Consumer Rights Wiki - User contributions [en]

Pearson

2026-01-14T06:50:21Z

Gem: /* Incidents */ typo

{{StubNotice}}
{{ToneWarning}}
{{CompanyCargo
|Founded=1998
|Industry=Education, Technology, Software, Artificial Intelligence, Information Technology
|ParentCompany=Pearson plc
|Type=Subsidiary
|Website=https://www.pearson.com/
|Description=Largest publishing company in higher education, with focus on proprietary eBooks, online educational software and test administration
|Logo=Pearson plc logo.svg}}

Pearson (formerly Pearson Education) is the for-profit global education business arm of the Pearson plc conglomerate. Pearson provides textbooks, homework system platforms, educational content, assessment tools, exam proctoring and digital platforms to schools, universities and professional certifications worldwide.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pearson.com/en-us.html|title=Pearson|access-date=11 Jan 2026}}</ref> <ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pearsonvue.com|title=Pearson Exam Proctoring|access-date=11 Jan 2026}}</ref>

==Consumer-impact summary==

==='''No Ownership Rights, Limited Access to Purchased Materials:'''===
Pearson is phasing out ownership of print textbooks and replacing them with digital textbooks and subscription services. CEO John Fallon stated in a BBC interview, the move is made in "hopes the move will make more students buy its e-textbooks which are updated continually" and that the next generation of consumers, "they expect to rent not own." Purchase of print textbooks has been replaced by a monthly subscription service (Pearson+) and rented e-books have limited access periods that prevent access for future referencing.<ref>{{cite web |date=2019-07-16 |title=Education publisher Pearson to phase out print textbooks |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/business-48998789 |website=BBC}}</ref>

*'''DRM Prevents Resale and Sharing of Purchased Materials:''' Pearson restricts copying, pasting and printing pages from purchased ebooks and digital content. Unlike a physical book, a student cannot sell, give away, or lend their digital copy.

*'''Limited Access''' '''to Purchased Materials:''' Pearson uses access codes for both "owned" and "rented" books and learning materials that after the semester or year, the student loses access to material they bought or rented and prevents study materials for future courses and careers from being referenced. Consumers purchase a license to use, not own their books and education.

===Inclusive Access & Default Opt-In Raises Tuition Fees===
Pearson's use of Inclusive Access prevents students and professionals from purchasing books and materials from other sources, buying older edition textbooks, or renting materials through other sources.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Duplantis |first=Hilary |date=2024-08-24 |title=Inclusive Access in Higher Education: Unlocking Student Success |url=https://www.pearson.com/en-us/higher-education/insights-and-events/teaching-and-learning-blog/2024/02/inclusive-access-in-higher-education--unlocking-student-success.html |website=Pearson Inclusive Access}}</ref> Known in the publishing industry as Inclusive Access or Equitable Access programs, students are automatically charged by colleges and bookstores for access to mostly online versions of course materials assigned for their classes. This practice has enabled the growth of a digital subscription business model, as the default opt-in automatically bakes Pearson materials costs directly into student tuition and fees. Pearson claims it is to make things convenient and cheaper for students. <ref name=":0" /> There has been criticisms over extensive, round about opt-out processes and mandatory Pearson courseware systems used to grade homework that prevent those who do opt-out from participating in their classes.<ref name=":0" />

===Lack of Transparency, Non-Disclosure Agreements===
Pearson VUE's exam policy requires test candidates to accept the terms of the non-disclosure agreement (NDA) or any other terms and conditions presented to them prior to the start of the exam, contributing to lack of transparency. <ref>{{Cite web |title=Exam Policy |url=https://certiport.pearsonvue.com/Educator-resources/Exam-policies/Test-candidate.aspx |access-date=2026-01-12 |website=Pearson Vue}}</ref>

==='''Market Control'''===
Pearson is the largest company in higher education with influence over test administration, teacher licensing, educational software, eBooks, grading, guidelines. The company has a history of undisclosed lobbying and applying non-profit funds towards their for-profit business.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hu |first=Winnie |date=2011-12-21 |title=Testing Firm Faces Inquiry on Free Trips for Officials |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/22/education/new-york-attorney-general-is-investigating-pearson-education.html |website=New York Times}}</ref> Since 2021, the state of Texas has made efforts to move away from Pearson's 30 year monopoly over exam testing. <ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Gross |first=Allie |date=2015-05-20 |title=Pearson loses Texas testing account to ETS after 15-year relationship |url=https://www.k12dive.com/news/pearson-loses-texas-testing-account-to-ets-after-15-year-relationship/399546/ |website=K12 Dive}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2021-01-05 |title=Texas hires two companies to run STAAR, moving toward statewide online testing |url=https://abc13.com/post/staar-tests-online-texas-public-schools-cambium-assessment-pearson/9357526/ |website=ABC 13 Eyewitness News}}</ref>

==Incidents==
This is a list of all consumer-protection incidents this company is involved in. Any incidents not mentioned here can be found in the [[:Category:{{FULLPAGENAME}}|{{PAGENAME}} category]].

==='''Pearson Surveillance of Children's Social Media Accounts (2015 - )'''===
Pearson has admitted to ongoing surveillance of online activity and social media accounts, comments made about their tests and test contents, and checking social media accounts against a list of students taking their exams. This has created backlash from parents and the consortium of states against child surveillance.<ref name=":5" /> Among the information collected include the child's name, state of residence, and which school they attend. Pearson states the surveillance is for due diligence and test security. <ref name=":5">{{Cite web |last=Singer |first=Natasha |date=2015-03-17 |title=Pearson Under Fire for Monitoring Students’ Twitter Posts |url=https://archive.nytimes.com/bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/03/17/pearson-under-fire-for-monitoring-students-twitter-posts |website=The New York Times}}</ref>

==='''Standards Breaches and System Failures''' '''''(2025)'''''===
Pearson was fined more than 2 million pounds ($2.68 million) in 2025 due to standards breaches from 2019 and 2023 that affected tens of thousands of students. Pearson failed to identiy and manage failures in inconsistent grading standards, despite Britain's Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation, Ofqual, highlighting the risks in 2022 and 2023.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-12-15 |title=Ofqual fines Pearson £2 million for rule breaches affecting thousands of students |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/news/ofqual-fines-pearson-2-million-for-rule-breaches-affecting-thousands-of-students |website=GOV.UK}}</ref> A £1,200,000 fine was also levied against Pearson several years prior for prolonged, systemic failures to comply with the reviews of exam marking, which must be conducted by an examiner who is not the original marker. Pearson was charged for operating under a "false assumption" of compliance.<ref name=":6" /> Problems continued even after Ofqual flagged similar problems at other exam boards, AQA and OCR. Pearson's breaches was noted to have significantly undermined and eroded public confidence in UK testing qualifications.<ref name=":6">{{Cite web |date=2022-12-13 |title=Notice of monetary penalty: Pearson, Reviews of Marking |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/notice-of-monetary-penalty-pearson-reviews-of-marking/notice-of-monetary-penalty-pearson-reviews-of-marking |website=GOV.UK}}</ref>

===Pearson Moves to Textbook Subscription Model ''(2021)''===
Pearson launched their subscription service, Pearson +, in 2021, for $14.99 a month to access the platform's full library or $9.99 a month if only one textbook was needed, requiring students to subscribe to a minimum of four months.<ref name=":8">{{Cite web |last=Schwartz |first=Natalie |date=2021-07-30 |title=Pearson launches direct-to-consumer subscription service in bid for student sales |url=https://www.highereddive.com/news/pearson-launches-direct-to-consumer-subscription-service-in-bid-for-student/604242/ |website=Industry Drive}}</ref> Pearson reported sales growth due to their Inclusive Access deals, which automatically bills the cost of educational materials into student tuition fees rather than students purchasing books elsewhere or using secondhand sources. College administrators expressed hesitancy about using just one publisher, with some instructors pivoting toward open educational resources (OER).<ref name=":8" />

==='''Data Breach and S.E.C. Settlement ''(2018)'''''===
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced a $1 million settlement against Pearson for omissions and misleading investors about a 2018 data breach related to its AIMSweb1.0 web-based student performance tracking software.<ref name=":7" /> The data breach resulted in administrator login credentials of 13,000 schools, district and university customer accounts, along with millions of student usernames and passwords to be stolen. Pearson did not disclose this breach to investors until it was contacted by the media.<ref name=":7">{{Cite web |last=Page |first=Carly |date=2021-08-16 |title=Pearson to pay $1M fine for misleading investors about 2018 data breach |url=https://techcrunch.com/2021/08/16/pearson-to-pay-1m-fine-for-misleading-investors-about-2018-data-breach |url-status= |website=Tech Crunch}}</ref>

==='''Unregistered Lobbying through University of Texas Endowments ''(2013)'''''===
$400,000 endowments were made by Pearson and their charity to The University of Texas College of Education Pearson Center for Applied Psychometric Research, which provides evaluation services for policymakers.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |last=Stanford |first=Jason |date=2013-12-19 |title=It's Time to Investigate Pearson in Texas, Too |url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/pearson-new-york-settlement_b_4469167 |website=HuffPost}}</ref> State policymakers have went on to award Pearson over $1 billion in contracts since 2010, suggesting a conflict of interest, including a 5-year deal worth $462 million.<ref name=":3" /> Public opinion, advocates and lawmakers argued Pearson had too much influence over the state's education policy without scrutiny. Although Texas made it illegal for testing company lobbyists to serve on advisory boards and make campaign contributions, Pearson was allowed to operate without oversight. The Texas stance against lobbying was initially aimed at Sandy Kress, the architect of No Child Left Behind policy and a Pearson lobbyist who served on several state advisory boards.<ref name=":3" /> In 2021, Texas scaled down the 30-year Pearson monopoly by signing on ETS and Cambium Assessment, a Washington D.C.-based testing company a $262 million contract while reducing Pearson's contract to $126 million. <ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" />

==='''Self-Dealing Fraud ''(2013)'''''===
Pearson was charged in the state of New York with a $7.7 million settlement for self-dealing fraud. <ref name=":4">{{Cite web |last=Gose |first=Ben |date=2014-11-18 |title=After a Scandal, Pearson Dissolves Foundation |url=https://www.philanthropy.com/news/after-a-scandal-pearson-dissolves-foundation/ |archive-url= |website=Philanthropy}}</ref> Investigations found that Pearson contributed funds to its charity, Pearson Foundation, which then sent $540,000 of the funds to the Chief State School Officers and the copyright holder of the Common Core State Standards. Along with the Gates Foundation, the Common Core course was sold back to the for-profit Pearson company for $15.5 million.<ref name=":4" /> “The fact is that Pearson is a for-profit corporation, and they are prohibited by law from using charitable funds to promote and develop for-profit products,” said Attorney General Eric Scheniderman. <ref>{{Cite web |last=Hernández |first=Javier |date=2013-12-12 |title=Educational Publisher’s Charity, Accused of Seeking Profits, Will Pay Millions |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/13/nyregion/educational-publishers-charity-accused-of-seeking-profits-will-pay-millions.html |website=The New York Times}}</ref> <ref name=":1" />

===New York Statewide Exams Failure (''2012'')===
{{Main|link to the main CR Wiki article}}
Pearson obtained a $32 million contract to administer New York academic tests, plus a $1 million contract to maintain testing services with the New York State Education Departmentt. In 2012, a statewide systemic failure involving numerous test errors, printing errors, security breaches and lack of transparency affected the test administration test scores of hundreds of thousands of students. Thousands of students were denied from graduating due to the failure. The students were assigned further summer school attendance. The Department spokesperson's response was the victimized students would "benefit from the extra instruction in summer school."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Gonen |first=Yoav |date=2012-06-26 |title=7,000 city students wrongly blocked from attending graduation |url=https://nypost.com/2012/07/26/7000-city-students-wrongly-blocked-from-attending-graduation/ |website=New York Post}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Otterman |first=Sharon |date=2011-08-12 |title=In $32 Million Contract, State Lays Out Some Rules for Its Standardized Tests |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/13/nyregion/new-york-in-contract-with-pearson-lays-out-rules-for-state-tests.html}}</ref>

