Roku: Difference between revisions - Consumer Rights Wiki

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{{~~InfoboxCompany~~

{{CompanyCargo

| ~~Official Website~~ = ~~https://roku~~.~~com/~~

|Description=American technology company focused on TV connected devices and TV software.

| Logo = Roku.png

|Founded=2002

|~~Name~~=~~Roku, Inc.~~|Type=Public|~~Founded~~=~~2002|Industry=Media Streaming~~}}'''[[wikipedia:Roku|Roku, Inc.]]''' is an American technology company, founded in October of 2002, known for their "Roku" line of products which consist of Smart TVs & streaming players. It is also the creator and maintainer of "Roku OS," a smart TV operating system released in 2004 that allows users to access streaming service apps.

|Industry=Media Streaming

|Logo=Roku.png

|ParentCompany=

|Type=Public

|Website=https://roku.com/

}}

'''[[wikipedia:Roku|Roku, Inc.]]''' is an American technology company, founded in October of 2002, known for their "Roku" line of products which consist of Smart TVs & streaming players. It is also the creator and maintainer of "Roku OS," a smart TV operating system released in 2004 that allows users to access streaming service apps.

==Consumer-protection summary==

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*This data is used for purposes such as providing and improving services, personalizing content, and targeted advertisements.

*Roku retains personal data for as long as deemed necessary.

*On many of their devices and services such as Roku OS, "Do not sell my personal information" is opt-out rather than opt-in.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Roku Privacy Policy |url=https://docs.roku.com/published/userprivacypolicy/en/us |url-status=live |access-date=19 Apr 2025 |website=[[Roku]]}}</ref>

*On many of their devices and services such as Roku OS, "Do not sell my personal information" is opt-out rather than opt-in.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Roku Privacy Policy |url=https://docs.roku.com/published/userprivacypolicy/en/us |url-status=live |access-date=19 Apr 2025 |website=[[Roku]] |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20260210034522/https://docs.roku.com/published/userprivacypolicy/en/us |archive-date=10 Feb 2026}}</ref>

====Transparency====

*The "Do not sell my personal information" setting on Roku OS is located behind many menus, making it difficult to find.

*Roku states the added forced arbitration clause was a decision made separate of the data breach. However, this has been met with skepticism by the community.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Toulas |first=Bill |date=11 Mar 2024 |title=Over 15,000 hacked Roku accounts sold for 50¢ each to buy hardware |url=https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/over-15-000-hacked-roku-accounts-sold-for-50-each-to-buy-hardware/ |url-status=live |access-date=19 Apr 2025 |website=Bleeping Computer}}</ref>

*Roku states the added forced arbitration clause was a decision made separate of the data breach. However, this has been met with skepticism by the community.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Toulas |first=Bill |date=11 Mar 2024 |title=Over 15,000 hacked Roku accounts sold for 50¢ each to buy hardware |url=https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/over-15-000-hacked-roku-accounts-sold-for-50-each-to-buy-hardware/ |url-status=live |access-date=19 Apr 2025 |website=Bleeping Computer |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20251206210456/https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/over-15-000-hacked-roku-accounts-sold-for-50-each-to-buy-hardware/ |archive-date=6 Dec 2025}}</ref>

==Products and Services==

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==Consumer-protection incidents==

===Over the AIR channels unreachable without internet access (Jan. 2026)===

A change caused over the air (OTA) channels via antenna to be unreachable when the TV does not have internet access. [https://support.roku.com/article/228844467#section-0 Roku TV OS version 15.0] combined the OTA broadcasts live TV guide with free streams from The Roku Channel. Roku [https://cordcuttersnews.com/roku-no-longer-lets-you-watch-free-ota-tv-from-abc-cbs-fox-nbc-with-an-antenna-unless-you-also-have-a-working-internet-connect-on-roku-tvs/ claims this is a bug] that will be fixed in a future update.

