# balenaEtcher privacy rating

A cross-platform app from balena that writes OS images to SD cards and USB drives and validates the written data.

## Summary

balenaEtcher scores 40 out of 100 (grade D) on the OS downloaders and bootable USB tools criteria. It meets 1 of 4 criteria: open source. It partly meets no ads or data sales. It does not meet no trackers or telemetry and independent audit. It is based in the United Kingdom: Five Eyes member; GDPR-style data protection law; CLOUD Act data access agreement with the US.

- Website: https://etcher.balena.io
- Source code: https://github.com/balena-io/etcher
- License: Apache-2.0
- Jurisdiction: United Kingdom. Five Eyes member. GDPR-style data protection law. CLOUD Act data access agreement with the US.
- Platforms: Windows, macOS, Linux
- Home page trackers: Amplitude, Cloudflare Web Analytics (cookieless analytics), Google reCAPTCHA (not scored), Google Tag Manager
- Category: [OS downloaders and bootable USB tools](https://privacyratings.com/os-installers/)
- Grade: D (40/100)

## Criteria

| Criterion | Answer | Note | Evidence |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Open source | Yes | Apache-2.0. | https://github.com/balena-io/etcher/blob/master/LICENSE |
| No trackers or telemetry | No | Error reporting to balena through Sentry is on by default and can be turned off. The website loads Google Analytics, Amplitude and LinkedIn tracking. | https://github.com/balena-io/etcher/blob/master/lib/gui/app/models/settings.ts |
| No ads or data sales | Partial | The app shows balena project banners while flashing. Balena shares data with advertising partners to market its own services and states it does not sell personal information. | https://www.balena.io/privacy-policy |
| Independent audit | No | No independent audit is published. |  |

Source: https://privacyratings.com/os-installers/balenaetcher/
Edit: https://github.com/privacyratings/privacyratings.com/edit/main/ratings/os-installers/balenaetcher.md