==Products==

*MyLab®
*MyMathTest® and Mastering®
*Pearson Plus + eTextbooks
*Revel® multi-media eTextbooks and interactive learning
*Connections Academy full time online virtual Schools
*K-12 Online Schools<ref>{{Cite web |title=Pearson K-12 Online Schools |url=https://www.pearson.com/en-us/schools/products-services/k12-online-schools.html |website=Pearson}}</ref>
*K-12 Assessments for School Districts
*Pearson Clinical Assessments for Professionals, including BASC™-3, aimsweb®Plus and Q-global®<ref>{{Cite web |title=Pearson Asessments |url=https://www.pearsonassessments.com/professional-assessments/training.html |website=Pearson Assessments}}</ref>

==See also==
{{Ph-C-SA}}

==References==
{{reflist}}https://www.wiredacademic.com/2011/10/pearson-draws-criticism-from-new-york-to-texas-justified-or-unjustified/

https://www.pearson.com/content/dam/one-dot-com/one-dot-com/global/Files/get-the-facts/corporate-myth-fact-030116.pdf

https://www.reddit.com/r/Teachers/comments/1glwk0/pearson_seems_to_control_everything_in_education/

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/may/05/pearson-shareholders-reject-pay-revolt-john-fallon
[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]

Pearson

2026-01-14T06:49:42Z

Gem:

{{StubNotice}}
{{ToneWarning}}
{{CompanyCargo
|Founded=1998
|Industry=Education, Technology, Software, Artificial Intelligence, Information Technology
|ParentCompany=Pearson plc
|Type=Subsidiary
|Website=https://www.pearson.com/
|Description=Largest publishing company in higher education, with focus on proprietary eBooks, online educational software and test administration
|Logo=Pearson plc logo.svg}}

Pearson (formerly Pearson Education) is the for-profit global education business arm of the Pearson plc conglomerate. Pearson provides textbooks, homework system platforms, educational content, assessment tools, exam proctoring and digital platforms to schools, universities and professional certifications worldwide.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pearson.com/en-us.html|title=Pearson|access-date=11 Jan 2026}}</ref> <ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pearsonvue.com|title=Pearson Exam Proctoring|access-date=11 Jan 2026}}</ref>

==Consumer-impact summary==

==='''No Ownership Rights, Limited Access to Purchased Materials:'''===
Pearson is phasing out ownership of print textbooks and replacing them with digital textbooks and subscription services. CEO John Fallon stated in a BBC interview, the move is made in "hopes the move will make more students buy its e-textbooks which are updated continually" and that the next generation of consumers, "they expect to rent not own." Purchase of print textbooks has been replaced by a monthly subscription service (Pearson+) and rented e-books have limited access periods that prevent access for future referencing.<ref>{{cite web |date=2019-07-16 |title=Education publisher Pearson to phase out print textbooks |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/business-48998789 |website=BBC}}</ref>

*'''DRM Prevents Resale and Sharing of Purchased Materials:''' Pearson restricts copying, pasting and printing pages from purchased ebooks and digital content. Unlike a physical book, a student cannot sell, give away, or lend their digital copy.

*'''Limited Access''' '''to Purchased Materials:''' Pearson uses access codes for both "owned" and "rented" books and learning materials that after the semester or year, the student loses access to material they bought or rented and prevents study materials for future courses and careers from being referenced. Consumers purchase a license to use, not own their books and education.

===Inclusive Access & Default Opt-In Raises Tuition Fees===
Pearson's use of Inclusive Access prevents students and professionals from purchasing books and materials from other sources, buying older edition textbooks, or renting materials through other sources.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Duplantis |first=Hilary |date=2024-08-24 |title=Inclusive Access in Higher Education: Unlocking Student Success |url=https://www.pearson.com/en-us/higher-education/insights-and-events/teaching-and-learning-blog/2024/02/inclusive-access-in-higher-education--unlocking-student-success.html |website=Pearson Inclusive Access}}</ref> Known in the publishing industry as Inclusive Access or Equitable Access programs, students are automatically charged by colleges and bookstores for access to mostly online versions of course materials assigned for their classes. This practice has enabled the growth of a digital subscription business model, as the default opt-in automatically bakes Pearson materials costs directly into student tuition and fees. Pearson claims it is to make things convenient and cheaper for students. <ref name=":0" /> There has been criticisms over extensive, round about opt-out processes and mandatory Pearson courseware systems used to grade homework that prevent those who do opt-out from participating in their classes.<ref name=":0" />

===Lack of Transparency, Non-Disclosure Agreements===
Pearson VUE's exam policy requires test candidates to accept the terms of the non-disclosure agreement (NDA) or any other terms and conditions presented to them prior to the start of the exam, contributing to lack of transparency. <ref>{{Cite web |title=Exam Policy |url=https://certiport.pearsonvue.com/Educator-resources/Exam-policies/Test-candidate.aspx |access-date=2026-01-12 |website=Pearson Vue}}</ref>

==='''Market Control'''===
Pearson is the largest company in higher education with influence over test administration, teacher licensing, educational software, eBooks, grading, guidelines. The company has a history of undisclosed lobbying and applying non-profit funds towards their for-profit business.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hu |first=Winnie |date=2011-12-21 |title=Testing Firm Faces Inquiry on Free Trips for Officials |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/22/education/new-york-attorney-general-is-investigating-pearson-education.html |website=New York Times}}</ref> Since 2021, the state of Texas has made efforts to move away from Pearson's 30 year monopoly over exam testing. <ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Gross |first=Allie |date=2015-05-20 |title=Pearson loses Texas testing account to ETS after 15-year relationship |url=https://www.k12dive.com/news/pearson-loses-texas-testing-account-to-ets-after-15-year-relationship/399546/ |website=K12 Dive}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2021-01-05 |title=Texas hires two companies to run STAAR, moving toward statewide online testing |url=https://abc13.com/post/staar-tests-online-texas-public-schools-cambium-assessment-pearson/9357526/ |website=ABC 13 Eyewitness News}}</ref>

==Incidents==
This is a list of all consumer-protection incidents this company is involved in. Any incidents not mentioned here can be found in the [[:Category:{{FULLPAGENAME}}|{{PAGENAME}} category]].

==='''Pearson Surveillance of Children's Social Media Accounts (2015 - )'''===
Pearson has admitted to ongoing surveillance of online activity and social media accounts, comments made about their tests and test contents, and checking social media accounts against a list of students taking their exams. This has created backlash from parents and the consortium of states against child surveillance.<ref name=":5" /> Among the information collected include the child's name, state of residence, and which school they attend. Pearson states the surveillance is for due diligence and test security. <ref name=":5">{{Cite web |last=Singer |first=Natasha |date=2015-03-17 |title=Pearson Under Fire for Monitoring Students’ Twitter Posts |url=https://archive.nytimes.com/bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/03/17/pearson-under-fire-for-monitoring-students-twitter-posts |website=The New York Times}}</ref>

==='''Standards Breaches and System Failures''' '''''(2025)'''''===
Pearson was fined more than 2 million pounds ($2.68 million) in 2025 due to standards breaches from 2019 and 2023 that affected tens of thousands of students. Pearson failed to identiy and manage failures in inconsistent grading standards, despite Britain's Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation, Ofqual, highlighting the risks in 2022 and 2023.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-12-15 |title=Ofqual fines Pearson £2 million for rule breaches affecting thousands of students |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/news/ofqual-fines-pearson-2-million-for-rule-breaches-affecting-thousands-of-students |website=GOV.UK}}</ref> A £1,200,000 fine was also levied against Pearson several years prior for prolonged, systemic failures to comply with the reviews of exam marking, which must be conducted by an examiner who is not the original marker. Pearson was charged for operating under a "false assumption" of compliance.<ref name=":6" /> Problems continued even after Ofqual flagged similar problems at other exam boards, AQA and OCR. Pearson's breaches was noted to have significantly undermined and eroded public confidence in UK testing qualifications.<ref name=":6">{{Cite web |date=2022-12-13 |title=Notice of monetary penalty: Pearson, Reviews of Marking |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/notice-of-monetary-penalty-pearson-reviews-of-marking/notice-of-monetary-penalty-pearson-reviews-of-marking |website=GOV.UK}}</ref>

===Pearson Moves to Textbook Subscription Model ''(2021)''===
Pearson launched their subscription service, Pearson +, in 2021, for $14.99 a month to access the platform's full library or $9.99 a month if only one textbook was needed, requiring students to subscribe to a minimum of four months.<ref name=":8">{{Cite web |last=Schwartz |first=Natalie |date=2021-07-30 |title=Pearson launches direct-to-consumer subscription service in bid for student sales |url=https://www.highereddive.com/news/pearson-launches-direct-to-consumer-subscription-service-in-bid-for-student/604242/ |website=Industry Drive}}</ref> Pearson reported sales growth due to their Inclusive Access deals, which automatically bills the cost of educational materials into student tuition fees rather than students purchasing books elsewhere or using secondhand sources. College administrators expresseed hesitancy about using just one publisher, with some instructors pivoting toward open educational resources (OER).<ref name=":8" />

==='''Data Breach and S.E.C. Settlement ''(2018)'''''===
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced a $1 million settlement against Pearson for omissions and misleading investors about a 2018 data breach related to its AIMSweb1.0 web-based student performance tracking software.<ref name=":7" /> The data breach resulted in administrator login credentials of 13,000 schools, district and university customer accounts, along with millions of student usernames and passwords to be stolen. Pearson did not disclose this breach to investors until it was contacted by the media.<ref name=":7">{{Cite web |last=Page |first=Carly |date=2021-08-16 |title=Pearson to pay $1M fine for misleading investors about 2018 data breach |url=https://techcrunch.com/2021/08/16/pearson-to-pay-1m-fine-for-misleading-investors-about-2018-data-breach |url-status= |website=Tech Crunch}}</ref>

==='''Unregistered Lobbying through University of Texas Endowments ''(2013)'''''===
$400,000 endowments were made by Pearson and their charity to The University of Texas College of Education Pearson Center for Applied Psychometric Research, which provides evaluation services for policymakers.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |last=Stanford |first=Jason |date=2013-12-19 |title=It's Time to Investigate Pearson in Texas, Too |url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/pearson-new-york-settlement_b_4469167 |website=HuffPost}}</ref> State policymakers have went on to award Pearson over $1 billion in contracts since 2010, suggesting a conflict of interest, including a 5-year deal worth $462 million.<ref name=":3" /> Public opinion, advocates and lawmakers argued Pearson had too much influence over the state's education policy without scrutiny. Although Texas made it illegal for testing company lobbyists to serve on advisory boards and make campaign contributions, Pearson was allowed to operate without oversight. The Texas stance against lobbying was initially aimed at Sandy Kress, the architect of No Child Left Behind policy and a Pearson lobbyist who served on several state advisory boards.<ref name=":3" /> In 2021, Texas scaled down the 30-year Pearson monopoly by signing on ETS and Cambium Assessment, a Washington D.C.-based testing company a $262 million contract while reducing Pearson's contract to $126 million. <ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" />

