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[Razer] Razer Synapse 2.0 Used For Always-On Data Mining

94K views 520 replies 221 participants last post by  ghost2501 
#1 ·
Thought this should be brought to the attention of a broader audience. What theyre doing is revolting.
http://www.overclock.net/t/1319323/razer-synapse-2-0-software-mouse-unusable-if-you-dont-have-an-internet-connection-or-their-servers-are-down

This really took me by surprise. Just bought a new Naga 2012 mouse, installed the software and get greeted by a login screen right after. No option to bypass it to use the software to configure the mouse, set the options, sensitivity, shortcuts, macros etc.

So I go ahead and create an account and try to log in. Nothing. Try several more times, and still nothing. Try to make new accounts with different email addresses and it still wont work.

Finally call Razer who tells me the activation server is down, and I wont be able to use the mouse until it goes back up and will only be able to use it as a standard plug and play mouse til then. I ask about a workaround to use the mouse offline and they say there is none. Supposedly once the mouse is activated on the computer offline mode will work, but it needs to upload my profile and activate my account first and since their server is down its not going to happen. I ask for a supervisor to confirm this is the case and ask again for a workaround to use it offline. He said sorry theres nothing they can do, tells me the call center is closing and hangs up on me.

Im pretty shocked Razer thought it was a good idea to do this to customers. Nowhere on the box does it say anything about needing an internet connection to "activate" a mouse. If the servers go down in the future, anyone who buys this mouse is out of luck.

Honestly the last time I buy a Razer product. Absolutely ridiculous.

**Update**

Thought I would clarify a few things since Ive been asked about this a lot.

Razer forces you to create an account with them before you can use the software with the mouse. You cant configure the mouse in any way until you make an account with them and activate your computer and account through their server. If they decide to take down their activation server for any reason, you will never be able to use the software. If you live somewhere without access to internet, you will not be able to activate and use the software. If you work somewhere that has a network behind firewalls, chances are even though you can download the Synapse software, the firewall may also block you from activating and using the software as well.

If your connection drops out for any reason, the Synapse software will make a habbit of locking up on you while it transitions to offline mode. During that time your settings may revert or possibly not be saved.

Yes, you can use the mouse as plug and play with basic functionality if you choose not to make an account and activate your computer, but who pays $80 for a basic plug and play mouse? The reason people buy the Naga 2012 is the configurable buttons and to change the DPI, polling rate, set up macros and profiles along with everything else. Razer has no right to lock this away from customers who paid for these features. For the Naga 2012 mouse, there is no other offline drivers to revert to. Synapse 2.0 is your only option.

Razers Synapse 2.0 software is always online. If you have an internet connection active, Razer will be constantly using it constantly downloading updates and interrupting your full screen applications. Not only that, as I suspected, the Synapse 2.0 software is spying on you

From the Razer Synapse TOS agreement:
Quote:

"User Generated Information" means any information made available to Razer through your use of the Software. Subject to the Privacy Policy mentioned above, you expressly grant Razer the complete and irrevocable right to use, reproduce, modify, create derivative works from, distribute, transmit, broadcast, and otherwise communicate, and publicly display and perform the User Generated Information and derivative works thereof in any form, anywhere, with or without attribution to you, and without any notice or compensation to you of any kind.

By using Razer Synapse 2.0 ("Synapse"), the Subscriber agrees that Razer may collect aggregate information, individual information, and personally identifiable information. Razer may share aggregate information and individual information with other parties. Razer shall not share personally identifiable information with other parties, except as described in the policy below.
http://www.razerzone.com/synapse2/subscriber-agreement
http://www.razerzone.com/synapse2/privacy-policy

The Synapse 2.0 software was not created to benefit customers in any way. It was a ploy to get into your computer and watch what you do and profit off this info.

Edit #2

Oh, the irony
http://i.imgur.com/nCpsH.png


Quote:
Originally Posted by 5entinel View Post

Razer's response to the whole situation
Quote:
We invented onboard memory for gaming mice many years ago and called it Synapse to allow gamers to bring their profiles with them on the go. However, we realized that we ran into another issue where we had to keep increasing the amount of memory onboard to provide for more storage and this resulted in higher and higher prices for gamers.

