Canon
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| Basic information | |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1937 |
| Type | Public |
| Industry | Electronics |
| Official website | https://global.canon/ |
Canon Inc. is a Japanese multinational corporation specializing in optical, imaging, and industrial products, such as lenses, cameras, medical equipment, scanners, printers, and semiconductor manufacturing equipment.[1]
Consumer impact summary
Incidents
Webcam Utility subscription (2025)
- Main article: Requirement for Canon EOS Webcam Utility subscription to enable webcam features on cameras
Canon requires users of their cameras to pay subscription for a software that allows to use it as webcam to its full capabilities.[2]
Camera Connect updates (2025)
- Main article: Canon Camera Connect
After an update the app notified users that they would soon be required to to create an online account which lets Canon access a wide range of user information. Following that, the same app, added a requirement of full access to the user’s photo library in order to transfer photos from the camera.
Lack of Driver Support for Legacy Scanners
Many scanners made by Canon become unusable solely due to them not offering current drivers for many older models that are officially out of warranty/support. This leaves customers who upgrade their operating system without an official path for continuing to use their physically perfectly functional device. It also makes it difficult to buy and use second hand scanners with up-to-date computers.
This can be remedied by using scanning software that communicates directly with the scanner by re-implementing the proprietary Canon protocol without relying on the official Canon drivers. Such software includes VueScan (Windows, macOS and Linux), as well as the SANE scanning subsystem under Linux.
Printer-scanner combo units do not scan without ink
Many multifunctional units made by Canon move to an error state when they run low on ink. In this error state, features that have nothing to do with the printer part stop working. For example, it becomes impossible to scan documents with them. Online advice suggests buying cheap OEM ink, but that is unlikely to be cost-effective when someone wishes to repurpose an old unit solely for scanning.[1]
As a result, many units that could be perfectly functional scanners become e-waste because they aren't economical printers anymore.