==='''Self-Dealing Fraud ''(2013)'''''===
Pearson was charged in the state of New York with a $7.7 million settlement for self-dealing fraud. <ref name=":4">{{Cite web |last=Gose |first=Ben |date=2014-11-18 |title=After a Scandal, Pearson Dissolves Foundation |url=https://www.philanthropy.com/news/after-a-scandal-pearson-dissolves-foundation/ |archive-url= |website=Philanthropy}}</ref> Investigations found that Pearson contributed funds to its charity, Pearson Foundation, which then sent $540,000 of the funds to the Chief State School Officers and the copyright holder of the Common Core State Standards. Along with the Gates Foundation, the Common Core course was sold back to the for-profit Pearson company for $15.5 million.<ref name=":4" /> “The fact is that Pearson is a for-profit corporation, and they are prohibited by law from using charitable funds to promote and develop for-profit products,” said Attorney General Eric Scheniderman. <ref>{{Cite web |last=Hernández |first=Javier |date=2013-12-12 |title=Educational Publisher’s Charity, Accused of Seeking Profits, Will Pay Millions |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/13/nyregion/educational-publishers-charity-accused-of-seeking-profits-will-pay-millions.html |website=The New York Times}}</ref> <ref name=":1" />

===New York Statewide Exams Failure (''2012'')===
{{Main|link to the main CR Wiki article}}
Pearson obtained a $32 million contract to administer New York academic tests, plus a $1 million contract to maintain testing services with the New York State Education Departmentt. In 2012, a statewide systemic failure involving numerous test errors, printing errors, security breaches and lack of transparency affected the test administration test scores of hundreds of thousands of students. Thousands of students were denied from graduating due to the failure. The students were assigned further summer school attendance. The Department spokesperson's response was the victimized students would "benefit from the extra instruction in summer school."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Gonen |first=Yoav |date=2012-06-26 |title=7,000 city students wrongly blocked from attending graduation |url=https://nypost.com/2012/07/26/7000-city-students-wrongly-blocked-from-attending-graduation/ |website=New York Post}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Otterman |first=Sharon |date=2011-08-12 |title=In $32 Million Contract, State Lays Out Some Rules for Its Standardized Tests |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/13/nyregion/new-york-in-contract-with-pearson-lays-out-rules-for-state-tests.html}}</ref>

==Products==

*MyLab®
*MyMathTest® and Mastering®
*Pearson Plus + eTextbooks
*Revel® multi-media eTextbooks and interactive learning
*Connections Academy full time online virtual Schools
*K-12 Online Schools<ref>{{Cite web |title=Pearson K-12 Online Schools |url=https://www.pearson.com/en-us/schools/products-services/k12-online-schools.html |website=Pearson}}</ref>
*K-12 Assessments for School Districts
*Pearson Clinical Assessments for Professionals, including BASC™-3, aimsweb®Plus and Q-global®<ref>{{Cite web |title=Pearson Asessments |url=https://www.pearsonassessments.com/professional-assessments/training.html |website=Pearson Assessments}}</ref>

==See also==
{{Ph-C-SA}}

==References==
{{reflist}}https://www.wiredacademic.com/2011/10/pearson-draws-criticism-from-new-york-to-texas-justified-or-unjustified/

https://www.pearson.com/content/dam/one-dot-com/one-dot-com/global/Files/get-the-facts/corporate-myth-fact-030116.pdf

https://www.reddit.com/r/Teachers/comments/1glwk0/pearson_seems_to_control_everything_in_education/

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/may/05/pearson-shareholders-reject-pay-revolt-john-fallon
[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]

Pearson

2026-01-14T06:48:47Z

Gem: Added incident

{{StubNotice}}
{{ToneWarning}}
{{CompanyCargo
|Founded=1998
|Industry=Education, Technology, Software, Artificial Intelligence, Information Technology
|ParentCompany=Pearson plc
|Type=Subsidiary
|Website=https://www.pearson.com/
|Description=Largest publishing company in higher education, with focus on proprietary eBooks, online educational software and test administration
|Logo=Pearson plc logo.svg}}

Pearson (formerly Pearson Education) is the for-profit global education business arm of the Pearson plc conglomerate. Pearson provides textbooks, homework system platforms, educational content, assessment tools, exam proctoring and digital platforms to schools, universities and professional certifications worldwide.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pearson.com/en-us.html|title=Pearson|access-date=11 Jan 2026}}</ref> <ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pearsonvue.com|title=Pearson Exam Proctoring|access-date=11 Jan 2026}}</ref>

==Consumer-impact summary==

==='''No Ownership Rights, Limited Access to Purchased Materials:'''===
Pearson is phasing out ownership of print textbooks and replacing them with digital textbooks and subscription services. CEO John Fallon stated in a BBC interview, the move is made in "hopes the move will make more students buy its e-textbooks which are updated continually" and that the next generation of consumers, "they expect to rent not own." Purchase of print textbooks has been replaced by a monthly subscription service (Pearson+) and rented e-books have limited access periods that prevent access for future referencing.<ref>{{cite web |date=2019-07-16 |title=Education publisher Pearson to phase out print textbooks |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/business-48998789 |website=BBC}}</ref>

*'''DRM Prevents Resale and Sharing of Purchased Materials:''' Pearson restricts copying, pasting and printing pages from purchased ebooks and digital content. Unlike a physical book, a student cannot sell, give away, or lend their digital copy.

*'''Limited Access''' '''to Purchased Materials:''' Pearson uses access codes for both "owned" and "rented" books and learning materials that after the semester or year, the student loses access to material they bought or rented and prevents study materials for future courses and careers from being referenced. Consumers purchase a license to use, not own their books and education.

===Inclusive Access & Default Opt-In Raises Tuition Fees===
Pearson's use of Inclusive Access prevents students and professionals from purchasing books and materials from other sources, buying older edition textbooks, or renting materials through other sources.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Duplantis |first=Hilary |date=2024-08-24 |title=Inclusive Access in Higher Education: Unlocking Student Success |url=https://www.pearson.com/en-us/higher-education/insights-and-events/teaching-and-learning-blog/2024/02/inclusive-access-in-higher-education--unlocking-student-success.html |website=Pearson Inclusive Access}}</ref> Known in the publishing industry as Inclusive Access or Equitable Access programs, students are automatically charged by colleges and bookstores for access to mostly online versions of course materials assigned for their classes. This practice has enabled the growth of a digital subscription business model, as the default opt-in automatically bakes Pearson materials costs directly into student tuition and fees. Pearson claims it is to make things convenient and cheaper for students. <ref name=":0" /> There has been criticisms over extensive, round about opt-out processes and mandatory Pearson courseware systems used to grade homework that prevent those who do opt-out from participating in their classes.<ref name=":0" />

===Lack of Transparency, Non-Disclosure Agreements===
Pearson VUE's exam policy requires test candidates to accept the terms of the non-disclosure agreement (NDA) or any other terms and conditions presented to them prior to the start of the exam, contributing to lack of transparency. <ref>{{Cite web |title=Exam Policy |url=https://certiport.pearsonvue.com/Educator-resources/Exam-policies/Test-candidate.aspx |access-date=2026-01-12 |website=Pearson Vue}}</ref>

==='''Market Control'''===
Pearson is the largest company in higher education with influence over test administration, teacher licensing, educational software, eBooks, grading, guidelines. The company has a history of undisclosed lobbying and applying non-profit funds towards their for-profit business.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hu |first=Winnie |date=2011-12-21 |title=Testing Firm Faces Inquiry on Free Trips for Officials |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/22/education/new-york-attorney-general-is-investigating-pearson-education.html |website=New York Times}}</ref> Since 2021, the state of Texas has made efforts to move away from Pearson's 30 year monopoly over exam testing. <ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Gross |first=Allie |date=2015-05-20 |title=Pearson loses Texas testing account to ETS after 15-year relationship |url=https://www.k12dive.com/news/pearson-loses-texas-testing-account-to-ets-after-15-year-relationship/399546/ |website=K12 Dive}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2021-01-05 |title=Texas hires two companies to run STAAR, moving toward statewide online testing |url=https://abc13.com/post/staar-tests-online-texas-public-schools-cambium-assessment-pearson/9357526/ |website=ABC 13 Eyewitness News}}</ref>

==Incidents==
This is a list of all consumer-protection incidents this company is involved in. Any incidents not mentioned here can be found in the [[:Category:{{FULLPAGENAME}}|{{PAGENAME}} category]].

==='''Pearson Surveillance of Children's Social Media Accounts (2015 - )'''===
Pearson has admitted to ongoing surveillance of online activity and social media accounts, comments made about their tests and test contents, and checking social media accounts against a list of students taking their exams. This has created backlash from parents and the consortium of states against child surveillance.<ref name=":5" /> Among the information collected include the child's name, state of residence, and which school they attend. Pearson states the surveillance is for due diligence and test security. <ref name=":5">{{Cite web |last=Singer |first=Natasha |date=2015-03-17 |title=Pearson Under Fire for Monitoring Students’ Twitter Posts |url=https://archive.nytimes.com/bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/03/17/pearson-under-fire-for-monitoring-students-twitter-posts |website=The New York Times}}</ref>

==='''Standards Breaches and System Failures''' '''''(2025)'''''===
Pearson was fined more than 2 million pounds ($2.68 million) in 2025 due to standards breaches from 2019 and 2023 that affected tens of thousands of students. Pearson failed to identiy and manage failures in inconsistent grading standards, despite Britain's Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation, Ofqual, highlighting the risks in 2022 and 2023.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-12-15 |title=Ofqual fines Pearson £2 million for rule breaches affecting thousands of students |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/news/ofqual-fines-pearson-2-million-for-rule-breaches-affecting-thousands-of-students |website=GOV.UK}}</ref> A £1,200,000 fine was also levied against Pearson several years prior for prolonged, systemic failures to comply with the reviews of exam marking, which must be conducted by an examiner who is not the original marker. Pearson was charged for operating under a "false assumption" of compliance.<ref name=":6" /> Problems continued even after Ofqual flagged similar problems at other exam boards, AQA and OCR. Pearson's breaches was noted to have significantly undermined and eroded public confidence in UK testing qualifications.<ref name=":6">{{Cite web |date=2022-12-13 |title=Notice of monetary penalty: Pearson, Reviews of Marking |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/notice-of-monetary-penalty-pearson-reviews-of-marking/notice-of-monetary-penalty-pearson-reviews-of-marking |website=GOV.UK}}</ref>

=== Pearson Moves to Textbook Subscription Model ''(2021)'' ===
Pearson launched their subscription service, Pearson +, in 2021, for $14.99 a month to access the platform's full library or $9.99 a month if only one textbook was needed, requiring students to subscribe to a minimum of four months.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Schwartz |first=Natalie |date=2021-07-30 |title=Pearson launches direct-to-consumer subscription service in bid for student sales |url=https://www.highereddive.com/news/pearson-launches-direct-to-consumer-subscription-service-in-bid-for-student/604242/ |website=Industry Drive}}</ref> Pearson reported sales growth due to their Inclusive Access deals, which automatically bills the cost of educational materials into student tuition fees rather than students purchasing books elsewhere or using secondhand sources. College administrators expresseed hesitancy about using just one publisher, with some instructors pivoting toward open educational resources (OER).