We then invented Synapse 2.0 where we could provide almost limitless amount of storage for profiles, macros, etc in the cloud as opposed to being limited by physical memory.

We wanted to avoid raising prices to gamers for higher memory space onboard (think about it like having to buy bigger and bigger hard drives as opposed to having all your storage on the cloud) and provide a much better service for our users.

Synapse 2.0 is NOT DRM. Our products work perfectly well out of the box without Synapse 2.0. Synapse 2.0 provides ADDITIONAL functionality of almost limitless memory in the cloud as opposed to taking away functionality (which is what DRM is).

We recognize that gamers will want to be able to use their gear without an online connection, and that's why Synapse 2.0 has an OFFLINE mode. Basically you have to register, create an account, save your initial settings and if you so prefer, you can stay in offline mode all the time without going online.

I realize that we have had issues with the activation server, and we're making sure we get that sorted out.
https://www.facebook.com/minliangtan/posts/439763436081444
Update#2

Since the issue has pretty much gone viral and a lot of news outlets are reporting on this story its a bit disappointing to see them reporting Razers response as truth.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Razer View Post

Our products work perfectly out of the box. Unlike DRM games or other media that require an always‐on connection, you can use any of our peripherals right out of the box, even if someone doesn't install Synapse 2.0, and whether a user is offline or online..
This is a lie. The product does not work perfectly out of the box unless you count basic plug and play with all its advertised features stripped away as working right out of the box.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Razer View Post

Synapse 2.0 works OFFLINE

One of the biggest misunderstandings is the equation of Synapse 2.0 to always‐on DRM. It's a popular notion that anything requiring a login has DRM included in it, and this misconception is one that easily gets the community fired up. In this case however, it's incorrect.

Once registered, Synapse 2.0 works offline and never needs to be online again. So basically, a user creates an account, saves initial settings, and if there's no internet connection, it doesn't matter ‐ settings are saved on the client PC and are not synced to the cloud. Synapse 2.0 works offline.
Wrong. What do you call restricting use of a product until you activate and register it while agreeing to an invasive TOS? There is no offline toggle function. If you are online, then Synapse 2.0 is as well. There is no option to turn it off. If you lose your internet connection the software and mouse can freeze up while it transitions to offline mode when it doesnt detect a connection to the internet any longer. How does this possibly benefit the consumer?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Razer View Post

Server Outages

Finally, as far as the Synapse 2.0 activation server goes, we realize that we have had intermittent issues with it due to server usage spikes and, most recently, because of Hurricane Sandy - not uncommon challenges with server‐based functions, especially given the severity of the storm - and we're working on increasing server reliability.

We had an issue for four hours recently when users were unable to register for new Synapse 2.0 accounts. Current users of Synapse 2.0 were unaffected. We are working on new ways to keep these types of issues from occurring.
This shouldnt be an issue in the first place. A mouse should not have to be activated to get full use of all its features. I also reported the problem long before Sandy hit. Dont blame a disaster on your incompetence.

In the end it all boils down to being forced to do what Razer wants you to do. We paid for our expensive Razer products, just let us use them how we want. All of this could have been avoided by simply allowing a user to click "no thanks" to the account creation and online drivers and just let them use the mouse offline like all your previous products.
 
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#6 ·
Wow... what a shady ass company. First they make a bunch of peripherals with high fail ratios, and then they implement spyware that locks you out of using your gear if you turn it off. I'm glad I listened to the unfavorable reviews on their crap and stirred clear of everything else other than the mouse pad I got as a gift (kind of hard to mess that up lol.)
 
#10 ·
They're going to lose a lot of customers over this myself included.. I havent gotten synapse to work properly since it was installed.. my death adder is double clicking (its been a year and i use it heavily a year for am ouse is good for me) and so instead of RMAing it I am just going to flow with it until it dies and replace it with someone else.

Unfortunate because I love the mouse. They mech keyboard is good too Ive had no problems with it but their software is crap.
 
#12 ·
Yeah, I thought about Razor maybe as an upgrade alternative, but now I won't even consider them at all. Logitech all the way for me it seems. My MX518 is still kicking and always in use
smile.gif
 
#13 ·
Yeah they used to give you CDs with the drivers on them but now you have to use Synapse 2.0. It can be nice when doing clean installs because it saves your user profiles, but forcing it on people was quite disappointing.

