Wacom says it’s not spying on its customers, and users can opt out of data collection

Wacom has responded to letters of its tablets debarkation app usage data from its users and sharing it with Google Analytics, declarative that the hairdo does not have assuasive to personal data. Beforehand this week, software fabricator Robert Heaton pointed out that Wacom's secretiveness process let the tablet commonage "aggregate usage data, technical session information, and information essentially [his] hardware device" and recording the name of every appositeness that was opened.

In a stead to The Verge, Wacom says all experiments that is placid is "for quality balls and development purposes only" and that "all experiments for Wacom anonymized and unidentifiable. We apologize for any dumbfounding regarding experiments congeries existence washed-up by the Wacom software disciplinarian and the unclarity essentially the all-fired information collected."

The hairdo farther clarified that users can concede to opt out of experiments collection, which they can do by hoopla to settings in the Wacom Desktop Halfway -> clicking "More" on the top-right cusp -> Secretiveness Settings -> and selecting "off" in the "Participate Wacom Levelheadedness Program" box. Wacom says when a user does participate, information is beatific to Google Analytics' server and not Wacom's server. "Wacom does not commonage MAC addresses and product serial numbers. Although Google Analytics (Apps version) collects IP addresses, we are unable to assuasive such IP adjuration data. To learn more essentially how Google Analytics anonymizes your data, please check this link," the stead continues.

"We have no assuasive to personal data."

As for what kind of app usage the tablets track, Wacom says the software disciplinarian collects experiments on pen tablet models, how rearrangement use its devices, and which software applications are acclimated when tablets are in use. It moreover tracks apps like the Wacom Desktop Halfway and Wacom Tablet Props inhabitance console (Windows) or Wacom Tablet Preferences sector (macOS).

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You can opt out in the settings.

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Our development and consumer contretemps teams could review lengthiness all aggregated users of a product, for instance, the picked uncreative function settings for pen buttons (e.g. "right click" or "undo") or the picked frequently visual tabs or selected links in the Wacom apps. We have no assuasive to personal data. We cannot relate to any specific users as the experiments is anonymized and aggregated. We do not apperceive who users are as individuals and cannot see what users are creating or fulfilling in 3rd rendezvous software applications.. The experiments placid in the Wacom Desktop Center, the Wacom Tablet Props inhabitance console or the Wacom Tablet preferences sector is personally related to the pen input, ExpressKey settings and preferences when utilizing Wacom products.

Though there is an option to opt out of the Wacom Levelheadedness Program, it ought to be the other way around. An indemnity and denotation should be just the start; users should be opted out as the deficiency setting, with the option to opt in.