Saturday 5 January 2013
Gamers have reacted strongly to news that Razer's most recent mice require buyers to be online at all the times and allow the driver software to collect personally identifiable information about them, or face being locked out of advanced features. Synapse 2.0, the current version of Razor's driver suite, require users to create an account in order to store their button profiles and custom configurations online. Refusal to do so will result in the functionality reducing to the level of any ordinary USB mouse.
Furthermore, the software requires constant internet connectivity, or functionality is reduced again. The issue came to light during Hurricane Sandy, which caused an outage of Razer's North American activation servers. The terms of service include statements such as "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," prompting comparisons to invasive spyware and DRM protection methods.
