:Artificial intelligence]]

Amazon

2026-02-14T13:54:24Z

SomebodyThatMayContribute: /* References */

{{CompanyCargo
| Founded = 1994
| Industry = Technology
| Logo = Amazon.svg
| ParentCompany =
| Type = Public
| Website = https://amazon.com/
| Description = Major e-commerce platform which has allowed fraudulent listings, removed functionality and purchased products from Kindle devices, and more.
}}

[[wikipedia:Amazon_(company)|'''Amazon.com, Inc.''']] is a global leader in e-commerce, cloud computing, and digital streaming founded in 1994 by Jeff Bezos. Originally launched as an online bookstore, Amazon quickly expanded into a marketplace offering a wide range of products, including - but not limited to - electronics, clothing, household goods, and groceries. Today, it is one of the largest companies in the world, with a dominant presence in retail, technology, and logistics.

In addition to its e-commerce platform, Amazon is a major player in cloud computing through Amazon Web Services (AWS), which provides cloud infrastructure and services to businesses globally. The company also offers a variety of digital services, such as Amazon Prime - which provides streaming video and music - and Alexa; its voice-activated virtual assistant. Amazon has also developed consumer products like the Kindle e-reader, Fire tablets, and Echo smart speakers.

Amazon has faced significant scrutiny and criticism, particularly concerning its treatment of workers, marketplace practices, data privacy issues, and its impact on small businesses. It has been involved in various regulatory and legal challenges related to anti-competitive behavior, safety, and consumer protection, with calls for increased oversight on its business operations.

==Consumer impact summary==
{{Placeholder box|Overview of concerns that arise from the company's conduct regarding (if applicable):
* User Freedom
* User Privacy
* Business Model
* Market Control}}

====Business Model====
Amazon gets a majority of its revenue from seller fees and Amazon Prime memberships. In addition, Amazon has a "subscribe and save" option for some products. With this, the page to manage these subscriptions is obfuscated for the user, intentional or not.

<gallery>
File:Amazon Subscribe and Save Example.jpg|No "subscribe and save" option available
File:Amazon Subscribe and Save Example (1).jpg|The option appears in the "buy again" section.
</gallery>

