here’s the outline of what changed, pulled directly from their new docs:
• fully irrevocable license to all user content
arduino now owns perpetual, world-wide rights to modify, translate, redistribute, and commercially exploit anything users upload. including code, libraries, photos, designs, and comments.
non-revocable, non-expiring.
• surveillance-grade ai monitoring baked into the platform
their new “ai policy” explicitly allows arduino/qualcomm to monitor model usage, compute time, storage, logs, and user behavior for “compliance”, “government requests”, and undefined “protection.”
• a patent-infringement shield clause
users are banned from using the platform to identify or support patent claims against arduino or its affiliates. this is the opposite of open-source accountability.
• deletion that isn’t deletion
deleted content stays accessible internally, and possibly public, if arduino decides it’s needed for “investigation,” “legal compliance,” or if others interacted with it.
• minors’ data deeply fused into the qualcomm ecosystem
accounts for users under 18 feed directly into qualcomm’s global data infrastructure. includes identifiers, behavior, project data, classroom data, and device telemetry.
• explicit admission of “sale” and “sharing” of identifiers, geolocation, analytics
under u.s. disclosures, arduino acknowledges sharing browser data, ip addresses, location, and behavioral inferences with advertising and analytics partners.
• five-year public retention of usernames after account deletion
forum and project-hub posts stay public with username attached for years before being de-identified.
• military and government carve-outs
arduino prohibits most military use of its AI tools… except for DARPA, which gets a special exemption.
• termination triggers for trivialities
sharing login credentials or choosing a username they dislike can get your account wiped.
• cross-border data extraction to qualcomm subsidiaries
all user data is shared globally across the qualcomm group, processed in multiple jurisdictions.
the part that breaks any remaining illusion of “open source community platform” is section 8.2, which forbids translating, decompiling, or
reverse-engineering the platform unless arduino explicitly allows it. that was never the arduino ethos.
arduino didn’t simply update its terms today. it reflashed itself into a telemetry appliance with proprietary firmware and a smiley sticker.
the two documents:
https://www.arduino.cc/en/privacy-policy/
https://www.arduino.cc/en/terms-conditions/