===Auto-playing Ads Before Home Screen (Mar. 2025)===

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===Post-Purchase EULA Modification (Mar. 2024)===

[[File:Roku ~~Forced Arbitration~~.jpg|thumb|510x510px|The screen in which consumers agreed to force arbitration. There is no "disagree."<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=Newman |first=Jared |date=7 Mar 2024 |title=Roku’s forced arbitration update leaves users fuming |url=https://www.techhive.com/article/2258136/rokus-forced-arbitration-update-leaves-users-fuming.html |url-status=live |access-date=19 Apr 2025 |website=TechHive}}</ref>]]

[[File:Roku forced arbitration notice.jpg|thumb|510x510px|The screen in which consumers agreed to force arbitration. There is no "disagree."<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=Newman |first=Jared |date=7 Mar 2024 |title=Roku’s forced arbitration update leaves users fuming |url=https://www.techhive.com/article/2258136/rokus-forced-arbitration-update-leaves-users-fuming.html |url-status=live |access-date=19 Apr 2025 |website=TechHive |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20251223223437/https://www.techhive.com/article/2258136/rokus-forced-arbitration-update-leaves-users-fuming.html |archive-date=23 Dec 2025}}</ref>]]

In early March 2024, Roku Inc. [[Post-purchase EULA modification|modified]] its [[End-user license agreement]] (EULA), after the company disclosed a data breach that affected 15,000 accounts.<ref name=":2" /> In April 2024, Roku disclosed another incident that affected 576,000 additional accounts.<ref name=":1" />

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==="HDMI-customized ad insertion" patent (Oct. 2023)===

In early October 2023, Roku filed a patent ([https://patents.google.com/patent/US20230388589A1/en US20230388589A1]) for a program to insert ads on top of the display output of any non-Roku device displayed on a Roku TV. This program would be able to detect when the consumer has paused a video feed and display an advertisement, and it would be personalized by data collected through Roku services.<ref>{{Cite web |date=24 Dec 2024 |title=Hdmi customized ad insertion |url=https://patents.google.com/patent/US20230388589A1/en |url-status=live |access-date=19 Apr 2025 |website=Google Patents}}</ref>

In early October 2023, Roku filed a patent ([https://patents.google.com/patent/US20230388589A1/en US20230388589A1]) for a program to insert ads on top of the display output of any non-Roku device displayed on a Roku TV. This program would be able to detect when the consumer has paused a video feed and display an advertisement, and it would be personalized by data collected through Roku services.<ref>{{Cite web |date=24 Dec 2024 |title=Hdmi customized ad insertion |url=https://patents.google.com/patent/US20230388589A1/en |url-status=live |access-date=19 Apr 2025 |website=Google Patents |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20251216065411/https://patents.google.com/patent/US20230388589A1/en |archive-date=16 Dec 2025}}</ref>

As of January 2025, this patent has not been implemented into any Roku devices. However, a similar feature which also detects content from connected devices, called "More Ways to Watch," has previously been implemented.<ref>{{Cite web |title=How to use More Ways to Watch on your Roku TV |url=https://support.roku.com/article/115005739288 |url-status=live |access-date=19 Apr 2025 |website=Roku Support}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Katzmaier |first=David |date=11 Apr 2017 |title=Roku TVs now track what you watch to suggest streams, target ads |url=https://www.cnet.com/tech/home-entertainment/roku-tvs-now-track-what-you-watch-to-suggest-streams-target-ads/ |url-status=live |access-date=19 Apr 2025 |website=CNET}}</ref>