==Incidents==
This is a list of all consumer protection incidents related to this company. Any incidents not mentioned here can be found in the [[:Category:Amazon|Amazon category]].
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+
!Controversy
!Year
!Background info
!Aftermath
!Related article
!Related video(s)
|-
|Amazon removing kindle books from old devices.
|2025
|As of May 26, 2025 Kindle for Android app versions released prior to March 2022 (v8.51 or earlier) no longer support Kindle content downloads.
|Old android devices (such as Galaxy Tab 4) that are not compatible with Android OS v.9.0+ are no longer able to download Kindle ebooks. Furthermore, Amazon 'forcibly' removed any ebooks downloaded to the kindle app on those devices the next time they connected to the internet, without warning that this would occur.
|https://www.androidauthority.com/kindle-app-drm-loophole-3554844/
|
|-
|Amazon removing ability to download Kindle books
|2025
|Starting on February 26, 2025, Amazon removed a feature from its website allowing users to download purchased books to a computer and then copy them manually to a Kindle over USB.
|Starting February 26, 2025, the ‘Download & Transfer via USB’ option will no longer be available.
|[[Amazon Kindle removes download feature of purchased books]]
|[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KMoCzeGnIss '''Amazon are changing the way you own your Kindle books - you have 10 days to react''']
<ref group="Video References">{{Cite web |last=Rossmann |first=Louis |date=18 Feb 2025 |title=Amazon revokes the concept of owning books, can edit books you already bought; PIRACY IS THE ANSWER! |url=https://youtube.com/watch?v=XfcoUdWCB9M |url-status=live |website=Youtube}}</ref>
|-
|Amazon sells lethal litterboxes
|2024
|Amazon sold knockoffs of Whisker brand "Litter-Robot" litterboxes that were designed in a unsafe way that led to the deaths of multiple cats, and posed a danger to young children.
|The responsible knockoff product was delisted, yet many other variants of the same product exist on the site.
|
|<ref group="Video References">{{Cite web |last=Rossmann |first=Louis |date=10 Sep 2024 |title=Amazon litterbox fatally harms cat; this is the sad end result of what I've talked about all year :( |url=https://youtube.com/watch?v=p6Y19nSPvC4 |url-status=live |website=Youtube}}</ref>
|-
|Amazon adds ads to premium subscription
|2023 – Present
|Amazon added advertisements to previously ad free subscriptions for Prime Video and Echo Show frames.
|Continues to occur.
|
|<ref group="Video References">{{Cite web |last=Rossmann |first=Louis |date=26 Aug 2024 |title=Amazon charges extra to avoid ads, says "lol jk" & adds them anyway |url=https://youtube.com/watch?v=RSi6g5-xUaY |url-status=live |website=Youtube}}</ref> <ref group="Video References">{{Cite web |last=Rossmann |first=Louis |date=2 May 2024 |title=Amazon Hikes Profits by Forcing Ads on PAID Prime Subscribers |url=https://youtube.com/watch?v=ua_QL9YysHQ |url-status=live |website=Youtube}}</ref> <ref group="Video References">{{Cite web |last=Rossmann |first=Louis |date=28 Dec 2023 |title=Ads on Amazon Prime Video: Paying More for Less? 😒 |url=https://youtube.com/watch?v=VLFpU9aqtXc |url-status=live |website=Youtube}}</ref>
|-
|Amazon allows fraudulent listings
|2014 – Present
|
|Fraudulent listings continue to be added, some removed.
|[[Amazon allows fraudulent product page after manual review]]
|<ref group="Video References">{{Cite web |last=Rossmann |first=Louis |date=5 Aug 2024 |title=Amazon allows fraudulent product page after manual review! Deep dive on Amazon's support of scams |url=https://youtube.com/watch?v=qZCMislL6_I |url-status=live |website=Youtube}}</ref> <ref group="Video References">{{Cite web |last=Rossmann |first=Louis |date=14 Jan 2024 |title=Amazon's Reckless Bet: Hazardous Items Unfazed by Viral Scare |url=https://youtube.com/watch?v=7trdHLtsFKM |url-status=live |website=Youtube}}</ref> <ref group="Video References">{{Cite web |last=Rossmann |first=Louis |date=30 Dec 2023 |title=Amazon Sells Fake Electrical Fuses |url=https://youtube.com/watch?v=B90_SNNbcoU |url-status=live |website=Youtube}}</ref> <ref group="Video References">{{Cite web |last=Rossmann |first=Louis |date=21 Dec 2023 |title=Amazon's Illusion of Quality: How Dangerous Products Get Top Ratings! |url=https://youtube.com/watch?v=DiKflg8Uko4 |url-status=live |website=Youtube}}</ref> <ref group="Video References">{{Cite web |last=Rossmann |first=Louis |date=16 Dec 2023 |title=Amazon Sells Dangerous Electrical Crimps |url=https://youtube.com/watch?v=y83BS_mK9GE |url-status=live |website=Youtube}}</ref> <ref group="Video References">{{Cite web |last=Rossmann |first=Louis |date=5 Aug 2023 |title=Amazon sells EOL devices as new after banning independents for quality control 🤣 |url=https://youtube.com/watch?v=Rhb0ID9z4aE |url-status=live |website=Youtube}}</ref> <ref group="Video References">{{Cite web |last=Rossmann |first=Louis |date=24 Feb 2022 |title=Amazon has a credibility problem brewing |url=https://youtube.com/watch?v=XZNn2mO3dNQ |url-status=live |website=Youtube}}</ref> <ref group="Video References">{{Cite web |last=Rossmann |first=Louis |date=24 Apr 2014 |title=Group Vertical eBay/Amazon Macbook screens are garbage; see for yourself! |url=https://youtube.com/watch?v=C0YNLWdj9sQ |url-status=live |website=Youtube}}</ref>
|-
|Amazon allows sellers to bribe customers for better ratings
|2016 – Present
|Amazon sellers give customers gift cards in exchange for positive product reviews; Amazon does nothing to stop this.
|Continues to occur.
|[[Amazon's history of seller bribery]]
|<ref group="Video References">{{Cite web |last=Rossmann |first=Louis |date=16 Jul 2024 |title=Amazon sellers bribe customers for good reviews; Amazon does nothing |url=https://youtube.com/watch?v=eS698R-bxuc |website=Youtube}}</ref>
|-
|Amazon has bad marketplace algorithms
|2023 – Present
|
|Algorithms still seem to be nonbeneficial.
|
|<ref group="Video References">{{Cite web |last=Rossmann |first=Louis |date=4 Jan 2024 |title=Beyond Algorithms: Why Amazon's Automated Systems Fail Sellers & Customers |url=https://youtube.com/watch?v=tAaSXz8CBMc |url-status=live |website=Youtube}}</ref>
|-
|Amazon trashes refurbished market
|2022 – 2023
|
|Unknown
|
|<ref group="Video References">{{Cite web |last=Rossmann |first=Louis |date=18 Jul 2023 |title=Apple & Amazon pay a fine for trashing the refurbished market |url=https://youtube.com/watch?v=h3qgbvq2SWs |url-status=live |website=Youtube}}</ref> <ref group="Video References">{{Cite web |last=Rossmann |first=Louis |date=8 Sep 2022 |title=eBay follows amazon's lead, consolidating & destroying the refurbished marketplace |url=https://youtube.com/watch?v=qzUXmeaZsIQ |url-status=live |website=Youtube}}</ref>
|-
|Amazon cancels associate account after recent negative media coverage, with a different reason
|2023
|
|Unknown
|
|<ref group="Video References">{{Cite web |last=Rossmann |first=Louis |date=22 Jun 2023 |title=Amazon cancelled my account after exposing their wrongful lockout of a paying customer |url=https://youtube.com/watch?v=Kcohq313q00 |url-status=live |website=Youtube}}</ref>
|-
|Amazon wrongfully suspends account of home owner
|2023
|A home owner was locked out of their Amazon account for nearly a week, after a delivery driver from Amazon misheard an automated message from their Eufy doorbell.
|Account reinstated.
|[[Amazon locks home owner out of Amazon account over allegation by Amazon delivery driver|Amazon locks home owner out of amazon account over allegation by amazon delivery driver]]
|<ref group="Video References">{{Cite web |last=Rossmann |first=Louis |date=18 Jun 2023 |title=Man locked out of amazon account over his doorbell gets account back, but no apology |url=https://youtube.com/watch?v=SyEgD-5GK9c |url-status=live |website=Youtube}}</ref> <ref group="Video References">{{Cite web |last=Rossmann |first=Louis |date=12 Jun 2023 |title=Amazon accuses customer of racism & shuts down their smart home - enough cloud junk |url=https://youtube.com/watch?v=NfiIXooD77s |url-status=live |website=Youtube}}</ref>
|-
|Amazon engages in anticompetitive behavior
|2021 – 2022
|
|Unknown
|
|<ref group="Video References">{{Cite web |last=Rossmann |first=Louis |date=18 Sep 2022 |title=Amazon forces sellers to keep prices high on other platforms |url=https://youtube.com/watch?v=YBJoSGWdP0Y |website=Youtube}}</ref> <ref group="Video References">{{Cite web |last=Rossmann |first=Louis |date=26 Oct 2021 |title=Amazon copying products/rigging search results |url=https://youtube.com/watch?v=XCLx4mVJ4gk |url-status=live |website=Youtube}}</ref>
|-
|Amazon sells fake electrical fuses
|2023 – Present
|Fuses are being sold that do not blow when supplied more power than it is intended to handle, which is a major safety risk.
|These fuses are still being sold to this day.
|[[Amazon allows fraudulent product page after manual review! Deep dive on Amazons support of scams]]
|<ref group="Video References">{{Cite web |last=Rossmann |first=Louis |date=30 Dec 2023 |title=Amazon Sells Fake Electrical Fuses |url=https://youtube.com/watch?v=B90_SNNbcoU |url-status=live |website=Youtube}}</ref>
|-
|Amazon PhotosPlus discontinuation
|2024
|
|Since September 2024, it is no longer possible to use the Amazon Echo Show 8 as a digital frame without advertisements.
|[[Amazon PhotosPlus Discontinuation]]
|
|-
|Amazon uses [[dark patterns]] for its premium subscription
|2023 – Present
|Systematically designing the cancelling steps to be complicated and long; using tricks to enroll users into the subscription.<ref>{{cite web |date=2023-06-21 |title=FTC Takes Action Against Amazon for Enrolling Consumers in Amazon Prime Without Consent and Sabotaging Their Attempts to Cancel |url=https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2023/06/ftc-takes-action-against-amazon-enrolling-consumers-amazon-prime-without-consent-sabotaging-their |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250129015417/https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2023/06/ftc-takes-action-against-amazon-enrolling-consumers-amazon-prime-without-consent-sabotaging-their |archive-date=2025-01-29 |website=Federal Trade Commission |url-status=live}}</ref> See "Project Illiad".
|Continues to occur.
|
|
|-
|Amazon removes option to lend Kindle e-books
|2022
|E-books marked with "lending enabled" could be lent to other Kindle users for a period of time during which the title is unavailable to the sender.
|Since August 2022, it is not possible to borrow Kindle books.
|
|[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hAvFmnuZZMI '''Amazon Discontinues Lending Kindle e-Books''']
|-
|Amazon removes option not to send voice recordings from Echo devices
|2025
|In March 2025, Echo customers with the option "Do Not Send Voice Recordings" enabled received an e-mail that local processing will no longer be supported on their device.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-03-18 |title=TechLinked – Microsoft’s Big Oopsie – Echo voice recordings, Gemini watermarks |url=https://youtu.be/DhXH83O6pXc?t=268 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://preservetube.com/watch?v=DhXH83O6pXc |archive-date=2025-03-18 |access-date=2025-03-18 |website=YouTube – TechLinked}}</ref>
|
|[[Amazon Echo changes terms of voice usage]]
|
|-
|Amazon discontinues Appstore for Android devices
|2025
|On August 20, 2025, Amazon will remove Android devices' access to the Amazon Appstore.
|Android apps downloaded through the Amazon Appstore will cease to function.
|[[Amazon revokes access to their Appstore on non-Amazon devices|Amazon pulls the plug on its Android app store that you never used anyway]]
|
|-
|Amazon removes kindle books from user libraries.
|2009
|In 2009, Amazon removed 2 illegally published books, Animal Farm and 1984, from sale and user libraries, along with any notes and annotations made by the reader. Others have also reported missing books from their libraries.
|Those affected have been given refunds and there haven't been any further documented cases of books being removed from readers' libraries, although user reports are still prevalent.<ref>{{Cite web |last=A |first=Georgie |date=13 Nov 2022 |title=Bought books removed by Amazon. |url=https://www.amazonforum.com/s/question/0D56Q0000ALx14HSQR/bought-books-removed-by-amazon |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.ph/Z2ov3 |archive-date=7 Jan 2026 |access-date=12 Aug 2025 |website=Amazon}}</ref>
|[https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/2009/07/18/technology/companies/18amazon.html Amazon Erases Orwell Books From Kindle]
|
|-
|Amazon purposely delays assisting customers with lost packages
|2025
|Amazon has been found delaying assistance to customers who contact customer service to report issues with a order (i.e., a missing package). Amazon states they are unable to take any action until a certain date, delaying the resolution process further in hopes the customer will not contact them again to request a refund.
|Unknown
|
|
|-
|Amazon adds ads on the lockscreen's of Amazon Fire Tablets & Amazon Kindle
|2012 - Present
|Amazon shows ads on both the Kindle & Fire Tablets lockscreen's to get money out of your purchases makes you pay a fee to remove them. This only applies to the cheaper models.
|This practice still occurs, but is very easy to remove through a quick search.
|[https://xdaforums.com/t/windows-linux-tool-fire-toolbox-v42-1.3889604/ Fire Toolbox]
[https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=T70xcAGUDQ4cR5PwPR Learn More About Ads On Kindle Fire and Fire Tablet - Amazon]
|
|}