==='''Data Breach and S.E.C. Settlement ''(2018)'''''===
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced a $1 million settlement against Pearson for omissions and misleading investors about a 2018 data breach related to its AIMSweb1.0 web-based student performance tracking software.<ref name=":7" /> The data breach resulted in administrator login credentials of 13,000 schools, district and university customer accounts, along with millions of student usernames and passwords to be stolen. Pearson did not disclose this breach to investors until it was contacted by the media.<ref name=":7">{{Cite web |last=Page |first=Carly |date=2021-08-16 |title=Pearson to pay $1M fine for misleading investors about 2018 data breach |url=https://techcrunch.com/2021/08/16/pearson-to-pay-1m-fine-for-misleading-investors-about-2018-data-breach |url-status= |website=Tech Crunch}}</ref>

==='''Unregistered Lobbying through University of Texas Endowments ''(2013)'''''===
$400,000 endowments were made by Pearson and their charity to The University of Texas College of Education Pearson Center for Applied Psychometric Research, which provides evaluation services for policymakers.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |last=Stanford |first=Jason |date=2013-12-19 |title=It's Time to Investigate Pearson in Texas, Too |url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/pearson-new-york-settlement_b_4469167 |website=HuffPost}}</ref> State policymakers have went on to award Pearson over $1 billion in contracts since 2010, suggesting a conflict of interest, including a 5-year deal worth $462 million.<ref name=":3" /> Public opinion, advocates and lawmakers argued Pearson had too much influence over the state's education policy without scrutiny. Although Texas made it illegal for testing company lobbyists to serve on advisory boards and make campaign contributions, Pearson was allowed to operate without oversight. The Texas stance against lobbying was initially aimed at Sandy Kress, the architect of No Child Left Behind policy and a Pearson lobbyist who served on several state advisory boards.<ref name=":3" /> In 2021, Texas scaled down the 30-year Pearson monopoly by signing on ETS and Cambium Assessment, a Washington D.C.-based testing company a $262 million contract while reducing Pearson's contract to $126 million. <ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" />

==='''Self-Dealing Fraud ''(2013)'''''===
Pearson was charged in the state of New York with a $7.7 million settlement for self-dealing fraud. <ref name=":4">{{Cite web |last=Gose |first=Ben |date=2014-11-18 |title=After a Scandal, Pearson Dissolves Foundation |url=https://www.philanthropy.com/news/after-a-scandal-pearson-dissolves-foundation/ |archive-url= |website=Philanthropy}}</ref> Investigations found that Pearson contributed funds to its charity, Pearson Foundation, which then sent $540,000 of the funds to the Chief State School Officers and the copyright holder of the Common Core State Standards. Along with the Gates Foundation, the Common Core course was sold back to the for-profit Pearson company for $15.5 million.<ref name=":4" /> “The fact is that Pearson is a for-profit corporation, and they are prohibited by law from using charitable funds to promote and develop for-profit products,” said Attorney General Eric Scheniderman. <ref>{{Cite web |last=Hernández |first=Javier |date=2013-12-12 |title=Educational Publisher’s Charity, Accused of Seeking Profits, Will Pay Millions |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/13/nyregion/educational-publishers-charity-accused-of-seeking-profits-will-pay-millions.html |website=The New York Times}}</ref> <ref name=":1" />

===New York Statewide Exams Failure (''2012'')===
{{Main|link to the main CR Wiki article}}
Pearson obtained a $32 million contract to administer New York academic tests, plus a $1 million contract to maintain testing services with the New York State Education Departmentt. In 2012, a statewide systemic failure involving numerous test errors, printing errors, security breaches and lack of transparency affected the test administration test scores of hundreds of thousands of students. Thousands of students were denied from graduating due to the failure. The students were assigned further summer school attendance. The Department spokesperson's response was the victimized students would "benefit from the extra instruction in summer school."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Gonen |first=Yoav |date=2012-06-26 |title=7,000 city students wrongly blocked from attending graduation |url=https://nypost.com/2012/07/26/7000-city-students-wrongly-blocked-from-attending-graduation/ |website=New York Post}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Otterman |first=Sharon |date=2011-08-12 |title=In $32 Million Contract, State Lays Out Some Rules for Its Standardized Tests |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/13/nyregion/new-york-in-contract-with-pearson-lays-out-rules-for-state-tests.html}}</ref>

==Products==

*MyLab®
*MyMathTest® and Mastering®
*Pearson Plus + eTextbooks
*Revel® multi-media eTextbooks and interactive learning
*Connections Academy full time online virtual Schools
*K-12 Online Schools<ref>{{Cite web |title=Pearson K-12 Online Schools |url=https://www.pearson.com/en-us/schools/products-services/k12-online-schools.html |website=Pearson}}</ref>
*K-12 Assessments for School Districts
*Pearson Clinical Assessments for Professionals, including BASC™-3, aimsweb®Plus and Q-global®<ref>{{Cite web |title=Pearson Asessments |url=https://www.pearsonassessments.com/professional-assessments/training.html |website=Pearson Assessments}}</ref>

==See also==
{{Ph-C-SA}}

==References==
{{reflist}}https://www.wiredacademic.com/2011/10/pearson-draws-criticism-from-new-york-to-texas-justified-or-unjustified/

https://www.pearson.com/content/dam/one-dot-com/one-dot-com/global/Files/get-the-facts/corporate-myth-fact-030116.pdf

https://www.reddit.com/r/Teachers/comments/1glwk0/pearson_seems_to_control_everything_in_education/

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/may/05/pearson-shareholders-reject-pay-revolt-john-fallon
[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]

Pearson

2026-01-14T06:32:10Z

Gem:

{{StubNotice}}
{{ToneWarning}}
{{CompanyCargo
|Founded=1998
|Industry=Education, Technology, Software, Artificial Intelligence, Information Technology
|ParentCompany=Pearson plc
|Type=Subsidiary
|Website=https://www.pearson.com/
|Description=Largest publishing company in higher education, with focus on proprietary eBooks, online educational software and test administration
|Logo=Pearson plc logo.svg}}

Pearson (formerly Pearson Education) is the for-profit global education business arm of the Pearson plc conglomerate. Pearson provides textbooks, homework system platforms, educational content, assessment tools, exam proctoring and digital platforms to schools, universities and professional certifications worldwide.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pearson.com/en-us.html|title=Pearson|access-date=11 Jan 2026}}</ref> <ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pearsonvue.com|title=Pearson Exam Proctoring|access-date=11 Jan 2026}}</ref>

==Consumer-impact summary==

==='''No Ownership Rights, Limited Access to Purchased Materials:'''===
Pearson is phasing out ownership of print textbooks and replacing them with digital textbooks and subscription services. CEO John Fallon stated in a BBC interview, the move is made in "hopes the move will make more students buy its e-textbooks which are updated continually" and that the next generation of consumers, "they expect to rent not own." Purchase of print textbooks has been replaced by a monthly subscription service (Pearson+) and rented e-books have limited access periods that prevent access for future referencing.<ref>{{cite web |date=2019-07-16 |title=Education publisher Pearson to phase out print textbooks |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/business-48998789 |website=BBC}}</ref>

*'''DRM Prevents Resale and Sharing of Purchased Materials:''' Pearson restricts copying, pasting and printing pages from purchased ebooks and digital content. Unlike a physical book, a student cannot sell, give away, or lend their digital copy.

*'''Limited Access''' '''to Purchased Materials:''' Pearson uses access codes for both "owned" and "rented" books and learning materials that after the semester or year, the student loses access to material they bought or rented and prevents study materials for future courses and careers from being referenced. Consumers purchase a license to use, not own their books and education.

===Inclusive Access & Default Opt-In Raises Tuition Fees===
Pearson's use of Inclusive Access prevents students and professionals from purchasing books and materials from other sources, buying older edition textbooks, or renting materials through other sources.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Duplantis |first=Hilary |date=2024-08-24 |title=Inclusive Access in Higher Education: Unlocking Student Success |url=https://www.pearson.com/en-us/higher-education/insights-and-events/teaching-and-learning-blog/2024/02/inclusive-access-in-higher-education--unlocking-student-success.html |website=Pearson Inclusive Access}}</ref> Known in the publishing industry as Inclusive Access or Equitable Access programs, students are automatically charged by colleges and bookstores for access to mostly online versions of course materials assigned for their classes. This practice has enabled the growth of a digital subscription business model, as the default opt-in automatically bakes Pearson materials costs directly into student tuition and fees. Pearson claims it is to make things convenient and cheaper for students. <ref name=":0" /> There has been criticisms over extensive, round about opt-out processes and mandatory Pearson courseware systems used to grade homework that prevent those who do opt-out from participating in their classes.<ref name=":0" />

===Lack of Transparency, Non-Disclosure Agreements===
Pearson VUE's exam policy requires test candidates to accept the terms of the non-disclosure agreement (NDA) or any other terms and conditions presented to them prior to the start of the exam, contributing to lack of transparency. <ref>{{Cite web |title=Exam Policy |url=https://certiport.pearsonvue.com/Educator-resources/Exam-policies/Test-candidate.aspx |access-date=2026-01-12 |website=Pearson Vue}}</ref>

==='''Market Control'''===
Pearson is the largest company in higher education with influence over test administration, teacher licensing, educational software, eBooks, grading, guidelines. The company has a history of undisclosed lobbying and applying non-profit funds towards their for-profit business.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hu |first=Winnie |date=2011-12-21 |title=Testing Firm Faces Inquiry on Free Trips for Officials |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/22/education/new-york-attorney-general-is-investigating-pearson-education.html |website=New York Times}}</ref> Since 2021, the state of Texas has made efforts to move away from Pearson's 30 year monopoly over exam testing. <ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Gross |first=Allie |date=2015-05-20 |title=Pearson loses Texas testing account to ETS after 15-year relationship |url=https://www.k12dive.com/news/pearson-loses-texas-testing-account-to-ets-after-15-year-relationship/399546/ |website=K12 Dive}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2021-01-05 |title=Texas hires two companies to run STAAR, moving toward statewide online testing |url=https://abc13.com/post/staar-tests-online-texas-public-schools-cambium-assessment-pearson/9357526/ |website=ABC 13 Eyewitness News}}</ref>

==Incidents==
This is a list of all consumer-protection incidents this company is involved in. Any incidents not mentioned here can be found in the [[:Category:{{FULLPAGENAME}}|{{PAGENAME}} category]].

==='''Pearson Surveillance of Children's Social Media Accounts (2015 - )'''===
Pearson has admitted to ongoing surveillance of online activity and social media accounts, comments made about their tests and test contents, and checking social media accounts against a list of students taking their exams. This has created backlash from parents and the consortium of states against child surveillance.<ref name=":5" /> Among the information collected include the child's name, state of residence, and which school they attend. Pearson states the surveillance is for due diligence and test security. <ref name=":5">{{Cite web |last=Singer |first=Natasha |date=2015-03-17 |title=Pearson Under Fire for Monitoring Students’ Twitter Posts |url=https://archive.nytimes.com/bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/03/17/pearson-under-fire-for-monitoring-students-twitter-posts |website=The New York Times}}</ref>

==='''Standards Breaches and System Failures''' '''(2025)'''===
Pearson was fined more than 2 million pounds ($2.68 million) in 2025 due to standards breaches from 2019 and 2023 that affected tens of thousands of students. Pearson failed to identiy and manage failures in inconsistent grading standards, despite Britain's Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation, Ofqual, highlighting the risks in 2022 and 2023.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-12-15 |title=Ofqual fines Pearson £2 million for rule breaches affecting thousands of students |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/news/ofqual-fines-pearson-2-million-for-rule-breaches-affecting-thousands-of-students |website=GOV.UK}}</ref> A £1,200,000 fine was also levied against Pearson several years prior for prolonged, systemic failures to comply with the reviews of exam marking, which must be conducted by an examiner who is not the original marker. Pearson was charged for operating under a "false assumption" of compliance.<ref name=":6" /> Problems continued even after Ofqual flagged similar problems at other exam boards, AQA and OCR. Pearson's breaches was noted to have significantly undermined and eroded public confidence in UK testing qualifications.<ref name=":6">{{Cite web |date=2022-12-13 |title=Notice of monetary penalty: Pearson, Reviews of Marking |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/notice-of-monetary-penalty-pearson-reviews-of-marking/notice-of-monetary-penalty-pearson-reviews-of-marking |website=GOV.UK}}</ref>