As of January 2025, this patent has not been implemented into any Roku devices. However, a similar feature which also detects content from connected devices, called "More Ways to Watch," has previously been implemented.<ref>{{Cite web |title=How to use More Ways to Watch on your Roku TV |url=https://support.roku.com/article/115005739288 |url-status=live |access-date=19 Apr 2025 |website=Roku Support |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20251114082909/https://support.roku.com/article/115005739288 |archive-date=14 Nov 2025}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Katzmaier |first=David |date=11 Apr 2017 |title=Roku TVs now track what you watch to suggest streams, target ads |url=https://www.cnet.com/tech/home-entertainment/roku-tvs-now-track-what-you-watch-to-suggest-streams-target-ads/ |url-status=live |access-date=19 Apr 2025 |website=CNET |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20260208062725/https://www.cnet.com/tech/home-entertainment/roku-tvs-now-track-what-you-watch-to-suggest-streams-target-ads/ |archive-date=8 Feb 2026}}</ref>

==="Blocks Local Channels from an Antenna without Internet Connection (March 2026)===

On March 23rd 2026 , Roku had begun to block local TV through antenna by forcing a internet connection.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Bouma |first=Luke |date=2026-03-23 |title=Roku Announces A Fix To A Major Bug That Made Using Your Antenna For Free ABC, CBS, FOX, & NBC Impossible Without Internet |url=https://cordcuttersnews.com/roku-announces-a-fix-to-a-major-bug-that-made-using-your-antenna-for-free-abc-cbs-fox-nbc-impossible-without-internet/ |url-status=live}}</ref> Antenna Man's [https://youtu.be/xmk919QxKvo?si=GD0ILferXkLbumMD Video] also explains it

=== Roku Data Deletion Request ===

When you request a data deletion, Roku will just give you new IDs to all your devices and user but not actually delete your data. They keep your data and swhich the user IDs or device IDs pointing to it and claim this is compliant with GDPR and CCPA. All internal documents about this process are only stored in Confluence under privileged/confidential tags so if they get in trouble with the law they can claim no one can access this information.

==References==

~~<references />~~

[[Category:~~Roku~~]]

[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]

[[Category:Companies]]

[[Category:Companies using forced arbitration clauses]]