==Products==

===Amazon Kindle (2007–Present)===
Amazon has progressively removed options for products purchased through the Kindle, effectively changing the meaning of purchases and ownership. It first removed the ability of users to lend e-books to one another, and later removed the ability to download purchased e-books to a computer.

===Amazon PhotosPlus (2023–2024)===
Amazon sold physical devices that could displaying photos stored in its Amazon Photos cloud storage through its PhotosPlus service. Less than one year later, it cancelled the service, which [[Retroactively amended purchase|changed the functionality]] of the devices, including showing advertisements every few hours.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Roth |first=Emma |date=21 Aug 2024 |title=Amazon cancels the Echo Show 8 Photos Edition’s main feature — focusing on photos |url=https://www.theverge.com/2024/8/21/24225149/amazon-end-photosplus-subscription-echo-show-8-photos-edition |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.ph/Ked4V |archive-date=7 Jan 2026 |access-date=4 Apr 2025 |website=The Verge}}</ref>

===Amazon Prime (2005–Present)===
Amazon uses [[dark patterns]] for its subscription services, including tricking users into subscribing and making it very complicated to cancel. Moreover, some features of the service, such as free deliveries, are region locked to where you initially subscribed, forcing you to buy another subscription to be able to use the service.{{CitationNeeded}}

Prime video further only allows for HD streaming on Windows and MacOS, despite streaming services such as Netflix allowing HD streaming on Linux <ref>{{Cite web |title=Prime Video System Requirements for Computers |url=https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html/ref=atv_unsupported_systems_bannerlink?nodeId=GUVGB3QMQRYRERYW |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260214133717/https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=GUVGB3QMQRYRERYW |archive-date=2026-02-14}}</ref>.