Now they're using it as DRM? Just pathetic. Who is going to "pirate" drivers for a mouse/ keyboard if they can just download it from their website for free. Plus there's no reason for this in the first place. If you don't own a Razer product, why would you need the drivers?
thumbsdownsmileyanim.gif
 
#14 ·
As a razer naga user, this disturbs me.

On one hand, I'm always connected to the internet so it wasn't an issue. I also loved the convenience of having my profile save on the cloud, thus making it so I don't have to reconfigure all my macros and whatnot whenever I reformat.

But now this... spyware?

Yea, when this mouse finally breaks I'll search for a different brand with as close to the same amount of buttons.
 
#16 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by JoshHunter View Post

All we do now is watch Razer lose sales to Steelseries, Roccat and Corsair
smile.gif
This.
 
#19 ·
Yeah, so I was using an Epic a few days at work because the macro buttons automated like 40% of the entries I have to do. The connection is sketchy enough that the software hangs while doing anything. Hangs as in, stops, locks up and takes 10-15 seconds to resume functioning. I don't understand why Razer needs to update the cloud settings in real time... The idea that you need a constant internet connection for a mouse is just crazy. I've stopped using the mouse and don't plan on using it further. It is not worth the trouble. All it proves to me is that Razer is not capable of making good products. I will not be buying Razer products in the future.
 
#21 ·
People are so dramatic. This isn't even DRM it is to create profiles that can be saved so that the mouse settings are preserved. I mean who doesn't have an internet connection in this day and age? It only needs internet connection to initially setup your profile. I see no issue here especially with the enthusiast consumer in mind (its a gaming mouse for gods sake what gamer does not have access to internet). The only issue I can see is that they did not list having an internet connection as mandatory on the box somewhere.
 
#22 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by scutzi128 View Post

People are so dramatic. This isn't even DRM it is to create profiles that can be saved so that the mouse settings are preserved. I mean who doesn't have an internet connection in this day and age? It only needs internet connection to initially setup your profile. I see no issue here especially with the enthusiast consumer in mind (its a gaming mouse for gods sake what gamer does not have access to internet). The only issue I can see is that they did not list having an internet connection as mandatory on the box somewhere.
Heh, says someone that doesn't have a Razer product ( a mousepad doesnt count its hard to EFF up a mousepad) and hasn't dealt with the nightmare of Synapse.

I opened razer synapse today to see if I could turn off the blinking mouse light... It does the same thing its done since August. It says updating razer synapse. It's now been on for 15 hours and still says updating.

the software is crap.
 
#24 ·
A company deciding to use a mouse as a means to harvest personal data is beyond crazy. Knowledge of something like this being implemented would go straight to the core of the company or likely even came from it. No Razer hardware for me.. ever.
 
#25 ·
Always knew there was something dodgey about Razor.
Quote:
Originally Posted by scutzi128 View Post

I mean who doesn't have an internet connection in this day and age? It only needs internet connection to initially setup your profile. I see no issue here especially with the enthusiast consumer in mind (its a gaming mouse for gods sake what gamer does not have access to internet). The only issue I can see is that they did not list having an internet connection as mandatory on the box somewhere.
Totally, and utterly besides the point.

An internet connection shouldn't be required to use it. In the same sense an internet connection shouldn't be required to play single player exclusive games. It increases the chances that you may not be able to use the product you paid for (example, lose internet. This is especially applicable to Satellite users). And, as already proven, you could also lose access should the authenticating server go offline. Ie: Something not your fault or within your control.

It amazes me how many people like yourself are willing and prepared to surrender to such rediculous restrictions on things you have legally purchased. A very unhealthy attitude - that kind of thing is why so many people have their freedoms and rights stripped away by individuals motivated by one thing; Profit.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Padishah View Post

The new Synapse software has "cloud" support thats why you need to log on to save and load your profiles.
I'm sure that would be their excuse. How long will it be before we'll need internet access to simply turn our PC's on?
 
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#26 ·
I'm curious if this will propagate to other Razer products as well.

The only product I own is a Blackwidow Ultimate and have to say it isn't bad, definitely a step up from the shoddy G15 I used for a long time but if they're going to be pulling crap like this I'll happily trash it for something better.
 
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