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-{{InfoboxCompany
+{{CompanyCargo
-| Official Website = https://roku.com/
+|Description=American technology company focused on TV connected devices and TV software.
-| Logo = Roku.png
+|Founded=2002
-|Name=Roku, Inc.|Type=Public|Founded=2002|Industry=Media Streaming}}'''[[wikipedia:Roku|Roku, Inc.]]''' is an American technology company, founded in October of 2002, known for their "Roku" line of products which consist of Smart TVs & streaming players. It is also the creator and maintainer of "Roku OS," a smart TV operating system released in 2004 that allows users to access streaming service apps.
+|Industry=Media Streaming
+|Logo=Roku.png
+|ParentCompany=
+|Type=Public
+|Website=https://roku.com/
+}}
+'''[[wikipedia:Roku|Roku, Inc.]]''' is an American technology company, founded in October of 2002, known for their "Roku" line of products which consist of Smart TVs & streaming players. It is also the creator and maintainer of "Roku OS," a smart TV operating system released in 2004 that allows users to access streaming service apps.
 ==Consumer-protection summary==
@@ Line 11: / Line 17: @@
 *This data is used for purposes such as providing and improving services, personalizing content, and targeted advertisements.
 *Roku retains personal data for as long as deemed necessary.
-*On many of their devices and services such as Roku OS, "Do not sell my personal information" is opt-out rather than opt-in.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Roku Privacy Policy |url=https://docs.roku.com/published/userprivacypolicy/en/us |url-status=live |access-date=19 Apr 2025 |website=[[Roku]]}}</ref>
+*On many of their devices and services such as Roku OS, "Do not sell my personal information" is opt-out rather than opt-in.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Roku Privacy Policy |url=https://docs.roku.com/published/userprivacypolicy/en/us |url-status=live |access-date=19 Apr 2025 |website=[[Roku]] |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20260210034522/https://docs.roku.com/published/userprivacypolicy/en/us |archive-date=10 Feb 2026}}</ref>
 ====Transparency====
 *The "Do not sell my personal information" setting on Roku OS is located behind many menus, making it difficult to find.
-*Roku states the added forced arbitration clause was a decision made separate of the data breach. However, this has been met with skepticism by the community.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Toulas |first=Bill |date=11 Mar 2024 |title=Over 15,000 hacked Roku accounts sold for 50¢ each to buy hardware |url=https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/over-15-000-hacked-roku-accounts-sold-for-50-each-to-buy-hardware/ |url-status=live |access-date=19 Apr 2025 |website=Bleeping Computer}}</ref>
+*Roku states the added forced arbitration clause was a decision made separate of the data breach. However, this has been met with skepticism by the community.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Toulas |first=Bill |date=11 Mar 2024 |title=Over 15,000 hacked Roku accounts sold for 50¢ each to buy hardware |url=https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/over-15-000-hacked-roku-accounts-sold-for-50-each-to-buy-hardware/ |url-status=live |access-date=19 Apr 2025 |website=Bleeping Computer |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20251206210456/https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/over-15-000-hacked-roku-accounts-sold-for-50-each-to-buy-hardware/ |archive-date=6 Dec 2025}}</ref>
 ==Products and Services==
@@ Line 55: / Line 61: @@
 ==Consumer-protection incidents==
+===Over the AIR channels unreachable without internet access (Jan. 2026)===
+A change caused over the air (OTA) channels via antenna to be unreachable when the TV does not have internet access. [https://support.roku.com/article/228844467#section-0 Roku TV OS version 15.0] combined the OTA broadcasts live TV guide with free streams from The Roku Channel. Roku [https://cordcuttersnews.com/roku-no-longer-lets-you-watch-free-ota-tv-from-abc-cbs-fox-nbc-with-an-antenna-unless-you-also-have-a-working-internet-connect-on-roku-tvs/ claims this is a bug] that will be fixed in a future update.
 ===Auto-playing Ads Before Home Screen (Mar. 2025)===
@@ Line 64: / Line 73: @@
 ===Post-Purchase EULA Modification (Mar. 2024)===
-[[File:Roku Forced Arbitration.jpg|thumb|510x510px|The screen in which consumers agreed to force arbitration. There is no "disagree."<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=Newman |first=Jared |date=7 Mar 2024 |title=Roku’s forced arbitration update leaves users fuming |url=https://www.techhive.com/article/2258136/rokus-forced-arbitration-update-leaves-users-fuming.html |url-status=live |access-date=19 Apr 2025 |website=TechHive}}</ref>]]
+[[File:Roku forced arbitration notice.jpg|thumb|510x510px|The screen in which consumers agreed to force arbitration. There is no "disagree."<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=Newman |first=Jared |date=7 Mar 2024 |title=Roku’s forced arbitration update leaves users fuming |url=https://www.techhive.com/article/2258136/rokus-forced-arbitration-update-leaves-users-fuming.html |url-status=live |access-date=19 Apr 2025 |website=TechHive |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20251223223437/https://www.techhive.com/article/2258136/rokus-forced-arbitration-update-leaves-users-fuming.html |archive-date=23 Dec 2025}}</ref>]]