===Amazon Appstore (2011–Present)===
Amazon Appstore is the primary app store for Amazon's Fire devices, and is also available on other Android devices. On August 20, 2025, Amazon has removed access to the app store for all non-Fire devices. Apps installed on non-Fire devices from the Amazon Appstore have ceased to function but Fire devices are still to be able to access the Amazon Appstore.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Doffman |first=Zak |date=17 Aug 2025 |title=Amazon’s App Store Deadline—Stop Using Your Apps In 48 Hours |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/zakdoffman/2025/08/17/amazons-app-store-decision-48-hours-to-delete-your-apps/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.ph/CRmel |archive-date=18 Aug 2025 |access-date=30 Nov 2025 |website=Forbes}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Ravi |first=Nandika |date=20 Feb 2025 |title=Amazon will suspend support for its Appstore on Android |url=https://www.androidcentral.com/apps-software/amazon-will-suspend-support-for-its-appstore-on-android |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.ph/1sEqt |archive-date=20 Feb 2025 |access-date=30 Nov 2025 |website=Android Central}}</ref> There was no restitution for non-Fire users who may have purchased paid apps through the Amazon Appstore.{{Citation needed|date=30 Nov 2025}}

===Amazon Echo (2014–Present)===

===Amazon Alexa (2013–Present)===
On July 1st 2024, Amazon removed 3rd party list support from the Alexa service, resulting in only lists hosted by Amazon being supported<ref>{{Cite web |access-date=2025-09-16 |title=Deprecated Features |website=Amazon Developer Documentation |url=https://developer.amazon.com/en-US/docs/alexa/ask-overviews/deprecated-features.html#shopping-lists |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250522134122/https://developer.amazon.com/en-US/docs/alexa/ask-overviews/deprecated-features.html#shopping-lists |archive-date=2025-05-22 }}</ref>. While it is still possible to manage lists via Alexa skills, these now require the skill activation phrase to be used (e.g. "Alexa, ask AnyList to add XYZ to my shopping list"). This followed from a [[Google#Google Assistant 3rd Party List Support|similar move by Google]] in 2023.

===All Louis Rossmann videos covering Amazon===
<references group="Video References" />

==References==
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Amazon]]
[[Category:Articles in need of additional work]]

Amazon

2026-02-14T13:51:11Z

SomebodyThatMayContribute: /* References */

{{CompanyCargo
| Founded = 1994
| Industry = Technology
| Logo = Amazon.svg
| ParentCompany =
| Type = Public
| Website = https://amazon.com/
| Description = Major e-commerce platform which has allowed fraudulent listings, removed functionality and purchased products from Kindle devices, and more.
}}

[[wikipedia:Amazon_(company)|'''Amazon.com, Inc.''']] is a global leader in e-commerce, cloud computing, and digital streaming founded in 1994 by Jeff Bezos. Originally launched as an online bookstore, Amazon quickly expanded into a marketplace offering a wide range of products, including - but not limited to - electronics, clothing, household goods, and groceries. Today, it is one of the largest companies in the world, with a dominant presence in retail, technology, and logistics.

In addition to its e-commerce platform, Amazon is a major player in cloud computing through Amazon Web Services (AWS), which provides cloud infrastructure and services to businesses globally. The company also offers a variety of digital services, such as Amazon Prime - which provides streaming video and music - and Alexa; its voice-activated virtual assistant. Amazon has also developed consumer products like the Kindle e-reader, Fire tablets, and Echo smart speakers.

Amazon has faced significant scrutiny and criticism, particularly concerning its treatment of workers, marketplace practices, data privacy issues, and its impact on small businesses. It has been involved in various regulatory and legal challenges related to anti-competitive behavior, safety, and consumer protection, with calls for increased oversight on its business operations.

==Consumer impact summary==
{{Placeholder box|Overview of concerns that arise from the company's conduct regarding (if applicable):
* User Freedom
* User Privacy
* Business Model
* Market Control}}

====Business Model====
Amazon gets a majority of its revenue from seller fees and Amazon Prime memberships. In addition, Amazon has a "subscribe and save" option for some products. With this, the page to manage these subscriptions is obfuscated for the user, intentional or not.

<gallery>
File:Amazon Subscribe and Save Example.jpg|No "subscribe and save" option available
File:Amazon Subscribe and Save Example (1).jpg|The option appears in the "buy again" section.
</gallery>

