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{{InfoboxCompany
{{InfoboxCompany
| Name = Balena
| Name = Balena
| Type =Private
| Type = Private
| Founded =2013
| Founded = 2013
| Industry =Software Development
| Industry = Software Development
| Official Website =https://www.balena.io/
| Official Website = https://www.balena.io/
| Logo =Balena.png
| Logo = Balena.png
}}[https://www.balena.io/ Balena] (formerly known as [https://resin.io Resin.io]) provides a platform focused on DevOps management for servers, clients, and local cross platform device software. It also offers tools for updating, deploying and maintaining code bases ''(though that is mainly targeted at Linux).''
}}[https://www.balena.io/ Balena] (formerly known as [https://resin.io/ Resin.io]) provides a platform focused on DevOps management for servers, clients, and local cross platform device software. It also offers tools for updating, deploying and maintaining code bases ''(though that is mainly targeted at Linux).''


==Consumer-impact summary==
==Consumer-impact summary==
Recently as of late Balena has found itself in hot water over gathering specific user telemetry on their software [https://etcher.balena.io/ Balena Etcher] without consent.<ref>{{Cite web |first=sneak |date=2018-02-18 |title=etcher spies on the user without consent · Issue #2057 · balena-io/etcher |url=https://github.com/balena-io/etcher/issues/2057 |url-status=live |access-date=2025-03-31 |website=Github Issues}}</ref> Specific information includes usb device info and the filename to allegedly sell to their 3rd party AD network partners.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-02-19 |title=Tails - Replacing balenaEtcher with Rufus as installer for Windows |url=https://tails.net/news/rufus/index.en.html |url-status=live |access-date=2025-03-31 |website=Tails}}</ref> This has compromised many users privacy and trust for profit. While there are many alternatives to Balena Etcher they tend to be a bit less user friendly and likely are not cross platform. Making them the de-facto choice among non tech literate users that are being taken advantage of. {{Placeholder box|Overview of concerns that arise from the company's conduct regarding (if applicable):
Balena has been one of the more big companies that has open sourced most if not all products for users to tinker with. But more recently they have resorted to more sneaky tactics for profit. Such violations include:
* User freedom
 
* User privacy
* Breach of user trust
* Business model
* Adding adware to it's services
* Market control}}
* Leveraging it's reach to the vulnerable tech illiterate


==Incidents==
==Incidents==
{{Placeholder box|If the company page is short enough and/or the incident is not deserving of its own page, add incidents below in sub-sections (including the points outlined in [[Consumer_Action_Taskforce:Sample/Incident/Help|the incident help page]]) without linking/creating an incident page.


If the company has various incidents listed and/or this page is getting too long, create subsections linking to each incident while linking to the main article and including a short summary. To link to the page use the "Hatnote" or "Main" templates.
=== Balena Etcher Collecting data on users drive and filename being flashed (2018)<ref>{{Cite web |last=Switched to Linux |date=2025-03-08 |title=WARNING - Etcher Sends PII To Third Parties - YouTube |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufDVKQ4C8-0 |url-status=live |website=Youtube}}</ref> ===
In as early as 2018 Balena has found itself in hot water over gathering specific user telemetry on their software [https://etcher.balena.io/ Balena Etcher] without consent.<ref>{{Cite web |last=sneak |date=2018-02-18 |title=etcher spies on the user without consent · Issue #2057 · balena-io/etcher |url=https://github.com/balena-io/etcher/issues/2057 |url-status=live |access-date=2025-03-31 |website=Github Issues}}</ref> Specific information includes usb device info and the filename to allegedly sell to their 3rd party AD network partners compromising users privacy and trust for profit. Many other privacy focused open sourced groups that have relied on etcher like [https://tails.net/ Tails] have completely removed recommendation of using Balena Etcher to install their operating system.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-02-19 |title=Tails - Replacing balenaEtcher with Rufus as installer for Windows |url=https://tails.net/news/rufus/index.en.html |url-status=live |access-date=2025-03-31 |website=Tails}}</ref> While there are many alternatives to Balena Etcher they tend to be a bit less user friendly and likely are not cross platform. Making them the de-facto choice among non tech literate users that are being taken advantage of.


If the company has numerous incidents then format them in a table (see [[Amazon]] for an example). }}
==Products==


This is a list of all consumer-protection incidents this company is involved in. Any incidents not mentioned here can be found in the [[:Category:{{FULLPAGENAME}}|{{PAGENAME}} category]].
=== Balena Etcher (2016) ===
===Example incident one (''date'')===
Formerly known as Etcher; Balena Etcher is a free open source tool that flashes image files. it has recently had some controversial stir around how it collects user data within it's app. Many users have started using other software to flash image files such as GNOME Disk, Rufus, DD (bash command), and the Disk Utility (Mainly for mac) that work without selling the consumer out.
{{Main|link to the main article}}
Short summary of the incident (could be the same as the summary preceding the article).
===Example incident two (''date'')===
...
 
==Products==
{{Placeholder box|This is a list of the company's product lines '''with articles on this wiki'''.
* [[Example product line one]] (release date): Short summary of the product's incidents.
* [[Example product line two]] (release date):}}


==See also==
==See also==
Line 38: Line 29:


==References==
==References==
{{reflist}}
<references />
 
[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]
[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]

Revision as of 03:13, 1 April 2025

Balena
Basic information
Founded 2013
Type Private
Industry Software Development
Official website https://www.balena.io/

Balena (formerly known as Resin.io) provides a platform focused on DevOps management for servers, clients, and local cross platform device software. It also offers tools for updating, deploying and maintaining code bases (though that is mainly targeted at Linux).

Consumer-impact summary

Balena has been one of the more big companies that has open sourced most if not all products for users to tinker with. But more recently they have resorted to more sneaky tactics for profit. Such violations include:

  • Breach of user trust
  • Adding adware to it's services
  • Leveraging it's reach to the vulnerable tech illiterate

Incidents

Balena Etcher Collecting data on users drive and filename being flashed (2018)[1]

In as early as 2018 Balena has found itself in hot water over gathering specific user telemetry on their software Balena Etcher without consent.[2] Specific information includes usb device info and the filename to allegedly sell to their 3rd party AD network partners compromising users privacy and trust for profit. Many other privacy focused open sourced groups that have relied on etcher like Tails have completely removed recommendation of using Balena Etcher to install their operating system.[3] While there are many alternatives to Balena Etcher they tend to be a bit less user friendly and likely are not cross platform. Making them the de-facto choice among non tech literate users that are being taken advantage of.

Products

Balena Etcher (2016)

Formerly known as Etcher; Balena Etcher is a free open source tool that flashes image files. it has recently had some controversial stir around how it collects user data within it's app. Many users have started using other software to flash image files such as GNOME Disk, Rufus, DD (bash command), and the Disk Utility (Mainly for mac) that work without selling the consumer out.

See also

Link to relevant theme articles or companies with similar incidents.

Add your text below this box. Once this section is complete, delete this box by clicking on it and pressing backspace.

References

  1. ↑ Switched to Linux (2025-03-08). "WARNING - Etcher Sends PII To Third Parties - YouTube". Youtube.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  2. ↑ sneak (2018-02-18). "etcher spies on the user without consent · Issue #2057 · balena-io/etcher". Github Issues. Retrieved 2025-03-31.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  3. ↑ "Tails - Replacing balenaEtcher with Rufus as installer for Windows". Tails. 2025-02-19. Retrieved 2025-03-31.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
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