 In early March 2024, Roku Inc. [[Post-purchase EULA modification|modified]] its [[End-user license agreement]] (EULA), after the company disclosed a data breach that affected 15,000 accounts.<ref name=":2" /> In April 2024, Roku disclosed another incident that affected 576,000 additional accounts.<ref name=":1" />
@@ Line 70: / Line 79: @@
 ==="HDMI-customized ad insertion" patent (Oct. 2023)===
-In early October 2023, Roku filed a patent ([https://patents.google.com/patent/US20230388589A1/en US20230388589A1]) for a program to insert ads on top of the display output of any non-Roku device displayed on a Roku TV. This program would be able to detect when the consumer has paused a video feed and display an advertisement, and it would be personalized by data collected through Roku services.<ref>{{Cite web |date=24 Dec 2024 |title=Hdmi customized ad insertion |url=https://patents.google.com/patent/US20230388589A1/en |url-status=live |access-date=19 Apr 2025 |website=Google Patents}}</ref>
+In early October 2023, Roku filed a patent ([https://patents.google.com/patent/US20230388589A1/en US20230388589A1]) for a program to insert ads on top of the display output of any non-Roku device displayed on a Roku TV. This program would be able to detect when the consumer has paused a video feed and display an advertisement, and it would be personalized by data collected through Roku services.<ref>{{Cite web |date=24 Dec 2024 |title=Hdmi customized ad insertion |url=https://patents.google.com/patent/US20230388589A1/en |url-status=live |access-date=19 Apr 2025 |website=Google Patents |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20251216065411/https://patents.google.com/patent/US20230388589A1/en |archive-date=16 Dec 2025}}</ref>
-As of January 2025, this patent has not been implemented into any Roku devices. However, a similar feature which also detects content from connected devices, called "More Ways to Watch," has previously been implemented.<ref>{{Cite web |title=How to use More Ways to Watch on your Roku TV |url=https://support.roku.com/article/115005739288 |url-status=live |access-date=19 Apr 2025 |website=Roku Support}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Katzmaier |first=David |date=11 Apr 2017 |title=Roku TVs now track what you watch to suggest streams, target ads |url=https://www.cnet.com/tech/home-entertainment/roku-tvs-now-track-what-you-watch-to-suggest-streams-target-ads/ |url-status=live |access-date=19 Apr 2025 |website=CNET}}</ref>
+As of January 2025, this patent has not been implemented into any Roku devices. However, a similar feature which also detects content from connected devices, called "More Ways to Watch," has previously been implemented.<ref>{{Cite web |title=How to use More Ways to Watch on your Roku TV |url=https://support.roku.com/article/115005739288 |url-status=live |access-date=19 Apr 2025 |website=Roku Support |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20251114082909/https://support.roku.com/article/115005739288 |archive-date=14 Nov 2025}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Katzmaier |first=David |date=11 Apr 2017 |title=Roku TVs now track what you watch to suggest streams, target ads |url=https://www.cnet.com/tech/home-entertainment/roku-tvs-now-track-what-you-watch-to-suggest-streams-target-ads/ |url-status=live |access-date=19 Apr 2025 |website=CNET |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20260208062725/https://www.cnet.com/tech/home-entertainment/roku-tvs-now-track-what-you-watch-to-suggest-streams-target-ads/ |archive-date=8 Feb 2026}}</ref>
+==="Blocks Local Channels from an Antenna without Internet Connection (March 2026)===
+On March 23rd 2026 , Roku had begun to block local TV through antenna by forcing a internet connection.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Bouma |first=Luke |date=2026-03-23 |title=Roku Announces A Fix To A Major Bug That Made Using Your Antenna For Free ABC, CBS, FOX, & NBC Impossible Without Internet |url=https://cordcuttersnews.com/roku-announces-a-fix-to-a-major-bug-that-made-using-your-antenna-for-free-abc-cbs-fox-nbc-impossible-without-internet/ |url-status=live}}</ref> Antenna Man's [https://youtu.be/xmk919QxKvo?si=GD0ILferXkLbumMD Video] also explains it
+=== Roku Data Deletion Request ===
+When you request a data deletion, Roku will just give you new IDs to all your devices and user but not actually delete your data. They keep your data and swhich the user IDs or device IDs pointing to it and claim this is compliant with GDPR and CCPA. All internal documents about this process are only stored in Confluence under privileged/confidential tags so if they get in trouble with the law they can claim no one can access this information.
 ==References==
-<references />
+{{Reflist}}
-[[Category:Roku]]
+[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]
+[[Category:Companies]]
+[[Category:Companies using forced arbitration clauses]]