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Wacom tablets track every app you open

robertheaton.com

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Re: Wacom tablets track every app you open

#141

Post by excerionsforte »

criddell wrote: post #134
excerionsforte wrote: post #59

I'm fine with Wacom collecting this kind of data as long as it doesn't open any security holes. There are certain classes of products where I would not care what they collected as long as it was relevant to improving the product. i.e. Wacom wants to know popular apps I use my tablet on, ok. If they wanted to know my approx location though then I'd be alarmed.

Of course they want to know your approximate location. It will probably help them target ads for the next iteration of the tablet.

Huh? I don't think you own or bought a Wacom Tablet nor do you do any digital art. It is safe to say this is a troll/no effort comment.

Re: Wacom tablets track every app you open

#142

Post by onlyrealcuzzo »

oarsinsync wrote: post #4
onlyrealcuzzo wrote: post #2

More importantly, don't iOS and Android track every app you open also?

An operating system needs to be aware of every application running on it. (It doesn't need to be reporting that back to the mothership, though) I'm not sure what that has to do with a third party peripheral. You may be confusing a Wacom tablet for something like an iPad or Nexus 7? EDIT: For others who may be confused, a Wacom tablet is used to provide a pen/stylus interface to a computer. It's an additional peripher…

So why is the operating system providing peripherals this information? What's provided will be used for tracking...

Re: Wacom tablets track every app you open

#143

Post by Spivak »

lightswitch05 wrote: post #45

This is just one of many reasons to use StevenBlack's Hosts [1] list to block this type of behavior. While it doesn't currently block link.wacom.com, it would have prevented the subsequent requests google analytics. It works even better when paired with a PiHole [2] to protect all devices on the network. [1] https://github.com/StevenBlack/hosts [2] https://pi-hole.net/

I mean I put Pihole on all my networks but this is at best a solution to “nice malware” that doesn’t bother to hardcode addresses or perform lookups via an attacker controlled DNS server.

You can catch slightly more aggressive malware by forcing all DNS traffic to your server at the network level but you’re now playing the role of malicious network operator. I would whitelist this to only devices you own.

Re: Wacom tablets track every app you open

#144

Post by Kalium »

WrtCdEvrydy wrote: post #124
vageli wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I know this is the popular conclusion - but from a developer perspective, data such as what software your product is used with is INCREDIBLY valuable for project planning and prioritization. People hate web tracking, but knowing what browsers or devices are visiting your website can be enormously helpful. What happened to actually communicating with users to learn more about how they use the product?

Slashed in pursuit of VC money and profits.

Wacom's a public company. There's a lot of things they might be chasing, but VC money seems unlikely to be high on that list.

Re: Wacom tablets track every app you open

#145

Post by Kalium »

adamc wrote: post #131
Kalium wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That assumes a great deal about both the resources available to do it and the ability to get responses from a representative sample of customers. It's not challenging to see why someone might choose a one-time cost in software engineering over an ongoing cost in communication.

It's not challenging, but it's wrong. If you want to explain it to them, making a binding promise of what it would be used for, and have it be opt-in, that would be another thing. It's not hard to see how to do it right.

Morally and ethically, you're absolutely correct in every single possible way.

I was attempting to illustrate the decision-making processes that may have led to this juncture and what happened to communicating with customers. Please accept my apologies, as I have plainly failed to be clear that this was not an argument as to the moral or ethical questions concerned.

Again, you're completely right. It's not at all difficult to see the morally and ethically correct way to go about this.

Re: Wacom tablets track every app you open

#147

Post by budlightvirus »

ghostbrainalpha wrote: post #123
robohoe wrote: post #87

I'm surprised Wacom is still around with iPad and Apple Pencil being such a hit. I know I've migrated.

Is the pressure sensitivity equal on the apple pencil to high end Wacom?

It's really great. iPad + Apple pencil feels better for making marks, and the Cintiq Pro is just a bit behind in drawing feel but more capable overall.

Re: Wacom tablets track every app you open

#149

Post by csallen »

phoe-krk wrote: post #74
hkmurakami wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That seems pretty unlikely for a mid sized, independently operated/capitalized Japanese company tbh.

Unless they want easy money. Show me a modern mid-sized, independently operated/capitalized corporation that doesn't want it.

Having started numerous tech companies myself, interviewed hundreds of others who have, and started a community that instructions others on how to do so, I will say that HN's perception of how easy, profitable, and common it is to have a business model focused on selling data is overblown. I'd wager the vast majority of data collectors (e.g. Google Analytics accounts) just want it for their own internal decision-making and analysis.

Re: Wacom tablets track every app you open

#150

Post by lonelappde »

_mdpn wrote: post #135
leppr wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Clearly this isn't a trivial or very fun job (last time I used them, the Linux drivers were buggy as hell). Who would have the motivation to do it on Windows, where you have a driver that works and users have little expectation of privacy to begin with?

>users have little expectation of privacy to begin with? The cynical side of me wonders how long it will be before prosecutors argue, with a straight face, that using evidence obtained from mass surveillance against people using Microsoft Windows is okay because Microsoft collects a massive amount of data so nobody should expect their files and activities to remain private; that there is or should be no expectation o…

The first part is long since true. Courts have already (wrongly) established that you have no expectation of privacy in anything you entrust to a third party agent like a bank or a cloud service. If you give the provider a key to your stuff, they can give it to law enforcement.

The latter is a tougher desecration of the constitution to sell.

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