==Incidents==
This is a list of all consumer protection incidents related to this company. Any incidents not mentioned here can be found in the [[:Category:Amazon|Amazon category]].
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+
!Controversy
!Year
!Background info
!Aftermath
!Related article
!Related video(s)
|-
|Amazon removing kindle books from old devices.
|2025
|As of May 26, 2025 Kindle for Android app versions released prior to March 2022 (v8.51 or earlier) no longer support Kindle content downloads.
|Old android devices (such as Galaxy Tab 4) that are not compatible with Android OS v.9.0+ are no longer able to download Kindle ebooks. Furthermore, Amazon 'forcibly' removed any ebooks downloaded to the kindle app on those devices the next time they connected to the internet, without warning that this would occur.
|https://www.androidauthority.com/kindle-app-drm-loophole-3554844/
|
|-
|Amazon removing ability to download Kindle books
|2025
|Starting on February 26, 2025, Amazon removed a feature from its website allowing users to download purchased books to a computer and then copy them manually to a Kindle over USB.
|Starting February 26, 2025, the ‘Download & Transfer via USB’ option will no longer be available.
|[[Amazon Kindle removes download feature of purchased books]]
|[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KMoCzeGnIss '''Amazon are changing the way you own your Kindle books - you have 10 days to react''']
<ref group="Video References">{{Cite web |last=Rossmann |first=Louis |date=18 Feb 2025 |title=Amazon revokes the concept of owning books, can edit books you already bought; PIRACY IS THE ANSWER! |url=https://youtube.com/watch?v=XfcoUdWCB9M |url-status=live |website=Youtube}}</ref>
|-
|Amazon sells lethal litterboxes
|2024
|Amazon sold knockoffs of Whisker brand "Litter-Robot" litterboxes that were designed in a unsafe way that led to the deaths of multiple cats, and posed a danger to young children.
|The responsible knockoff product was delisted, yet many other variants of the same product exist on the site.
|
|<ref group="Video References">{{Cite web |last=Rossmann |first=Louis |date=10 Sep 2024 |title=Amazon litterbox fatally harms cat; this is the sad end result of what I've talked about all year :( |url=https://youtube.com/watch?v=p6Y19nSPvC4 |url-status=live |website=Youtube}}</ref>
|-
|Amazon adds ads to premium subscription
|2023 – Present
|Amazon added advertisements to previously ad free subscriptions for Prime Video and Echo Show frames.
|Continues to occur.
|
|<ref group="Video References">{{Cite web |last=Rossmann |first=Louis |date=26 Aug 2024 |title=Amazon charges extra to avoid ads, says "lol jk" & adds them anyway |url=https://youtube.com/watch?v=RSi6g5-xUaY |url-status=live |website=Youtube}}</ref> <ref group="Video References">{{Cite web |last=Rossmann |first=Louis |date=2 May 2024 |title=Amazon Hikes Profits by Forcing Ads on PAID Prime Subscribers |url=https://youtube.com/watch?v=ua_QL9YysHQ |url-status=live |website=Youtube}}</ref> <ref group="Video References">{{Cite web |last=Rossmann |first=Louis |date=28 Dec 2023 |title=Ads on Amazon Prime Video: Paying More for Less? 😒 |url=https://youtube.com/watch?v=VLFpU9aqtXc |url-status=live |website=Youtube}}</ref>
|-
|Amazon allows fraudulent listings
|2014 – Present
|
|Fraudulent listings continue to be added, some removed.
|[[Amazon allows fraudulent product page after manual review]]
|<ref group="Video References">{{Cite web |last=Rossmann |first=Louis |date=5 Aug 2024 |title=Amazon allows fraudulent product page after manual review! Deep dive on Amazon's support of scams |url=https://youtube.com/watch?v=qZCMislL6_I |url-status=live |website=Youtube}}</ref> <ref group="Video References">{{Cite web |last=Rossmann |first=Louis |date=14 Jan 2024 |title=Amazon's Reckless Bet: Hazardous Items Unfazed by Viral Scare |url=https://youtube.com/watch?v=7trdHLtsFKM |url-status=live |website=Youtube}}</ref> <ref group="Video References">{{Cite web |last=Rossmann |first=Louis |date=30 Dec 2023 |title=Amazon Sells Fake Electrical Fuses |url=https://youtube.com/watch?v=B90_SNNbcoU |url-status=live |website=Youtube}}</ref> <ref group="Video References">{{Cite web |last=Rossmann |first=Louis |date=21 Dec 2023 |title=Amazon's Illusion of Quality: How Dangerous Products Get Top Ratings! |url=https://youtube.com/watch?v=DiKflg8Uko4 |url-status=live |website=Youtube}}</ref> <ref group="Video References">{{Cite web |last=Rossmann |first=Louis |date=16 Dec 2023 |title=Amazon Sells Dangerous Electrical Crimps |url=https://youtube.com/watch?v=y83BS_mK9GE |url-status=live |website=Youtube}}</ref> <ref group="Video References">{{Cite web |last=Rossmann |first=Louis |date=5 Aug 2023 |title=Amazon sells EOL devices as new after banning independents for quality control 🤣 |url=https://youtube.com/watch?v=Rhb0ID9z4aE |url-status=live |website=Youtube}}</ref> <ref group="Video References">{{Cite web |last=Rossmann |first=Louis |date=24 Feb 2022 |title=Amazon has a credibility problem brewing |url=https://youtube.com/watch?v=XZNn2mO3dNQ |url-status=live |website=Youtube}}</ref> <ref group="Video References">{{Cite web |last=Rossmann |first=Louis |date=24 Apr 2014 |title=Group Vertical eBay/Amazon Macbook screens are garbage; see for yourself! |url=https://youtube.com/watch?v=C0YNLWdj9sQ |url-status=live |website=Youtube}}</ref>
|-
|Amazon allows sellers to bribe customers for better ratings
|2016 – Present
|Amazon sellers give customers gift cards in exchange for positive product reviews; Amazon does nothing to stop this.
|Continues to occur.
|[[Amazon's history of seller bribery]]
|<ref group="Video References">{{Cite web |last=Rossmann |first=Louis |date=16 Jul 2024 |title=Amazon sellers bribe customers for good reviews; Amazon does nothing |url=https://youtube.com/watch?v=eS698R-bxuc |website=Youtube}}</ref>
|-
|Amazon has bad marketplace algorithms
|2023 – Present
|
|Algorithms still seem to be nonbeneficial.
|
|<ref group="Video References">{{Cite web |last=Rossmann |first=Louis |date=4 Jan 2024 |title=Beyond Algorithms: Why Amazon's Automated Systems Fail Sellers & Customers |url=https://youtube.com/watch?v=tAaSXz8CBMc |url-status=live |website=Youtube}}</ref>
|-
|Amazon trashes refurbished market
|2022 – 2023
|
|Unknown
|
|<ref group="Video References">{{Cite web |last=Rossmann |first=Louis |date=18 Jul 2023 |title=Apple & Amazon pay a fine for trashing the refurbished market |url=https://youtube.com/watch?v=h3qgbvq2SWs |url-status=live |website=Youtube}}</ref> <ref group="Video References">{{Cite web |last=Rossmann |first=Louis |date=8 Sep 2022 |title=eBay follows amazon's lead, consolidating & destroying the refurbished marketplace |url=https://youtube.com/watch?v=qzUXmeaZsIQ |url-status=live |website=Youtube}}</ref>
|-
