Editing Forced cloud

'''Forced [[Cloud (service)|cloud]]''', '''forced internet''', '''forced remote connection''', etc... is a practice in which software or hardware requires a continuous/constant (or, at least, regular) device connection to remote servers owned by the company who made said software/hardware, even when the features technically don't require network connections.

Because forced cloud generally means locality is technically possible, entities that engage in this practice have little reason to do so outside of personal gain. They may find it favorable for several reasons, including:

* Tracking
* [[Remote disabling]]
* Centralization

Forced-cloud is an extreme case of cloud-first architecture, the antithesis of [[wikipedia:Local-first_software|local-first]].

==Why it is a problem==
===Minimal ownership===
Forcing cloud connections implies that the cloud can revoke the user access to their data at any time.

=== Vendor lock-in ===
The user is "chained" to the cloud provider. The provider typically has no incentives to support interoperability, making it harder for the user to migrate.

==Examples==
*[[Microsoft Windows 11|Microsoft (MS) Windows 11]] requires internet connection during setup, to [[Forced account|force the user to login]] with a MS account
*[[YouTube]] (YT) Premium "offline" videos are deleted from the user's local storage, unless there's a regular connection to YT servers
*[[Amazon]] FireTV refuses to show any apps in the "launcher" (home-screen) unless the user is connected to the internet, preventing the user from accessing their local apps{{Citation needed}}