Hmm... Good point. I could see how Wacom could make context sensitive control panels based on the app, without having to ask the user, but then I still would want control over that: what if the functionality becomes too different between to apps and I find it annoying? This should be exposed to the user.

It makes it feel less nefarious, I guess. But I still don't want a C&C server knowing this much about me.

You do have control over it. By default, every app uses the same configuration. You proactively add configs to apps that you want to work differently.

For me, I've used it to make the pen work like a touchpad stylus while normally working, but map to the screen corners when working in photoshop.

Unless I'm very much mistaken, there are no application specific configs set on default install of Wacom drivers, just a generic 'All' profile.

If, and only if, I had set up an app-specific config, then maybe Wacom would be vaguely justified in tracking when I open that specific app.

'wantonly collecting unrelated data' is exactly what they're doing.

We aren't talking about Facebook or Amazon or Google here. I think we can walk back the apocalypsism.

Most companies aren't well-oiled, gigantic machines of user-data-manipulation. I'm sure there is a better way for Wacom to do things. I'm also pretty sure their staff are doing the best they can.

It doesn't matter if this is done by Facebook, Amazon, Google, or Joe's Basement Software Company, nor what the data is actually being used for. Doing this without obtaining the user's informed consent is unacceptable.

Sounds like you're not aware of the large and growing b2b consumer data market.

It also has quite a few quirks depending on the app so it’s logical they want to know which compatibility work is most pressing. Not that they have done much lately, but that’s a different subject. Wacom is an extremely frustrating company to deal with.