|Amazon cancels associate account after recent negative media coverage, with a different reason
|2023
|
|Unknown
|
|<ref group="Video References">{{Cite web |last=Rossmann |first=Louis |date=22 Jun 2023 |title=Amazon cancelled my account after exposing their wrongful lockout of a paying customer |url=https://youtube.com/watch?v=Kcohq313q00 |url-status=live |website=Youtube}}</ref>
|-
|Amazon wrongfully suspends account of home owner
|2023
|A home owner was locked out of their Amazon account for nearly a week, after a delivery driver from Amazon misheard an automated message from their Eufy doorbell.
|Account reinstated.
|[[Amazon locks home owner out of Amazon account over allegation by Amazon delivery driver|Amazon locks home owner out of amazon account over allegation by amazon delivery driver]]
|<ref group="Video References">{{Cite web |last=Rossmann |first=Louis |date=18 Jun 2023 |title=Man locked out of amazon account over his doorbell gets account back, but no apology |url=https://youtube.com/watch?v=SyEgD-5GK9c |url-status=live |website=Youtube}}</ref> <ref group="Video References">{{Cite web |last=Rossmann |first=Louis |date=12 Jun 2023 |title=Amazon accuses customer of racism & shuts down their smart home - enough cloud junk |url=https://youtube.com/watch?v=NfiIXooD77s |url-status=live |website=Youtube}}</ref>
|-
|Amazon engages in anticompetitive behavior
|2021 – 2022
|
|Unknown
|
|<ref group="Video References">{{Cite web |last=Rossmann |first=Louis |date=18 Sep 2022 |title=Amazon forces sellers to keep prices high on other platforms |url=https://youtube.com/watch?v=YBJoSGWdP0Y |website=Youtube}}</ref> <ref group="Video References">{{Cite web |last=Rossmann |first=Louis |date=26 Oct 2021 |title=Amazon copying products/rigging search results |url=https://youtube.com/watch?v=XCLx4mVJ4gk |url-status=live |website=Youtube}}</ref>
|-
|Amazon sells fake electrical fuses
|2023 – Present
|Fuses are being sold that do not blow when supplied more power than it is intended to handle, which is a major safety risk.
|These fuses are still being sold to this day.
|[[Amazon allows fraudulent product page after manual review! Deep dive on Amazons support of scams]]
|<ref group="Video References">{{Cite web |last=Rossmann |first=Louis |date=30 Dec 2023 |title=Amazon Sells Fake Electrical Fuses |url=https://youtube.com/watch?v=B90_SNNbcoU |url-status=live |website=Youtube}}</ref>
|-
|Amazon PhotosPlus discontinuation
|2024
|
|Since September 2024, it is no longer possible to use the Amazon Echo Show 8 as a digital frame without advertisements.
|[[Amazon PhotosPlus Discontinuation]]
|
|-
|Amazon uses [[dark patterns]] for its premium subscription
|2023 – Present
|Systematically designing the cancelling steps to be complicated and long; using tricks to enroll users into the subscription.<ref>{{cite web |date=2023-06-21 |title=FTC Takes Action Against Amazon for Enrolling Consumers in Amazon Prime Without Consent and Sabotaging Their Attempts to Cancel |url=https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2023/06/ftc-takes-action-against-amazon-enrolling-consumers-amazon-prime-without-consent-sabotaging-their |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250129015417/https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2023/06/ftc-takes-action-against-amazon-enrolling-consumers-amazon-prime-without-consent-sabotaging-their |archive-date=2025-01-29 |website=Federal Trade Commission |url-status=live}}</ref> See "Project Illiad".
|Continues to occur.
|
|
|-
|Amazon removes option to lend Kindle e-books
|2022
|E-books marked with "lending enabled" could be lent to other Kindle users for a period of time during which the title is unavailable to the sender.
|Since August 2022, it is not possible to borrow Kindle books.
|
|[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hAvFmnuZZMI '''Amazon Discontinues Lending Kindle e-Books''']
|-
|Amazon removes option not to send voice recordings from Echo devices
|2025
|In March 2025, Echo customers with the option "Do Not Send Voice Recordings" enabled received an e-mail that local processing will no longer be supported on their device.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-03-18 |title=TechLinked – Microsoft’s Big Oopsie – Echo voice recordings, Gemini watermarks |url=https://youtu.be/DhXH83O6pXc?t=268 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://preservetube.com/watch?v=DhXH83O6pXc |archive-date=2025-03-18 |access-date=2025-03-18 |website=YouTube – TechLinked}}</ref>
|
|[[Amazon Echo changes terms of voice usage]]
|
|-
|Amazon discontinues Appstore for Android devices
|2025
|On August 20, 2025, Amazon will remove Android devices' access to the Amazon Appstore.
|Android apps downloaded through the Amazon Appstore will cease to function.
|[[Amazon revokes access to their Appstore on non-Amazon devices|Amazon pulls the plug on its Android app store that you never used anyway]]
|
|-
|Amazon removes kindle books from user libraries.
|2009
|In 2009, Amazon removed 2 illegally published books, Animal Farm and 1984, from sale and user libraries, along with any notes and annotations made by the reader. Others have also reported missing books from their libraries.
|Those affected have been given refunds and there haven't been any further documented cases of books being removed from readers' libraries, although user reports are still prevalent.<ref>{{Cite web |last=A |first=Georgie |date=13 Nov 2022 |title=Bought books removed by Amazon. |url=https://www.amazonforum.com/s/question/0D56Q0000ALx14HSQR/bought-books-removed-by-amazon |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.ph/Z2ov3 |archive-date=7 Jan 2026 |access-date=12 Aug 2025 |website=Amazon}}</ref>
|[https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/2009/07/18/technology/companies/18amazon.html Amazon Erases Orwell Books From Kindle]
|
|-
|Amazon purposely delays assisting customers with lost packages
|2025
|Amazon has been found delaying assistance to customers who contact customer service to report issues with a order (i.e., a missing package). Amazon states they are unable to take any action until a certain date, delaying the resolution process further in hopes the customer will not contact them again to request a refund.
|Unknown
|
|
|-
|Amazon adds ads on the lockscreen's of Amazon Fire Tablets & Amazon Kindle
|2012 - Present
|Amazon shows ads on both the Kindle & Fire Tablets lockscreen's to get money out of your purchases makes you pay a fee to remove them. This only applies to the cheaper models.
|This practice still occurs, but is very easy to remove through a quick search.
|[https://xdaforums.com/t/windows-linux-tool-fire-toolbox-v42-1.3889604/ Fire Toolbox]
[https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=T70xcAGUDQ4cR5PwPR Learn More About Ads On Kindle Fire and Fire Tablet - Amazon]
|
|}

