Adobe: Difference between revisions
categories already in company category |
→User documents forced into the cloud with no opt-out: Added mention of Lightroom, added reference to US Cloud Act |
||
| (4 intermediate revisions by 3 users not shown) | |||
| Line 9: | Line 9: | ||
[[wikipedia:Adobe_Inc.|'''Adobe''']] is a software company based in America, specializing in software for creative applications, such as video editing, photo manipulation, animation, or illustration. | [[wikipedia:Adobe_Inc.|'''Adobe''']] is a software company based in America, specializing in software for creative applications, such as video editing, photo manipulation, animation, or illustration. | ||
==Consumer impact summary== | |||
Adobe switched to subscription software, abandoning perpetual licenses in favor of the Creative Cloud model of monthly ongoing payments. This has made limited availability of current software to users without a subscription. | |||
Adobe has also been accused of using user information to train artificial intelligence, mandatory cloud syncing in applications such as Adobe Fresco and Adobe Scan without a choice to opt out, and without end-to-end encryption. Adobe has also been accused of monitoring the reading behavior of readers within eBooks, collecting information in rich detail without encryption, and employing dark patterns to restore unwanted features on updates. | |||
Besides that, Adobe has experienced multiple data breaches that exposed millions of users' personal and payment information. | |||
==Incidents== | ==Incidents== | ||
| Line 22: | Line 29: | ||
===User documents forced into the cloud with no opt-out=== | ===User documents forced into the cloud with no opt-out=== | ||
Some of Adobe's iPad applications, including but not limited to digital painting app Adobe Fresco and document scanning app Adobe Scan, require an account and do not offer any option to opt out of syncing all documents created in these apps with Adobe's cloud servers. There is no end-to-end encryption, i.e. Adobe has full access to all these files. Disabling internet access makes it possible to work offline, but any files created in | Some of Adobe's iPad applications, including but not limited to digital painting app Adobe Fresco and document scanning app Adobe Scan, require an account and do not offer any option to opt out of syncing all documents created in these apps with Adobe's cloud servers. Similarly, the new non-Classic versions of Lightroom are fundamentally built around uploading all images to Adobe's cloud. | ||
There is no end-to-end encryption, i.e. Adobe has full access to all these files. Disabling internet access makes it possible to work offline, but any files created in the affected apps immediately sync to the cloud in the background as soon as the device is connected to a network again. | |||
As an American company, Adobe is subject to the [[wikipedia:CLOUD_Act|United States Cloud Act]], which requires all US companies to grant the US government access to any user data even if stored on servers outside their jurisdiction and comply with requests to help with spy operations upon request. | |||
===Spying on users' eBook reading activities=== | ===Spying on users' eBook reading activities=== | ||
In 2014, it was revealed that the popular Adobe Editions eBook reading app reported extensive information about users' reading habits back to Adobe. This included several unique identifiers, which books were added to the app, when which one was opened for how long, percentage read, and page navigation information.<ref>https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2014/10/adobes-e-book-reader-sends-your-reading-logs-back-to-adobe-in-plain-text/</ref> | In 2014, it was revealed that the popular Adobe Editions eBook reading app reported extensive information about users' reading habits back to Adobe. This included several unique identifiers, which books were added to the app, when which one was opened for how long, percentage read, and page navigation information.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Gallagher |first=Sean |date=8 Oct 2014 |title=Adobe’s e-book reader sends your reading logs back to Adobe—in plain text |url=https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2014/10/adobes-e-book-reader-sends-your-reading-logs-back-to-adobe-in-plain-text/ |url-status=live |access-date=16 Mar 2025 |website=[[ArsTechnica]]}}</ref> | ||
Moreover, all this information was transmitted completely unencrypted in plain text. This meant that even someone who was just on the same Starbucks WiFi would have been able track their reading activities in realtime, entirely undetected. | Moreover, all this information was transmitted completely unencrypted in plain text. This meant that even someone who was just on the same Starbucks WiFi would have been able track their reading activities in realtime, entirely undetected. | ||
| Line 37: | Line 48: | ||
===User information leaks and data breaches=== | ===User information leaks and data breaches=== | ||
In 2013, credit card information and personal data of 38 million customers was exposed in a data breach.<ref>https://medium.com/@maazptl240602/the-adobe-attack-of-2013-a-cautionary-tale-of-cybersecurity-failure-1ef4ec74eb64</ref> | In 2013, credit card information and personal data of 38 million customers was exposed in a data breach.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Patel |first=Maaz |date=26 Mar 2023 |title=The Adobe Attack of 2013: A Cautionary Tale of Cybersecurity Failure |url=https://medium.com/@maazptl240602/the-adobe-attack-of-2013-a-cautionary-tale-of-cybersecurity-failure-1ef4ec74eb64 |url-status=live |access-date=16 Mar 2025 |website=[[Medium]]}}</ref> | ||
In 2019, Adobe left about 7.5 million Creative Cloud customer records in a database publicly accessible online in gross negligence. The database was not even protected with a password.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Cimpanu |first=Catalin |date=26 Oct 2019 |title=Adobe left 7.5 million Creative Cloud user records exposed online |url=https://www.zdnet.com/article/adobe-left-7-5-million-creative-cloud-user-records-exposed-online/ |url-status=live |access-date=16 Mar 2025 |website=[ZDNet]}}</ref> | |||
==Products<!-- Def wanna fill this in properly later -->== | |||
*Creative Cloud (20xx): | |||
*Photoshop (199x): | |||
==References== | ==References== | ||