==='''Data Breach and S.E.C. Settlement ''(2018)'''''===
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced a $1 million settlement against Pearson for omissions and misleading investors about a 2018 data breach related to its AIMSweb1.0 web-based student performance tracking software.<ref name=":7" /> The data breach resulted in administrator login credentials of 13,000 schools, district and university customer accounts, along with millions of student usernames and passwords to be stolen. Pearson did not disclose this breach to investors until it was contacted by the media.<ref name=":7">{{Cite web |last=Page |first=Carly |date=2021-08-16 |title=Pearson to pay $1M fine for misleading investors about 2018 data breach |url=https://techcrunch.com/2021/08/16/pearson-to-pay-1m-fine-for-misleading-investors-about-2018-data-breach |url-status= |website=Tech Crunch}}</ref>

==='''Unregistered Lobbying through University of Texas Endowments (2013)'''===
$400,000 endowments were made by Pearson and their charity to The University of Texas College of Education Pearson Center for Applied Psychometric Research, which provides evaluation services for policymakers.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |last=Stanford |first=Jason |date=2013-12-19 |title=It's Time to Investigate Pearson in Texas, Too |url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/pearson-new-york-settlement_b_4469167 |website=HuffPost}}</ref> State policymakers have went on to award Pearson over $1 billion in contracts since 2010, suggesting a conflict of interest, including a 5-year deal worth $462 million.<ref name=":3" /> Public opinion, advocates and lawmakers argued Pearson had too much influence over the state's education policy without scrutiny. Although Texas made it illegal for testing company lobbyists to serve on advisory boards and make campaign contributions, Pearson was allowed to operate without oversight. The Texas stance against lobbying was initially aimed at Sandy Kress, the architect of No Child Left Behind policy and a Pearson lobbyist who served on several state advisory boards.<ref name=":3" /> In 2021, Texas scaled down the 30-year Pearson monopoly by signing on ETS and Cambium Assessment, a Washington D.C.-based testing company a $262 million contract while reducing Pearson's contract to $126 million. <ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" />

==='''Self-Dealing Fraud (2013)'''===
Pearson was charged in the state of New York with a $7.7 million settlement for self-dealing fraud. <ref name=":4">{{Cite web |last=Gose |first=Ben |date=2014-11-18 |title=After a Scandal, Pearson Dissolves Foundation |url=https://www.philanthropy.com/news/after-a-scandal-pearson-dissolves-foundation/ |archive-url= |website=Philanthropy}}</ref> Investigations found that Pearson contributed funds to its charity, Pearson Foundation, which then sent $540,000 of the funds to the Chief State School Officers and the copyright holder of the Common Core State Standards. Along with the Gates Foundation, the Common Core course was sold back to the for-profit Pearson company for $15.5 million.<ref name=":4" /> “The fact is that Pearson is a for-profit corporation, and they are prohibited by law from using charitable funds to promote and develop for-profit products,” said Attorney General Eric Scheniderman. <ref>{{Cite web |last=Hernández |first=Javier |date=2013-12-12 |title=Educational Publisher’s Charity, Accused of Seeking Profits, Will Pay Millions |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/13/nyregion/educational-publishers-charity-accused-of-seeking-profits-will-pay-millions.html |website=The New York Times}}</ref> <ref name=":1" />

===New York Statewide Exams Failure (''2012'')===
{{Main|link to the main CR Wiki article}}
Pearson obtained a $32 million contract to administer New York academic tests, plus a $1 million contract to maintain testing services with the New York State Education Departmentt. In 2012, a statewide systemic failure involving numerous test errors, printing errors, security breaches and lack of transparency affected the test administration test scores of hundreds of thousands of students. Thousands of students were denied from graduating due to the failure. The students were assigned further summer school attendance. The Department spokesperson's response was the victimized students would "benefit from the extra instruction in summer school."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Gonen |first=Yoav |date=2012-06-26 |title=7,000 city students wrongly blocked from attending graduation |url=https://nypost.com/2012/07/26/7000-city-students-wrongly-blocked-from-attending-graduation/ |website=New York Post}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Otterman |first=Sharon |date=2011-08-12 |title=In $32 Million Contract, State Lays Out Some Rules for Its Standardized Tests |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/13/nyregion/new-york-in-contract-with-pearson-lays-out-rules-for-state-tests.html}}</ref>

==Products==

*MyLab®
*MyMathTest® and Mastering®
*Pearson Plus + eTextbooks
*Revel® multi-media eTextbooks and interactive learning
*Connections Academy full time online virtual Schools
*K-12 Online Schools<ref>{{Cite web |title=Pearson K-12 Online Schools |url=https://www.pearson.com/en-us/schools/products-services/k12-online-schools.html |website=Pearson}}</ref>
*K-12 Assessments for School Districts
*Pearson Clinical Assessments for Professionals, including BASC™-3, aimsweb®Plus and Q-global®<ref>{{Cite web |title=Pearson Asessments |url=https://www.pearsonassessments.com/professional-assessments/training.html |website=Pearson Assessments}}</ref>

==See also==
{{Ph-C-SA}}

==References==
{{reflist}}https://www.wiredacademic.com/2011/10/pearson-draws-criticism-from-new-york-to-texas-justified-or-unjustified/

https://www.pearson.com/content/dam/one-dot-com/one-dot-com/global/Files/get-the-facts/corporate-myth-fact-030116.pdf

https://www.reddit.com/r/Teachers/comments/1glwk0/pearson_seems_to_control_everything_in_education/

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/may/05/pearson-shareholders-reject-pay-revolt-john-fallon
[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]

Pearson

2026-01-14T06:30:28Z

Gem: grammar and typos

{{StubNotice}}
{{ToneWarning}}
{{CompanyCargo
|Founded=1998
|Industry=Education, Technology, Software, Artificial Intelligence, Information Technology
|ParentCompany=Pearson plc
|Type=Subsidiary
|Website=https://www.pearson.com/
|Description=Largest publishing company in higher education, with focus on proprietary eBooks, online educational software and test administration
|Logo=Pearson plc logo.svg}}

Pearson (formerly Pearson Education) is the for-profit global education business arm of the Pearson plc conglomerate. Pearson provides textbooks, homework system platforms, educational content, assessment tools, exam proctoring and digital platforms to schools, universities and professional certifications worldwide.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pearson.com/en-us.html|title=Pearson|access-date=11 Jan 2026}}</ref> <ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pearsonvue.com|title=Pearson Exam Proctoring|access-date=11 Jan 2026}}</ref>

==Consumer-impact summary==

==='''No Ownership Rights, Limited Access to Purchased Materials:'''===
Pearson is phasing out ownership of print textbooks and replacing them with digital textbooks and subscription services. CEO John Fallon stated in a BBC interview, the move is made in "hopes the move will make more students buy its e-textbooks which are updated continually" and that the next generation of consumers, "they expect to rent not own." Purchase of print textbooks has been replaced by a monthly subscription service (Pearson+) and rented e-books have limited access periods that prevent access for future referencing.<ref>{{cite web |date=2019-07-16 |title=Education publisher Pearson to phase out print textbooks |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/business-48998789 |website=BBC}}</ref>

*'''DRM Prevents Resale and Sharing of Purchased Materials:''' Pearson restricts copying, pasting and printing pages from purchased ebooks and digital content. Unlike a physical book, a student cannot sell, give away, or lend their digital copy.

*'''Limited Access''' '''to Purchased Materials:''' Pearson uses access codes for both "owned" and "rented" books and learning materials that after the semester or year, the student loses access to material they bought or rented and prevents study materials for future courses and careers from being referenced. Consumers purchase a license to use, not own their books and education.

===Inclusive Access & Default Opt-In Raises Tuition Fees===
Pearson's use of Inclusive Access prevents students and professionals from purchasing books and materials from other sources, buying older edition textbooks, or renting materials through other sources.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Duplantis |first=Hilary |date=2024-08-24 |title=Inclusive Access in Higher Education: Unlocking Student Success |url=https://www.pearson.com/en-us/higher-education/insights-and-events/teaching-and-learning-blog/2024/02/inclusive-access-in-higher-education--unlocking-student-success.html |website=Pearson Inclusive Access}}</ref> Known in the publishing industry as Inclusive Access or Equitable Access programs, students are automatically charged by colleges and bookstores for access to mostly online versions of course materials assigned for their classes. This practice has enabled the growth of a digital subscription business model, as the default opt-in automatically bakes Pearson materials costs directly into student tuition and fees. Pearson claims it is to make things convenient and cheaper for students. <ref name=":0" /> There has been criticisms over extensive, round about opt-out processes and mandatory Pearson courseware systems used to grade homework that prevent those who do opt-out from participating in their classes.<ref name=":0" />

===Lack of Transparency, Non-Disclosure Agreements===
Pearson VUE's exam policy requires test candidates to accept the terms of the non-disclosure agreement (NDA) or any other terms and conditions presented to them prior to the start of the exam, contributing to lack of transparency. <ref>{{Cite web |title=Exam Policy |url=https://certiport.pearsonvue.com/Educator-resources/Exam-policies/Test-candidate.aspx |access-date=2026-01-12 |website=Pearson Vue}}</ref>

==='''Market Control'''===
Pearson is the largest company in higher education with influence over test administration, teacher licensing, educational software, eBooks, grading, guidelines. The company has a history of undisclosed lobbying and applying non-profit funds towards their for-profit business.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hu |first=Winnie |date=2011-12-21 |title=Testing Firm Faces Inquiry on Free Trips for Officials |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/22/education/new-york-attorney-general-is-investigating-pearson-education.html |website=New York Times}}</ref> Since 2021, the state of Texas has made efforts to move away from Pearson's 30 year monopoly over exam testing. <ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Gross |first=Allie |date=2015-05-20 |title=Pearson loses Texas testing account to ETS after 15-year relationship |url=https://www.k12dive.com/news/pearson-loses-texas-testing-account-to-ets-after-15-year-relationship/399546/ |website=ABC 13 Eyewitness News}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2021-01-05 |title=Texas hires two companies to run STAAR, moving toward statewide online testing |url=https://abc13.com/post/staar-tests-online-texas-public-schools-cambium-assessment-pearson/9357526/ |website=ABC 13 Eyewitness News}}</ref>

==Incidents==
This is a list of all consumer-protection incidents this company is involved in. Any incidents not mentioned here can be found in the [[:Category:{{FULLPAGENAME}}|{{PAGENAME}} category]].