==Products==

===Amazon Kindle (2007–Present)===
Amazon has progressively removed options for products purchased through the Kindle, effectively changing the meaning of purchases and ownership. It first removed the ability of users to lend e-books to one another, and later removed the ability to download purchased e-books to a computer.

===Amazon PhotosPlus (2023–2024)===
Amazon sold physical devices that could displaying photos stored in its Amazon Photos cloud storage through its PhotosPlus service. Less than one year later, it cancelled the service, which [[Retroactively amended purchase|changed the functionality]] of the devices, including showing advertisements every few hours.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Roth |first=Emma |date=21 Aug 2024 |title=Amazon cancels the Echo Show 8 Photos Edition’s main feature — focusing on photos |url=https://www.theverge.com/2024/8/21/24225149/amazon-end-photosplus-subscription-echo-show-8-photos-edition |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.ph/Ked4V |archive-date=7 Jan 2026 |access-date=4 Apr 2025 |website=The Verge}}</ref>

===Amazon Prime (2005–Present)===
Amazon uses [[dark patterns]] for its subscription services, including tricking users into subscribing and making it very complicated to cancel. Moreover, some features of the service, such as free deliveries, are region locked to where you initially subscribed, forcing you to buy another subscription to be able to use the service.{{CitationNeeded}}

Prime video further only allows for HD streaming on Windows and MacOS, despite streaming services such as Netflix allowing HD streaming on Linux <ref>{{Cite web |title=Prime Video System Requirements for Computers |url=https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html/ref=atv_unsupported_systems_bannerlink?nodeId=GUVGB3QMQRYRERYW |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260214133717/https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=GUVGB3QMQRYRERYW |archive-date=2026-02-14 |access-date=}}</ref>.

===Amazon Appstore (2011–Present)===
Amazon Appstore is the primary app store for Amazon's Fire devices, and is also available on other Android devices. On August 20, 2025, Amazon has removed access to the app store for all non-Fire devices. Apps installed on non-Fire devices from the Amazon Appstore have ceased to function but Fire devices are still to be able to access the Amazon Appstore.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Doffman |first=Zak |date=17 Aug 2025 |title=Amazon’s App Store Deadline—Stop Using Your Apps In 48 Hours |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/zakdoffman/2025/08/17/amazons-app-store-decision-48-hours-to-delete-your-apps/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.ph/CRmel |archive-date=18 Aug 2025 |access-date=30 Nov 2025 |website=Forbes}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Ravi |first=Nandika |date=20 Feb 2025 |title=Amazon will suspend support for its Appstore on Android |url=https://www.androidcentral.com/apps-software/amazon-will-suspend-support-for-its-appstore-on-android |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.ph/1sEqt |archive-date=20 Feb 2025 |access-date=30 Nov 2025 |website=Android Central}}</ref> There was no restitution for non-Fire users who may have purchased paid apps through the Amazon Appstore.{{Citation needed|date=30 Nov 2025}}

===Amazon Echo (2014–Present)===

===Amazon Alexa (2013–Present)===
On July 1st 2024, Amazon removed 3rd party list support from the Alexa service, resulting in only lists hosted by Amazon being supported<ref>{{Cite web |access-date=2025-09-16 |title=Deprecated Features |website=Amazon Developer Documentation |url=https://developer.amazon.com/en-US/docs/alexa/ask-overviews/deprecated-features.html#shopping-lists |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250522134122/https://developer.amazon.com/en-US/docs/alexa/ask-overviews/deprecated-features.html#shopping-lists |archive-date=2025-05-22 }}</ref>. While it is still possible to manage lists via Alexa skills, these now require the skill activation phrase to be used (e.g. "Alexa, ask AnyList to add XYZ to my shopping list"). This followed from a [[Google#Google Assistant 3rd Party List Support|similar move by Google]] in 2023.

===All Louis Rossmann videos covering Amazon===
<references group="Video References" />

==References==
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Amazon]]
[[Category:Articles in need of additional work]]

ChatGPT

2026-01-27T07:31:19Z

SomebodyThatMayContribute: Adds TOS Citation to Consumer-impact summary Section 1, First sentence.

{{StubNotice}}{{ProductCargo
|Company=OpenAI
|ProductLine=
|ReleaseYear=2022
|InProduction=Yes
|ArticleType=Product
|Category=Software, Artificial Intelligence, Generative AI, Large Language Models
|Website=https://chat.openai.com/
|Description=ChatGPT data has been mishandled in the past, and is worsening with court-ordered data retention and integrated advertising.
|Logo=OpenAI logo (symbol).svg
}}
'''ChatGPT''' (Chat Generative Pre-Trained) is a generative artificial intelligence application developed and marketed by [[OpenAI]]. It was released on November 30th, 2022.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-11-30 |title=Introducing ChatGPT |url=https://openai.com/index/chatgpt/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.is/IguN2 |archive-date=2025-09-01 |access-date=2026-01-26 |website=OpenAI}}</ref> It is a large language model (LLM) specialized in dialog that can perform human-like conversations. Various iterations of ChatGPT include GPT-3, GPT-4, GPT-4o, and previews of OpenAI-o1, OpenAI-o1 mini and GPT-5.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-07-09 |title=ChatGPT version history: Evolution timeline |url=https://nexos.ai/blog/chatgpt-version-history/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.is/oFJHa |archive-date=2026-01-26 |access-date=2026-01-26 |website=nexos.ai}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Hayat |first=Usman |date=2025-08-22 |title=ChatGPT Version History List, Changelog & Latest Releases |url=https://wpexperts.io/blog/chatgpt-version-history/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.ph/h5g5y |archive-date=2026-01-26 |access-date=2026-01-26 |website=WPExperts.io}}</ref>

==Consumer-impact summary==

====Misleading advertising====
ChatGPT terms of service say it should not be used to make decisions about people.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Terms of Use {{!}} OpenAI |url=https://openai.com/policies/terms-of-use/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.is/Hu4Wo |archive-date=2026-01-27 |access-date=2026-01-27}}</ref> However, their advertising claims it is "PhD level" and makes other claims that seem to imply it is reliable. Many people use ChatGPT as if its output were meaningful, reliable, or a substitute for interaction with a person.

