Right to own

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The right to own is the right for consumers to be able to completely own their products. The Consumer Action Taskforce (CAT) believes that a consumer only owns their product if they have full control over it. Ownership is a key concept to consumer rights protection.

Extent of the right to own

As established, a consumer only owns their purchased product if they completely control it. If control is revocable, the consumer does not own their product. A consumer does not own their product if they pay a subscription for continued use. A consumer does not own their product if it bricks itself when the company goes out of business or decides to discontinue production. A consumer does not own their product if they are unable to repair their device themselves due to the company going out of its way to make unauthorized repair impossible. A consumer does not truly own their product if poor security allows unauthorized actors to use the product without permission. Any of these problems will reduce the degree to which consumers own their products and harm their right to own. Before making any purchase, consider how much of it is actually yours.