Wacom drawing tablets track the name of every application that you open
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Re: Wacom drawing tablets track the name of every application that you open
#2This was a wonderful read
I think when I was younger I’d assumed the sheer number of technical users out there would mean it would be hard for companies to get away with things like this but these days I realize this sort of analysis and public exposition is actually rare and the number of skilled developers investing time in this is slim
Perhaps collectively as a community we can create public bug and privacy bounties that enable and incentivise more work like this
Re: Wacom drawing tablets track the name of every application that you open
#3Would I be compromised if I once ran `$ important-command --key=secret-key`, having a drawing tablet?
Re: Wacom drawing tablets track the name of every application that you open
#4This was a wonderful read I think when I was younger I’d assumed the sheer number of technical users out there would mean it would be hard for companies to get away with things like this but these days I realize this sort of analysis and public exposition is actually rare and the number of skilled developers investing time in this is slim Perhaps collectively as a community we can create public bug and privacy bounti…
That’s an interesting idea, specifically the privacy bounty part, I imagine one of the difficulties here would be who handles the adjudication of it’s a privacy issue or not /you get paid or not.
Re: Wacom drawing tablets track the name of every application that you open
#5Would I be compromised if I once ran `$ important-command --key=secret-key`, having a drawing tablet?
Not enough data presented in the article to say. All it included was foreground app changes, so based on that you'd just get Terminal opening log messages.
Re: Wacom drawing tablets track the name of every application that you open
#6This was a wonderful read I think when I was younger I’d assumed the sheer number of technical users out there would mean it would be hard for companies to get away with things like this but these days I realize this sort of analysis and public exposition is actually rare and the number of skilled developers investing time in this is slim Perhaps collectively as a community we can create public bug and privacy bounti…
> Perhaps collectively as a community we can create public bug and privacy bounties that enable and incentivise more work like this
Interesting idea! If it was ethical (ie still properly followed responsible disclosure processes etc) I’d donate to something like this.
EDIT: Also if supported by someone like the EFF maybe there could be a degree of legal cover for any potential issues.
Re: Wacom drawing tablets track the name of every application that you open
#7I never thought I would want a "walled garden" on my desktop, but these shit software stacks that companies are integrating into their products are forcing me to want to fight back to lock down my machine.
I would love a simple utility that could not only neatly encapsulate and display the data being sent from my machine out on the network but also allow me to merely check a box to block that traffic.
A smart initial config of course would "allow list" the usual web traffic from my browser(s), mail traffic from my mail client, etc.
I don't want to mess with proxies, don't want to have to block ports using a command-line tool or by wading through my router config.
Maybe I am asking for too much.
Re: Wacom drawing tablets track the name of every application that you open
#8Start voting with your wallet. I think this is specific to Wacom tablets, but there are many vendors that provide Wacom hardware without their specific OS. I wonder if there is a good open source ROM for drawing tablets?
Re: Wacom drawing tablets track the name of every application that you open
#9I have depressingly started to believe (accept?) that everything I use tracks the name of everything else that I use.
Agreeing with the author’s conclusion: >“This isn’t the dataset that’s going to complete the embrace of full, totalitarian surveillance capitalism. Nonetheless, it’s still deeply obnoxious. A device that is essentially a mouse has no legitimate reasons to make HTTP requests of any sort.”
Also, I always disable those “experience programs,” like Nvidia’s. They just give off data collection vibes:
>“If you too have a Wacom tablet (presumably this tracking is enabled for all of their models), open up the “Wacom Desktop Center” and click around until you find a way to disable the “Wacom Experience Program”.”
Re: Wacom drawing tablets track the name of every application that you open
#10Start voting with your wallet. I think this is specific to Wacom tablets, but there are many vendors that provide Wacom hardware without their specific OS. I wonder if there is a good open source ROM for drawing tablets?
HUION is the larger "Cintiq-clone" product I have used, but I have no reason to believe their software is Boy Scout honest.
Of course Apple's "Side Car" means your iPad is a pretty good tablet.