The PC maker HP recently dragged into a scandal involving spying allegations as the reports claimed that HP is secretly installing spyware on their customers’ PCs without consent and the software is reportedly collecting data. The reports claimed that the PC giant installed the software with a driver update, HP has however denied the allegations.
HP has now responded to Laptop Magazine and denied all the allegations, confirming that the software has been offered since 2014 as part of HP Support Assistant. “We absolutely take privacy super seriously,” VP of Customer Experience, Mike Nash at HP said in a statement.
HP claims that the software collects performance data about the hardware and stores the data in the local drive, it could be shared with HP only when the user approves.
“HP Touchpoint Analytics is a service we have offered since 2014 as part of HP Support Assistant. It anonymously collects diagnostic information about hardware performance. No data is shared with HP unless access is expressly granted. Customers can opt-out or uninstall the service at any time. HP Touchpoint Analytics was recently updated and there were no changes to privacy settings as part of this update. We take customer privacy very seriously and act in accordance with a strict policy, available here,” the company said in a statement.
Many users explained that the actual problem with the software is that it slows down the PCs and collects some data. Though now it’s very clear that user consent is taken before the data collection starts.
