Colgate

⚠️ Article status notice: This article has been marked as incomplete

This article needs additional work for its sourcing and verifiability to meet the wiki's Content Guidelines and be in line with our Mission Statement for comprehensive coverage of consumer protection issues.

This notice will be removed once sufficient documentation has been added to establish the systemic nature of these issues. Once you believe the article is ready to have its notice removed, please visit the Moderator's noticeboard, or the discord and post to the #appeals channel.

Learn more ▼

This Article Requires Additional Verification

---

This article has been flagged due to verification concerns. While the topic might have merit, the claims presented lack citations that live up to our standards, or rely on sources that are questionable or unverifiable by our standards. Articles must meet the Moderator Guidelines and Mission statement; factual accuracy and systemic relevance are required for inclusion here!

Why This Article Is In Question

---

Articles in this wiki are required to:

• Provide verifiable & credible evidence to substantiate claims.
• Avoid relying on anecdotal, unsourced, or suspicious citations that lack legitimacy.
• Make sure that all claims are backed by reliable documentation or reporting from reputable sources.

Examples of issues that trigger this notice:

• A topic that heavily relies on forum posts, personal blogs, or other unverifiable sources.
• Unsupported claims with no evidence or citations to back them up.
• Citations to disreputable sources, like non-expert blogs or sites known for spreading misinformation.

How You Can Improve This Article

---

To address verification concerns:

• Replace or supplement weak citations with credible, verifiable sources.
• Make sure that claims are backed by reputable reporting or independent documentation.
• Provide additional evidence to demonstrate systemic relevance and factual accuracy. For example:
  • Avoid: Claims based entirely on personal anecdotes or hearsay without supporting documentation.
  • Include: Corporate policies, internal communications, receipts, repair logs, verifiable video evidence, or credible investigative reports.

If you believe this notice has been placed in error, or once the article has been updated to address these concerns, please visit the Moderator's noticeboard, or the #appeals channel on our Discord server: Join here.

Colgate is a dental health company founded in 1806 and primarily sells traditional toothbrushes, toothpaste, mouthwash, and whitening strips. With the Hum line of toothbrushes, they are sold at a cheaper price in return for more expensive toothbrush heads.

Colgate

Basic information
Founded	1806
Legal Structure	Public
Industry	Dental
Also known as
Official website	https://colgate.com

Consumer impact summary

• User freedom: Users can submit data requests and delete their account through the Colgate Connect application.
• User privacy: According to the Colgate privacy policy, the data of users is shared with affiliates, such as Kolibree, with this data including first and last name, postal address, telephone number, e-mail address, profile picture, and social media account ID. This data is held for "as long as needed or permitted in light of the purpose(s) for which it was obtained and consistent with applicable law" and can be deleted by e-mailing Colgate and Kolibree individually.
• Market control: In 2020, over 139.37 million people used Colgate toothpaste.
• Dispute resolutions: Colgate's Terms of Use §16, among other legal matters, contains waivers for both class-action and trial by jury. There are no opt-out rights; the user must cancel all accounts and cease using the product.

Incidents

Removal of app features (2024)

In October 2024, users of the "Colgate Connect" (previously "hum") application received pop-up notifications regarding the deprecation of previously existing features, such as "GoPirate!" and "mind your speed". In December, more features were removed such as "test your angles" and "whitening reminders". Around this time, the "hum" brand of toothbrushes were quietly discontinued, with existing users not being aware of where to get new brush heads. Most of the app features did not rely on a constant connection to servers, which made the removal of the app's features all the more confusing to its users.

On April 29, 2026, a pop-up message appeared in the app stating the app will be discontinued on December 11 while stating existing brushes will continue to function without the app. It is also noted in their FAQ post that user data after the shutdown would "either be deleted or anonymized such that any information retained will not be identifiable".

• 
  App from 2021
• 
  Popup for GoPirate! deprecation
• 
  With GoPirate!
• 
  Aftermath of GoPirate! removal
• 
  App update notes
• 
  Popup for Journal deprecation
• 
  Popup for app discontinuation

Products

• Hum (2020)
• Hum Kids (2021)

See also

Link to relevant theme articles or companies with similar incidents.

---

Add your text below this box. Once this section is complete, delete this box by clicking on it and pressing backspace.