Wacom Apologizes Over Its Data Collection Program, Says Users Can Opt Out

If you’re a digital artist, there’s a good chance that one of your tools of the trade is a Wacom tablet. For those unfamiliar, Wacom is basically a tablet and a stylus that users can use to draw digital art on their computers in a more familiar manner compared to using a mouse. However, more recently, it seems that the company has been discovered to be collecting data on its users.

This is according to a report and analysis from Robert Heaton, a software engineer who found that his Wacom tablet was tracking and logging the different applications he had opened on his computer. This was by no means sinister tactic by Wacom, but at the same time, it is alarming that a drawing tablet might need that kind of information.

Wacom has since published a blog post in which they have apologized for the lack of transparency and also noted that users could always opt out of the program if they wanted through the Wacom Desktop Center’s settings. “We apologize for any confusion regarding data collection being done by the Wacom software driver and the unclarity about the actual information collected.”

The company also defended the data collection, claiming that this was done in order to better understand how users use their products, which in turn could be used to improve on it in the future. “The reason why Wacom collects data through its software driver is for quality insurance and development purposes only.”

That being said, if you’re uncomfortable with this, you can easily opt out of it by launching the Wacom Desktop Center, go to “More”, “Privacy Settings”, and then turn off the “Wacom Experience Program” and you should be all set.

Tyler Lee
Categories: Gadgets, General
Tags: Privacy, wacom