==='''Pearson Surveillance of Children's Social Media Accounts (2015 - )'''===
Pearson has admitted to ongoing surveillance of online activity and social media accounts, comments made about their tests and test contents, and checking social media accounts against a list of students taking their exams. This has created backlash from parents and the consortium of states against child surveillance.<ref name=":5" /> Among the information collected include the child's name, state of residence, and which school they attend. Pearson states the surveillance is for due diligence and test security. <ref name=":5">{{Cite web |last=Singer |first=Natasha |date=2015-03-17 |title=Pearson Under Fire for Monitoring Students’ Twitter Posts |url=https://archive.nytimes.com/bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/03/17/pearson-under-fire-for-monitoring-students-twitter-posts |website=The New York Times}}</ref>

==='''Standards Breaches and System Failures''' '''(2025)'''===
Pearson was fined more than 2 million pounds ($2.68 million) in 2025 due to standards breaches from 2019 and 2023 that affected tens of thousands of students. Pearson failed to identiy and manage failures in inconsistent grading standards, despite Britain's Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation, Ofqual, highlighting the risks in 2022 and 2023.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-12-15 |title=Ofqual fines Pearson £2 million for rule breaches affecting thousands of students |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/news/ofqual-fines-pearson-2-million-for-rule-breaches-affecting-thousands-of-students |website=GOV.UK}}</ref> A £1,200,000 fine was also levied against Pearson several years prior for prolonged, systemic failures to comply with the reviews of exam marking, which must be conducted by an examiner who is not the original marker. Pearson was charged for operating under a "false assumption" of compliance.<ref name=":6" /> Problems continued even after Ofqual flagged similar problems at other exam boards, AQA and OCR. Pearson's breaches was noted to have significantly undermined and eroded public confidence in UK testing qualifications.<ref name=":6">{{Cite web |date=2022-12-13 |title=Notice of monetary penalty: Pearson, Reviews of Marking |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/notice-of-monetary-penalty-pearson-reviews-of-marking/notice-of-monetary-penalty-pearson-reviews-of-marking |website=GOV.UK}}</ref>

==='''Data Breach and S.E.C. Settlement ''(2018)'''''===
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced a $1 million settlement against Pearson for omissions and misleading investors about a 2018 data breach related to its AIMSweb1.0 web-based student performance tracking software.<ref name=":7" /> The data breach resulted in administrator login credentials of 13,000 schools, district and university customer accounts, along with millions of student usernames and passwords to be stolen. Pearson did not disclose this breach to investors until it was contacted by the media.<ref name=":7">{{Cite web |last=Page |first=Carly |date=2021-08-16 |title=Pearson to pay $1M fine for misleading investors about 2018 data breach |url=https://techcrunch.com/2021/08/16/pearson-to-pay-1m-fine-for-misleading-investors-about-2018-data-breach |url-status= |website=Tech Crunch}}</ref>

==='''Unregistered Lobbying through University of Texas Endowments (2013)'''===
$400,000 endowments were made by Pearson and their charity to The University of Texas College of Education Pearson Center for Applied Psychometric Research, which provides evaluation services for policymakers.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |last=Stanford |first=Jason |date=2013-12-19 |title=It's Time to Investigate Pearson in Texas, Too |url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/pearson-new-york-settlement_b_4469167 |website=HuffPost}}</ref> State policymakers have went on to award Pearson over $1 billion in contracts since 2010, suggesting a conflict of interest, including a 5-year deal worth $462 million.<ref name=":3" /> Public opinion, advocates and lawmakers argued Pearson had too much influence over the state's education policy without scrutiny. Although Texas made it illegal for testing company lobbyists to serve on advisory boards and make campaign contributions, Pearson was allowed to operate without oversight. The Texas stance against lobbying was initially aimed at Sandy Kress, the architect of No Child Left Behind policy and a Pearson lobbyist who served on several state advisory boards.<ref name=":3" /> In 2021, Texas scaled down the 30-year Pearson monopoly by signing on ETS and Cambium Assessment, a Washington D.C.-based testing company a $262 million contract while reducing Pearson's contract to $126 million. <ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" />

==='''Self-Dealing Fraud (2013)'''===
Pearson was charged in the state of New York with a $7.7 million settlement for self-dealing fraud. <ref name=":4">{{Cite web |last=Gose |first=Ben |date=2014-11-18 |title=After a Scandal, Pearson Dissolves Foundation |url=https://www.philanthropy.com/news/after-a-scandal-pearson-dissolves-foundation/ |archive-url=}}</ref> Investigations found that Pearson contributed funds to its charity, Pearson Foundation, which then sent $540,000 of the funds to the Chief State School Officers and the copyright holder of the Common Core State Standards. Along with the Gates Foundation, the Common Core course was sold back to the for-profit Pearson company for $15.5 million.<ref name=":4" /> “The fact is that Pearson is a for-profit corporation, and they are prohibited by law from using charitable funds to promote and develop for-profit products,” said Attorney General Eric Scheniderman. <ref>{{Cite web |last=Hernández |first=Javier |date=2013-12-12 |title=Educational Publisher’s Charity, Accused of Seeking Profits, Will Pay Millions |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/13/nyregion/educational-publishers-charity-accused-of-seeking-profits-will-pay-millions.html |website=The New York Times}}</ref> <ref name=":1" />

===New York Statewide Exams Failure (''2012'')===
{{Main|link to the main CR Wiki article}}
Pearson obtained a $32 million contract to administer New York academic tests, plus a $1 million contract to maintain testing services with the New York State Education Departmentt. In 2012, a statewide systemic failure involving numerous test errors, printing errors, security breaches and lack of transparency affected the test administration test scores of hundreds of thousands of students. Thousands of students were denied from graduating due to the failure. The students were assigned further summer school attendance. The Department spokesperson's response was the victimized students would "benefit from the extra instruction in summer school."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Gonen |first=Yoav |date=2012-06-26 |title=7,000 city students wrongly blocked from attending graduation |url=https://nypost.com/2012/07/26/7000-city-students-wrongly-blocked-from-attending-graduation/ |website=New York Post}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Otterman |first=Sharon |date=2011-08-12 |title=In $32 Million Contract, State Lays Out Some Rules for Its Standardized Tests |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/13/nyregion/new-york-in-contract-with-pearson-lays-out-rules-for-state-tests.html}}</ref>

==Products==

*MyLab®
*MyMathTest® and Mastering®
*Pearson Plus + eTextbooks
*Revel® multi-media eTextbooks and interactive learning
*Connections Academy full time online virtual Schools
*K-12 Online Schools<ref>{{Cite web |title=Pearson K-12 Online Schools |url=https://www.pearson.com/en-us/schools/products-services/k12-online-schools.html |website=Pearson}}</ref>
*K-12 Assessments for School Districts
*Pearson Clinical Assessments for Professionals, including BASC™-3, aimsweb®Plus and Q-global®<ref>{{Cite web |title=Pearson Asessments |url=https://www.pearsonassessments.com/professional-assessments/training.html |website=Pearson Assessments}}</ref>

==See also==
{{Ph-C-SA}}

==References==
{{reflist}}https://www.wiredacademic.com/2011/10/pearson-draws-criticism-from-new-york-to-texas-justified-or-unjustified/

https://www.pearson.com/content/dam/one-dot-com/one-dot-com/global/Files/get-the-facts/corporate-myth-fact-030116.pdf

https://www.reddit.com/r/Teachers/comments/1glwk0/pearson_seems_to_control_everything_in_education/

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/may/05/pearson-shareholders-reject-pay-revolt-john-fallon
[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]

Consumer Rights Wiki talk:Moderators' noticeboard

2026-01-14T06:14:32Z

Gem: /* Pearson Article Appeal */ new section

<div style="margin: {{#ifeq:{{{navbox|<noinclude>yes</noinclude>}}}|yes|2px}} 0 0.5em; padding: 0.5em; {{{style|border: 1px solid #A0A5AD;}}} {{{backgroundstyle|background-color: var(--background-color-progressive-subtle, #eaf3ff); color: inherit;}}}">
<div style="padding: 0.25em 0; text-align: center; font-size: 120%; border-radius: 3px; font-weight: bold; {{{titlestyle|background-color: var(--background-color-content-added, #aad1ff); color: inherit;}}}">Welcome — post issues of interest to Moderators</div>
*Post '''appeals''' to article notice templates (e.g. Incomplete, Stub, etc.)
*Post requests for '''moderator action''' here (e.g. blocks)
*Just need a mod? Post here or ping a mod with a question.
*Post any information or news relevant to the moderation team here.
*To request an article to be created, do not post here, try [[Article suggestions]] instead.
*Do not report technical issues here, please use the [[Consumer Rights Wiki talk:Bugs|Bugs noticeboard]] instead.

<div style="padding: 0.25em 0; text-align: center; font-size: 150%; border-radius: 3px; font-weight: bold">[[Special:NewSection/Consumer Rights Wiki talk:Moderators' noticeboard|Start a new section]]</div>
</div>
<br />
{{Archives}} 
==Open tasks==

*[[:Category:Articles with deletion requests]]
*[[:Category:Articles with merge requests]]
*[[:Category:Articles marked as irrelevant]]
*[[Special:NewPages]]

==Idea==

Hello everyone, this is more of a general question than one for mods but the [[Template:StubNotice|Stub template]], [[Template:Incomplete|Incomplete template]], [[Template:ToneWarning|Tone template]] and [[Template:SloppyAI|SloppyAI template]] all have the same layout code (with the box being coloured on the incomplete and sloppyai template being the only exception, but codewise is the same). I'm wondering if people would think it is a good idea if I replicate this code for its own template and replace all the code there with just the template. It would be much easier to work on, but it may be harder to add new special things on without changing the template used by it.

'''TL;DR''' is making a template to use the code used from the stub templates just to make it easier to make new ones or change existing ones okay? [[User:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|<i><b>AnotherConsumerRightsPerson</b></i>]] ([[User talk:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|talk]]) 17:07, 12 November 2025 (UTC)

:That could be a good idea, yeah. Honestly if you're comfortable editing that kind of stuff, anything you could do to make the notices smaller and less obtrusive would be appreciated as well. I'm happy to help with text editing and stuff on them but I'm a bit useless if I have to mess around with css [[User:Keith|Keith]] ([[User talk:Keith|talk]]) 14:40, 14 November 2025 (UTC)
::Making them smaller might require a complete restructure for some, but maybe with smaller text it is fine? I'd need to test it out to see if it doesn't make it hard to read. [[User:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|'''''AnotherConsumerRightsPerson''''']] ([[User talk:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|talk]]) 16:10, 14 November 2025 (UTC)
::Hi @[[User:Keith|Keith]], just wondering what you think of [https://consumerrights.wiki/index.php?title=User:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson/Sandbox&oldid=30697 these two variants] of the incomplete tag and if the idea works at all for making them smaller. I haven't changed div tags at all, but it is just a simple thing to make it smaller. [[User:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|'''''AnotherConsumerRightsPerson''''']] ([[User talk:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|talk]]) 20:26, 19 November 2025 (UTC)
:::I think making them smaller will be more to do with reducing their title text size, and maybe boldness, to be less in-your-face (but still obvious. perhaps more like the 'revision as of...' box you can see if you click the link to the variants you just posted [[User:Keith|Keith]] ([[User talk:Keith|talk]]) 00:54, 20 November 2025 (UTC)
::::Ah I don't know much about how to do CSS, and therefore can't do that, but I could just try looking at some resources online to figure it out like how I learned HTML. [[User:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|'''''AnotherConsumerRightsPerson''''']] ([[User talk:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|talk]]) 06:17, 20 November 2025 (UTC)
:::::@[[User:Keith|Keith]] Had another go at it [https://consumerrights.wiki/index.php?title=User:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson/Sandbox&oldid=30772 here] and although it definitely isn't perfect, I just want to know what you think of it before I continue. [[User:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|'''''AnotherConsumerRightsPerson''''']] ([[User talk:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|talk]]) 19:50, 20 November 2025 (UTC)
::::::Obviously the spacing needs to come in a bit from the side, but it's certainly closer to what we want! I think changing 'incomplete' to 'verification concerns' or something might make sense (since that's what it's usually used for) [[User:Keith|Keith]] ([[User talk:Keith|talk]]) 21:32, 20 November 2025 (UTC)
:::::::Just my 2 cents... I like that it says incomplete and has fields to specify. I find myself using it for things beyond verification, such as how to improve the language, structure, etc. Basically I've been using it as a catch-all, which I know is against what it's intended for, but I've also noticed some users actually commit to those specific changes because it shows how an article could be improved with small efforts.
:::::::I have not been active lately, so I'm not completely certain what improvements @[[User:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|AnotherConsumerRightsPerson]] has been making to the other templates. But I think going broad could be good, while having input fields for mods or whoever to specify the issues. [[User:Beanie Bo|Beanie Bo]] ([[User talk:Beanie Bo|talk]]) 19:25, 21 November 2025 (UTC)
::::::::I haven't made any other changes to templates except for deleting a couple, but I have to agree that the incomplete template is often used for what it isn't meant to be used for, but does make sense why; I thought for a while that it was just for articles that are better than stubs, but still need to be marked. It isn't clear by nature as it currently is on what it does unless you read the read more bit. [[User:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|'''''AnotherConsumerRightsPerson''''']] ([[User talk:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|talk]]) 19:30, 21 November 2025 (UTC)
:::::::::@[[User:Keith|Keith]] @[[User:Beanie Bo|Beanie Bo]] [https://consumerrights.wiki/index.php?title=User:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson/Sandbox&oldid=30921 The latest one I did] hasn't really done much, but I'd say it is an improvement over the last one. I'm trying to figure out how to make text from the issue params not go right on the border right now, as that really sabotages accessibility. [[User:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|'''''AnotherConsumerRightsPerson''''']] ([[User talk:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|talk]]) 20:42, 22 November 2025 (UTC)