====Billing and moderation====
Credits (money) expire automatically with no notification, and the credit balance interface makes this process confusing. You must maintain a positive account balance, and you are auto-billed a fixed amount if it goes negative. Accounts can be banned and credits confiscated for typing the wrong things in chat, with no recourse.{{Citation needed}}

====Privacy====
A mobile phone number in a friendly country is required to better track your identity.{{Citation needed}}

====Data policy====
From OpenAI's data usage policy:{{Citation needed}}
{{Quote|We share content with a select group of trusted service providers that help us provide our services. We share the minimum amount of content we need in order to accomplish this purpose and our service providers are subject to strict confidentiality and security obligations. We do not use or share user content for marketing or advertising purposes.}}
The wording does not detail the extent of conversations shared with OpenAI's trusted service providers.

==Incidents==
{{Incomplete section}}
===Security breach (2023)===
On March 20, 2023 a bug allowed some users to see other users' conversation titles. Sam Altman, OpenAI's CEO, stated users couldn't view other users' conversation content. After the bug was fixed, users reported they were unable to view their conversation history. Later reports showed this issue was much bigger than it was thought at first, with OpenAI reporting there were leaks of the users' name, last name, e-mail address, payment address, and partial credit card information.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Simo |first=Fidgi |date=20 March 2023 |title=March 20 ChatGPT outage: Here’s what happened |url=https://openai.com/index/march-20-chatgpt-outage/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.is/HFapg |archive-date=2025-08-24 |access-date=26 Jan 2026 |website=OpenAI}}</ref>

===Users' data retention by court mandate (May 2025 - October 2025)===
On May 13, 2025, New York Times filed a lawsuit against OpenAI and Microsoft for copyright infringement. A court in New York mandated OpenAI to preserve users' conversation logs, including data from deleted conversations and temporary conversations. This affected Free, Plus, Pro and Team subscription tiers and also non Zero-Data-Retention API users. Edu, Enterprise tiers and Zero-Data-Retention API users were exempt from this.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Bradbury |first=Danny |date=6 Jun 2025 |title=OpenAI forced to preserve ChatGPT chats |url=https://www.malwarebytes.com/blog/news/2025/06/openai-forced-to-preserve-chatgpt-chats |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.is/gGl4j |archive-date=2026-01-26 |access-date=26 Jan 2026 |website=Malwarebytes}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=R |first=Sudha |date=15 Jul 2025 |title=ChatGPT To Retain Conversations Indefinitely |url=https://medium.com/aimonks/court-orders-openai-to-retain-chatgpt-conversations-indefinitely-what-you-need-to-know-1530f24501a6 |url-status=live |archive-url= |archive-date= |access-date=26 Jan 2026 |website=Medium}}</ref>  On September 26, 2025, the preservation order was revoked. However, some deleted and temporary chats will still be monitored for being flagged.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Belanger |first=Ashley |date=10 Oct 2025 |title=OpenAI will stop saving most ChatGPT users’ deleted chats |url=https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2025/10/openai-no-longer-forced-to-save-deleted-chats-but-some-users-still-affected/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.is/fuvb9 |archive-date=2025-10-13 |access-date=26 Jan 2026 |website=Ars Technica}}</ref>

===Age verification (2026)===
With a justification to "help teens have an age-appropriate experience on ChatGPT", the platform will be implementing globally an age verification system to detect if a user is over 18 to allow them to access to mature content. OpenAI will scan and analyze the user's account, their conversations and their behavior - including the times of a day they use ChatGPT - to estimate their age. If this system detects a user as underage, it will use third-party tools provided by [[Persona]] to estimate their age, asking the user to upload a selfie or their government ID. If the user refuses to send a selfie or their ID, the platform will limit ChatGPT's generated content.<ref>{{Cite web |date=21 Jan 2026 |title=Age prediction in ChatGPT |url=https://help.openai.com/en/articles/12652064-age-prediction-in-chatgpt |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.is/9sFQT |archive-date=2026-01-26 |access-date=26 Jan 2026 |website=OpenAI}}</ref>

===Integrated ads (2026)===
On January 16, 2026, OpenAI announced that they will be implementing in the US ads for users over 18 that belong to Free and Go tiers. Pro, Business and Enterprise tiers will be exempt from this. These ads will be based on the conversation topic and will appear at the bottom of ChatGPT's messages.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Simo |first=Fidgi |date=16 Jan 2026 |title=Our approach to advertising and expanding access to ChatGPT |url=https://openai.com/index/our-approach-to-advertising-and-expanding-access/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.is/dsJzC |archive-date=2026-01-16 |access-date=25 Jan 2026 |website=OpenAI}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Cirello |first=Rafaelle F |last2=Backholer |first2=Kathryn |date=23 Jan 2026 |title=OpenAI will put ads in ChatGPT. This opens a new door for dangerous influence |url=https://theconversation.com/openai-will-put-ads-in-chatgpt-this-opens-a-new-door-for-dangerous-influence-273806 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.is/VH3X3 |archive-date=2026-10-26 |access-date=26 Jan 2026}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[OpenAI]]
*[[Artificial intelligence]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]
[[Category:OpenAI]]
[[Category:Artificial intelligence]]