Balena: Difference between revisions

Line 10:

==Consumer-impact summary==

Balena has been one of the more big companies that has open sourced most if not all products for users to tinker with. ~~But more~~ recently they have resorted to ~~more sneaky~~ tactics for profit. Such violations include:

Balena has been one of the more big companies that has open sourced most if not all products for users to tinker with. However, recently they have resorted to anti-consumer tactics for profit. Such violations include:

*Breach of user trust

Line 19:

===Balena Etcher Collecting data on users drive and filename being flashed (2018)===

In as early as 2018 Balena has been gathering specific user telemetry on their software [https://etcher.balena.io/ Balena Etcher] without consent.<ref>{{Cite web |last=sneak |date=2018-02-18 |title=etcher spies on the user without consent · Issue #2057 · balena-io/etcher |url=https://github.com/balena-io/etcher/issues/2057 |url-status=live |access-date=2025-03-31 |website=Github Issues}}</ref> Specific information includes IP address, usb device info and the filename being flashed being sold to their 3rd party AD network partners compromising users privacy and trust for profit. Many other privacy focused open sourced groups that have relied on etcher like [https://tails.net/ Tails] have completely removed recommendation of using Balena Etcher to install their operating system.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-02-19 |title=Tails - Replacing balenaEtcher with Rufus as installer for Windows |url=https://tails.net/news/rufus/index.en.html |url-status=live |access-date=2025-03-31 |website=Tails}}</ref> While there are many alternatives to Balena Etcher they tend to be a bit less user friendly and likely are not cross platform. Making them the de-facto choice among non tech literate users that are ~~being taken advantage of~~.

In as early as 2018 Balena has been gathering specific user telemetry on their software [https://etcher.balena.io/ Balena Etcher] without consent.<ref>{{Cite web |last=sneak |date=2018-02-18 |title=etcher spies on the user without consent · Issue #2057 · balena-io/etcher |url=https://github.com/balena-io/etcher/issues/2057 |url-status=live |access-date=2025-03-31 |website=Github Issues}}</ref> Specific information includes IP address, usb device info and the filename being flashed being sold to their 3rd party AD network partners compromising users privacy and trust for profit. Many other privacy focused open sourced groups that have relied on etcher like [https://tails.net/ Tails] have completely removed recommendation of using Balena Etcher to install their operating system.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-02-19 |title=Tails - Replacing balenaEtcher with Rufus as installer for Windows |url=https://tails.net/news/rufus/index.en.html |url-status=live |access-date=2025-03-31 |website=Tails}}</ref> While there are many alternatives to Balena Etcher they tend to be a bit less user friendly and likely are not cross platform. Making them the de-facto choice among non tech literate users that are drawn into using it.

===Balena's Privacy Policy===

@@ Line 10: / Line 10: @@
 ==Consumer-impact summary==
-Balena has been one of the more big companies that has open sourced most if not all products for users to tinker with. But more recently they have resorted to more sneaky tactics for profit. Such violations include:
+Balena has been one of the more big companies that has open sourced most if not all products for users to tinker with. However, recently they have resorted to anti-consumer tactics for profit. Such violations include:
 *Breach of user trust
@@ Line 19: / Line 19: @@
 ===Balena Etcher Collecting data on users drive and filename being flashed (2018)===
-In as early as 2018 Balena has been gathering specific user telemetry on their software [https://etcher.balena.io/ Balena Etcher] without consent.<ref>{{Cite web |last=sneak |date=2018-02-18 |title=etcher spies on the user without consent · Issue #2057 · balena-io/etcher |url=https://github.com/balena-io/etcher/issues/2057 |url-status=live |access-date=2025-03-31 |website=Github Issues}}</ref> Specific information includes IP address, usb device info and the filename being flashed being sold to their 3rd party AD network partners compromising users privacy and trust for profit. Many other privacy focused open sourced groups that have relied on etcher like [https://tails.net/ Tails] have completely removed recommendation of using Balena Etcher to install their operating system.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-02-19 |title=Tails - Replacing balenaEtcher with Rufus as installer for Windows |url=https://tails.net/news/rufus/index.en.html |url-status=live |access-date=2025-03-31 |website=Tails}}</ref> While there are many alternatives to Balena Etcher they tend to be a bit less user friendly and likely are not cross platform. Making them the de-facto choice among non tech literate users that are being taken advantage of.
+In as early as 2018 Balena has been gathering specific user telemetry on their software [https://etcher.balena.io/ Balena Etcher] without consent.<ref>{{Cite web |last=sneak |date=2018-02-18 |title=etcher spies on the user without consent · Issue #2057 · balena-io/etcher |url=https://github.com/balena-io/etcher/issues/2057 |url-status=live |access-date=2025-03-31 |website=Github Issues}}</ref> Specific information includes IP address, usb device info and the filename being flashed being sold to their 3rd party AD network partners compromising users privacy and trust for profit. Many other privacy focused open sourced groups that have relied on etcher like [https://tails.net/ Tails] have completely removed recommendation of using Balena Etcher to install their operating system.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-02-19 |title=Tails - Replacing balenaEtcher with Rufus as installer for Windows |url=https://tails.net/news/rufus/index.en.html |url-status=live |access-date=2025-03-31 |website=Tails}}</ref> While there are many alternatives to Balena Etcher they tend to be a bit less user friendly and likely are not cross platform. Making them the de-facto choice among non tech literate users that are drawn into using it.
 ===Balena's Privacy Policy===