==Tone appeal - Smartwool==

Hi, since the [[Smartwool adds forced arbitration to EULA|Smartwool EULA incident]] is on "Highlighted Article", I would like to ask if there's any more tone issues; and if there are, some guidance/assistance on fixing them. Thank you for your time! [[User:Raster|Raster]] ([[User talk:Raster|talk]]) 04:09, 22 November 2025 (UTC)

:After a quick read, tone seems okay, but if you do want to help out, I think expanding it is a great step forward, as it is currently quite small. [[User:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|'''''AnotherConsumerRightsPerson''''']] ([[User talk:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|talk]]) 09:12, 22 November 2025 (UTC)
::I guess the main thing it's missing are some 'public response' bits going over public/commentator reaction to it happening [[User:Keith|Keith]] ([[User talk:Keith|talk]]) 11:35, 22 November 2025 (UTC)
:::I was tired at the time I posted this, and didn't realize Keith had removed said notice 6 minutes after my edit asking for it, so the pointers are appreciated.
:::I remember searching a bit for public reaction, and mostly got reddit posts pointing back to the Rossmann video. Maybe someday I'll know what search terms to punch into Duckduckgo. [[User:Raster|Raster]] ([[User talk:Raster|talk]]) 15:20, 22 November 2025 (UTC)
::::If that is what comes up, it's more likely there are no sources imo and was only talked about by King Louis. [[User:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|'''''AnotherConsumerRightsPerson''''']] ([[User talk:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|talk]]) 15:22, 22 November 2025 (UTC)

==Approve deletion request==

Regarding my article on Bahnhof, I have all the emails mentioned in the article, and I can share them with you. I also have other direct communications with the CEO (who is also the media contact). I did not mention those in the article to avoid making it personal.

However, I have no idea whether customers are facing the same treatment or just me, and I did not see any media reporting on it, therefore I can not get you a confirmation from a second source.

I published this article as consumer advocacy and to start documenting this company's abuse of their own terms of services.

I am sorry my article did not meet your standards. I could not find how to delete it, so please go ahead and delete it from your site. [[User:Se|Se]] ([[User talk:Se|talk]]) 09:40, 22 November 2025 (UTC)

:Hi, I've deleted it, but just wanted to let you know that if you do find good sources, you're welcome to recreate the article or ask me to undelete it for you to get the version as of when it was deleted. Also, most articles I see get deleted for similar reasons, so you're not alone. [[User:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|'''''AnotherConsumerRightsPerson''''']] ([[User talk:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|talk]]) 10:13, 22 November 2025 (UTC)
:I don't think there's any need to delete the article as it is - the content which is currently there is supported by the corren article. I think what @[[User:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|AnotherConsumerRightsPerson]] was referring to in their edit notice was specifically the sentence that he removed? [[User:Keith|Keith]] ([[User talk:Keith|talk]]) 11:14, 22 November 2025 (UTC)
::Ok nvm I was getting confused and believed that this was referring to this article: [[Stångåstaden kickbacks and hidden rent]] which also mentions bahnhof [[User:Keith|Keith]] ([[User talk:Keith|talk]]) 11:15, 22 November 2025 (UTC)
:::having reviewed the actual article this was about, I'd tend to agree with the deletion for now. If @[[User:Se|Se]] can get this story in front of news orgs or major blogs or similar who can confirm it and back it up and who treat it as a story worth publishing, then we can reconsider but for now it's more of a user report, and this wiki is not intended to be the first port of call for reporting things - instead we aim to be a collection of well-documented articles that can hold up to a bit of outside scrutiny. [[User:Keith|Keith]] ([[User talk:Keith|talk]]) 11:21, 22 November 2025 (UTC)

==Notice for mods==

@[[User:Keith|Keith]] @[[User:JakeL|JakeL]] @[[User:UntoK|UntoK]] I've changed lots of links, including the ones in the sidebar, because there seems to be a backend update changing the name for CRW talk pages. [[User:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|'''''AnotherConsumerRightsPerson''''']] ([[User talk:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|talk]]) 06:30, 30 November 2025 (UTC)

:Please change this yourself next time if you don't mind, as it's been a bit of a pain going through the links throughout the last 25 minutes! [[User:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|'''''AnotherConsumerRightsPerson''''']] ([[User talk:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|talk]]) 06:45, 30 November 2025 (UTC)
::wait, that shouldn't have happened... The projects namespace was supposed to be a new empty one to use for projects, not a name-change of an existing namespace? I'll talk to Unto about it and see what happened [[User:Keith|Keith]] ([[User talk:Keith|talk]]) 09:58, 30 November 2025 (UTC)
:::Thank you very much for noticing and making things work again! This seems to have been a bug that caused some cursed mediawiki spaghetti interactions. should hopefully have it resolved shortly, and then we'll revert all changes. [[User:Keith|Keith]] ([[User talk:Keith|talk]]) 10:07, 30 November 2025 (UTC)
::::Should we display a [[MediaWiki:Sitenotice]] while it's happening? Because I got very confused by this and ended up checking the logs to see if it was accidentally moved here. [[User:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|'''''AnotherConsumerRightsPerson''''']] ([[User talk:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|talk]]) 10:19, 30 November 2025 (UTC)
:::::Ok, Unto's sorted the bug, and I think between us we've un-changed the links. Sorry about all this, and the double reversion on the Incomplete page! [[User:Keith|Keith]] ([[User talk:Keith|talk]]) 10:43, 30 November 2025 (UTC)
::::::It's okay. I've also got some screenshots of me witnessing what's happening, I'll upload them now. [[User:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|'''''AnotherConsumerRightsPerson''''']] ([[User talk:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|talk]]) 10:44, 30 November 2025 (UTC)
:::::::How did it affect the Oneplus page GoInfo was working on? that seems doubly weird if it did anything there [[User:Keith|Keith]] ([[User talk:Keith|talk]]) 10:45, 30 November 2025 (UTC)
::::::::They said this just now:
::::::::<blockquote>It complained my "stashed changes" didn't exist, and whenever I went back to the page, those changes appeared again. Had to copy all the changes, discard the edit, and reformat the article again for it to be accepted. Seems all good now. Timing's a Biatch sometimes ay
::::::::</blockquote>
::::::::That seems very unusual. [[User:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|'''''AnotherConsumerRightsPerson''''']] ([[User talk:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|talk]]) 10:47, 30 November 2025 (UTC)
:::::::::Ok, hopefully I think that should just be what happened as a result of an edit being in progress while Unto pushed the change, rather than anything to do with the changes themselves. [[User:Keith|Keith]] ([[User talk:Keith|talk]]) 10:49, 30 November 2025 (UTC)
::::::::::Ah okay. [[User:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|'''''AnotherConsumerRightsPerson''''']] ([[User talk:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|talk]]) 10:49, 30 November 2025 (UTC)
:::::::::::You might not be able to change this, but [[Special:NewPages]] and my watchlist has been completely cleared. [[User:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|'''''AnotherConsumerRightsPerson''''']] ([[User talk:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|talk]]) 11:00, 30 November 2025 (UTC)
::::::::::::Having a look, it looks like watchlist and also the [[Special:RecentChanges]] are cut off as of two days ago. Also the NewUserMessage actions are showing up there despite the human(not bot) filter being auto-enabled. I have no idea why this might be the case but I'll pass it on to unto [[User:Keith|Keith]] ([[User talk:Keith|talk]]) 11:11, 30 November 2025 (UTC)
:::::::::::::Also did you get what you wanted to do done? Or did you not get the project namespace finished? Doesn't look like it but just curious lol [[User:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|'''''AnotherConsumerRightsPerson''''']] ([[User talk:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|talk]]) 11:13, 30 November 2025 (UTC)
::::::::::::::Looks like you did! [[User:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|'''''AnotherConsumerRightsPerson''''']] ([[User talk:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|talk]]) 11:17, 30 November 2025 (UTC)
::::::::::::::haven't put the projects in the projects namespace yet, will be doing that in the next day or so, but I think things are technically working as they should [[User:Keith|Keith]] ([[User talk:Keith|talk]]) 11:21, 30 November 2025 (UTC)
::::::::hey there, not sure I'm allowed to post here but here's what happened exactly :
::::::::*created my account
::::::::*created new "product" page for OnePlus AI
::::::::*while creating it, I got kicked out (it said my session was expired). Checked and I was indeed logged out after next reload of the page
::::::::*the product page was created anyway
::::::::*went to edit the product page to add all the descriptions and contents, wrote the whole article in one go
::::::::*when trying to publish, I got "non-existing stashed changes <uuid>" or something similiar, couldn't publish, couldn't go to "edit source".
::::::::*logged out, back in, the page was still empty
::::::::*when I went back to the "edit" page, the wiki page re-added my last changes and I basically lost no work on it
::::::::*still couldn't publish for the same error
::::::::*what I had to do was copy the whole contents, cancel the edit, go back to the product page and create a new edit (it asked if I wanted to discard my previous changes or keep them, I discarded), re-formatted the whole article, and it was then golden
::::::::I'm assuming my edit session got deleted on the server-side somehow but was still existing on my client-side and it got desynced that way. Don't think there's much you need to do regarding that issue, but if you're working on the backend, I would freeze all edits to avoid that in the future [[User:GOinfo|GOinfo]] ([[User talk:GOinfo|talk]]) 11:36, 30 November 2025 (UTC)
:::::::::Yeah, apologies for this - I think it got caught in the middle of a hotfix. Im the one who's to blame here because I asked Unto to 'just add a feature quickly for me, don't wait for the next patch to be ready'. I'll try to refrain from this in future unless it's properly urgent! [[User:Keith|Keith]] ([[User talk:Keith|talk]]) 12:34, 2 December 2025 (UTC)

==Appeal: GMS==

([[Google Mobile Services]]). I made the page because GMS is a powerful "card" that google uses to preserve (and grow) its monopoly. They incentivize Android app developers to depend on google-libraries and APIs. Pretty much every app on Play-Store depends so much on Play-Services that they refuse to do any basic tasks (discord and whatsapp are examples, last time I checked). I believe GMS doesn't get enough attention, and google wants it to stay that way.

