Hold on. This is a hardware device we are talking about here. You put it on your desk, physically interact with it, and plug it into your computer. Do you realize all the ways the manufacturer could harm you if they were malicious, cut corners, were coerced by a state to compromise the device, or failed to comply with regulations?
And you’re worried about their data handling policy?
A short and very incomplete list of the things a purchaser of a Wacom tablet is trusting to be true:
- That the tablet is safe to use - it will not fail in a way that exposes the user to electric shock hazards, sharp edges, dangerous chemicals, etc.
- that the EM emissions used to communicate between the pen and tablet don’t interfere with other systems in ways that could compromise safety
- that the device complies with usb standards and won’t damage electronics you interface it to
- that there are no hidden surveillance devices in the tablet or pen
- that, as an input device with access to your usb bus it doesn’t have the ability to be remotely induced to control your computer
Then you’re installing a piece of driver software, giving it sufficient permissions that it can read what application is currently running, and you are worried about it exfiltrating that information, rather than - say - the fact that as an input driver, again, it has complete control over your computer; it can record input - what if you use your Wacom to sign a pdf? Now it knows your signature. Or you tap out your banking password using an on screen keyboard. Who knows what else it can do - acting at the user input level presumably it can do anything you the user can do.
So sure, be concerned about what happens to the data it sends to Wacom, but if you don’t trust Wacom, your problems started much sooner than when you accepted the data sharing agreement.
And you’re worried about their data handling policy?
A short and very incomplete list of the things a purchaser of a Wacom tablet is trusting to be true:
- That the tablet is safe to use - it will not fail in a way that exposes the user to electric shock hazards, sharp edges, dangerous chemicals, etc. - that the EM emissions used to communicate between the pen and tablet don’t interfere with other systems in ways that could compromise safety - that the device complies with usb standards and won’t damage electronics you interface it to - that there are no hidden surveillance devices in the tablet or pen - that, as an input device with access to your usb bus it doesn’t have the ability to be remotely induced to control your computer
Then you’re installing a piece of driver software, giving it sufficient permissions that it can read what application is currently running, and you are worried about it exfiltrating that information, rather than - say - the fact that as an input driver, again, it has complete control over your computer; it can record input - what if you use your Wacom to sign a pdf? Now it knows your signature. Or you tap out your banking password using an on screen keyboard. Who knows what else it can do - acting at the user input level presumably it can do anything you the user can do.
So sure, be concerned about what happens to the data it sends to Wacom, but if you don’t trust Wacom, your problems started much sooner than when you accepted the data sharing agreement.