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submitted 4 months ago by xela@lemmy.ml to c/privacy@lemmy.ml

I am shocked by this - the quote in below is very concerning:

"However, in 2024, the situation changed: balenaEtcher started sharing the file name of the image and the model of the USB stick with the Balena company and possibly with third parties."

Can't see myself using this software anymore...

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[-] Orygin@sh.itjust.works 7 points 4 months ago

I mean for privacy things it makes sense to avoid leaking anything. But I fail to understand where the danger is to have anonymous data that says a user installed "Ubuntu-24.04-wappity-whatever.iso" to "KINGSTON DATA TRAVELER 32GB" at some point.

[-] major_jellyfish@lemmy.ca 7 points 4 months ago

If anything that seems like worthwhile analytics for the dev team to have access to.

Most software lets you opt out of sending anonymous analytics data though.

[-] Petter1@lemm.ee 4 points 4 months ago

It is a trap for people not knowing and government may use it as excuse to activate executive

[-] PrivateNoob@sopuli.xyz 7 points 4 months ago

Ahh too bad because balenaEtcher just werks for me.

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[-] some_guy@lemmy.sdf.org 6 points 4 months ago

Glad I saw this. I downloaded the tool on recommendation from a forum post when I was reviving my homelab. I’ll nuke it for sure.

[-] TheImpressiveX@lemm.ee 6 points 4 months ago

Doesn't the official guide recommend using GNOME Disk Utility anyway?

[-] Irelephant@lemm.ee 5 points 4 months ago

Thats a shame, it was one of the few disk imagers that "just worked"

[-] Rozz@lemmy.sdf.org 5 points 4 months ago

What options are there for flashing to SD cards? Something that works on Mac too would be nice. A gui is preferred.

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[-] Lemmchen@feddit.org 4 points 4 months ago

I've been avoiding it ever since the Balena moniker change.

[-] warmaster@lemmy.world 4 points 4 months ago

...and that's how I met your ~~mother~~ fork

[-] fartsparkles@lemmy.world 4 points 4 months ago
[-] llii@discuss.tchncs.de 4 points 4 months ago

Thank you for pointing it out.

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this post was submitted on 19 Feb 2025
526 points (100.0% liked)

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