However, I do agree that the article is very anemic in its current state. But I thought it was a good idea to centralize all knowledge about GMS, so that its relationships can be shown in a link-graph ("What Links Here", and similar stuff) [[User:Rudxain|Rudxain]] ([[User talk:Rudxain|talk]]) 05:15, 2 December 2025 (UTC)

:I've appended the deletion notice with something saying 'don't delete yet, we're discussing it here'. I think if you can find/add one or two non-wikipedia sources that discuss it being an issue, that would be sufficient to keep it as a stub and get rid of the deletion notice. [[User:Keith|Keith]] ([[User talk:Keith|talk]]) 12:39, 2 December 2025 (UTC)
::Status update @[[User:Rudxain|Rudxain]]? [[User:Mr Pollo|Mr Pollo]] ([[User talk:Mr Pollo|talk]]) 22:29, 3 January 2026 (UTC)
:::I thought I'd find new sources "naturally", but so far the only sources I have are the same from Wikipedia (or transitive ("recursive") sources). Is it ok if I copy the sources from WP by citing them in a different way? [[User:Rudxain|Rudxain]] ([[User talk:Rudxain|talk]]) 08:29, 6 January 2026 (UTC)

==Is youtube still a stub?==

[[YouTube|This]] doesn't look like a stub to me [[User:Rudxain|Rudxain]] ([[User talk:Rudxain|talk]]) 05:18, 2 December 2025 (UTC)

:Removed stubnotice! [[User:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|'''''AnotherConsumerRightsPerson''''']] ([[User talk:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|talk]]) 07:33, 2 December 2025 (UTC)

==Quiz==

Hello, I've been working on this quiz of scope over time for a while [[User:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson/Quiz|here]]. I want to get input on how I could make this better as currently it is okay but not completely accurate yet and needs some more checking. Ideally this would be a part of the CRW namespace that helps people understand scope easier, but I'm just not quite there yet. [[User:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|'''''AnotherConsumerRightsPerson''''']] ([[User talk:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|talk]]) 15:46, 5 December 2025 (UTC)

:I guess it probably needs to assess notability as well as scope, and we need to decide where that line goes for the creation of an article (e.g. for forced arbitration, do we need one secondary source to have talked about the forced arbitration in order for it to be notable enough for its own article and not just a mention on the company page?) [[User:Keith|Keith]] ([[User talk:Keith|talk]]) 21:55, 6 December 2025 (UTC)
::I guess it would need a mention outside of the company page or it might be considered original research. I was thinking about that when I made this, my first idea was just to have the company page but I switched to thinking that a random Reddit post would confirm that it has been talked about and therefore can be added. [[User:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|'''''AnotherConsumerRightsPerson''''']] ([[User talk:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|talk]]) 06:48, 7 December 2025 (UTC)

==Filter change==

I've changed [[Special:AbuseFilter/4|filter 4]] to stop it affecting userspace. If there are issues, feel free to revert. [[User:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|'''''AnotherConsumerRightsPerson''''']] ([[User talk:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|talk]]) 18:42, 9 December 2025 (UTC)

:Sounds good to me. Thanks for the catch. - [[User:Atsumari|Atsumari]] ([[User talk:Atsumari|talk]]) 22:36, 9 December 2025 (UTC)

==Projects namespace is gone==

Hello, I assume this is on purpose but just in case: The projects namespace has been removed entirely. [[User:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|'''''AnotherConsumerRightsPerson''''']] ([[User talk:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|talk]]) 19:39, 16 December 2025 (UTC)

:very likely not on purpose, I'll talk to unto [[User:Keith|Keith]] ([[User talk:Keith|talk]]) 09:51, 17 December 2025 (UTC)
::@[[User:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|AnotherConsumerRightsPerson]] should be resolved now! [[User:Keith|Keith]] ([[User talk:Keith|talk]]) 10:02, 17 December 2025 (UTC)
:::Project Talk pages are still broken with the naming, but work fine otherwise. [[User:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|'''''AnotherConsumerRightsPerson''''']] ([[User talk:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|talk]]) 18:33, 17 December 2025 (UTC)
::::I’m not seeing any issue. Are you still encountering this? - [[User:Atsumari|Atsumari]] ([[User talk:Atsumari|talk]]) 19:40, 23 December 2025 (UTC)
:::::No, it's fixed now. It seems to have been only temporary. [[User:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|'''''AnotherConsumerRightsPerson''''']] ([[User talk:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|talk]]) 21:08, 23 December 2025 (UTC)

==Redirect Request==

In Louis' most recent video on Flock, he linked an article in the description which is incomplete. I think he meant to link [[Common Questions, Arguments, & Responses when discussing Flock Surveillance]] instead of [[Common Questions]], which seems to have been created after the video was posted. The title "Common Questions" doesn't even make sense for the content of the article.

Request: move/merge/delete the second article and redirect its name to the first article, or get Louis to change the video description. [[User:Bythmusters|Bythmusters]] ([[User talk:Bythmusters|talk]]) 10:39, 29 December 2025 (UTC)

:just realized i have permissions to do this so i went ahead and moved the second article and created a redirect, the conflicting article is now here [[Flock arguments]] [[User:Bythmusters|Bythmusters]] ([[User talk:Bythmusters|talk]]) 10:44, 29 December 2025 (UTC)

==Cloudflare trackers are on this site?==

I decided to open the DuckDuckGo privacy essentials extension on this site, expecting to see no trackers at all, but I saw Cloudflare load tracking requests. Can we remove this if possible please? [[User:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|'''''AnotherConsumerRightsPerson''''']] ([[User talk:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|talk]]) 15:14, 3 January 2026 (UTC)

:I'll flag down Keith and the tech team so someone can look into this for you. - [[User:Atsumari|Atsumari]] ([[User talk:Atsumari|talk]]) 20:45, 3 January 2026 (UTC)
::@[[User:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|AnotherConsumerRightsPerson]] I've checked in with the tech guys on this and these Cloudflare trackers are something we use to monitor site load and usage patterns and stuff, and seem to be alright in terms of privacy (especially since we use Cloudflare for caching and stuff anyway).
::https://blog.cloudflare.com/privacy-first-web-analytics/ these are the relevant analytics. [[User:Keith|Keith]] ([[User talk:Keith|talk]]) 14:38, 9 January 2026 (UTC)
:::Okay, good to know! [[User:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|'''''AnotherConsumerRightsPerson''''']] ([[User talk:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|talk]]) 16:01, 9 January 2026 (UTC)

==some template inconstancies==

whilst editing some pages I found a few "oversights" with these templates. [[Template_talk:IndividualPage]] [[Template_talk:ProductLinePreload]] [[Template_talk:ProductCargo]] [[User:SinexTitan|SinexTitan]] ([[User talk:SinexTitan|talk]]) 16:04, 4 January 2026 (UTC)

:Protected ProductLinePreload, marked InduvidualPage as historical, I might need JakeL or Unto to look at ProductCargo as it uses something that I have no clue how to approach and I could very easily make breaking changes. [[User:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|'''''AnotherConsumerRightsPerson''''']] ([[User talk:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|talk]]) 16:48, 4 January 2026 (UTC)
::can we update [[Template:IndividualPage]]? I was editing [[Mark Zuckerberg]] yesterday and w/o an infobox it felt like smth was missing [[User:SinexTitan|SinexTitan]] ([[User talk:SinexTitan|talk]]) 17:10, 4 January 2026 (UTC)
:::Individual page is unused I'm pretty sure, so no action needed there [[User:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|'''''AnotherConsumerRightsPerson''''']] ([[User talk:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|talk]]) 17:17, 4 January 2026 (UTC)

==Incomplete Article Appeal==

[[BlueDriver OBD2 scanner now requires account login and collects data]]

References have been updated to be more aligned with the [[Template:Cite web]] template. [[User:JesseAye|JesseAye]] ([[User talk:JesseAye|talk]]) 18:05, 4 January 2026 (UTC)

:{{Done}}. Nice job on archiving by the way. [[User:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|'''''AnotherConsumerRightsPerson''''']] ([[User talk:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|talk]]) 20:28, 4 January 2026 (UTC)
::Awesome, thank you very much! :) [[User:JesseAye|JesseAye]] ([[User talk:JesseAye|talk]]) 23:56, 4 January 2026 (UTC)

==some thoughts on the browser extension==

as the browser extension uses data from the description field could we "rebrand" it? the description of the description field states "Description of '''''x''''' in 150 characters or less" and its name makes it sound like a summary which we already have at the start of every article. instead a field like "info for extension" might be better

edit: smth I missed
[[User:SinexTitan|SinexTitan]] ([[User talk:SinexTitan|talk]]) 17:17, 6 January 2026 (UTC)

:Since you put your thoughts, I'll put mine here as well. It is really bad at accuracy of what you are actually looking at. So for example, if you go to addons.mozilla.org, it will only read the addons bit and there are no articles found about "addons" on the CRW. I think it should query not just that, but also in that title: mozilla, mozilla.org, addons.mozilla, etc. This will significantly increase server load, so maybe just mozilla and mozilla.org, for example, but it will make it more accurate. [[User:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|'''''AnotherConsumerRightsPerson''''']] ([[User talk:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|talk]]) 17:48, 6 January 2026 (UTC)
::Also, can it exclude titles starting with "#REDRECT" as these are redirects, not actual articles, as well as potentially working with other wiki markup as well? [[User:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|'''''AnotherConsumerRightsPerson''''']] ([[User talk:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|talk]]) 17:50, 6 January 2026 (UTC)
:::I think the most recent things worked on may not be reflected on the GitHub just yet. the core functioning of the search is very much WIP at the moment- should be done in the next month or so. [[User:Keith|Keith]] ([[User talk:Keith|talk]]) 18:01, 6 January 2026 (UTC)
::::speaking of search, I'm taking this a bit off topic. but anyway the search on the site itself be improved? yesterday I was looking up an article of mine but only with keywords as I didn't remember the full name of it. searched "Nvidia Intel" but nothing showed up, it only did when I recalled the name of it [[Nvidia buys stake in Intel]]. [[User:SinexTitan|SinexTitan]] ([[User talk:SinexTitan|talk]]) 10:06, 7 January 2026 (UTC)
:::::That'd probably be painful to do as that is baked into the MediaWiki software. [[User:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|'''''AnotherConsumerRightsPerson''''']] ([[User talk:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|talk]]) 16:04, 7 January 2026 (UTC)
::::::I think there are ways and means of improving it, but it's not something I've looked into in-depth. one thing I do want to get implemented is an extension which lets us (anyone on the wiki) see a page with failed searches, that we can use to create sensible redirects which are a big help for search. I think there are also some search improvement extensions. [[User:Keith|Keith]] ([[User talk:Keith|talk]]) 18:10, 7 January 2026 (UTC)
:::::::I'd like to preface this by saying idk how any of this shit works just me throwing out ideas. anyway could we implement keyword based search? example: searching "Intel" brings up all articles which include Intel in the title. currently articles that only include Intel as the first word in the title show up. [[User:SinexTitan|SinexTitan]] ([[User talk:SinexTitan|talk]]) 18:53, 7 January 2026 (UTC)

==Article Relevance appeal==

[[Artificial_intelligence]] deserves to have [[Template:Irrelevant]] be removed. how does it even have that in the first place? regardless a general AI article is very much required as there are many consumer rights issues that might never get documented. I myself just added the concerns over deepfakes. the work on the article's nowhere to be done. there be loads of CR issues still pending to be mentioned, like: AI takin our gosh darn jobs!, AI hogging up all the fresh water, AI hogging up all the electricity. [[User:SinexTitan|SinexTitan]] ([[User talk:SinexTitan|talk]]) 19:09, 6 January 2026 (UTC)

:disregard the examples cuz I blurred the lines between consumer and human rights [[User:SinexTitan|SinexTitan]] ([[User talk:SinexTitan|talk]]) 19:13, 6 January 2026 (UTC)
::I think we should have more discussion on that. Privacy and AI really don't mix and privacy with online ai like chatgpt is horrible, but that only applies to specific AI. I think it should be kept but it can be considered irrelevant because of that. [[User:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|'''''AnotherConsumerRightsPerson''''']] ([[User talk:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|talk]]) 19:18, 6 January 2026 (UTC)
:::I see but it still kinda doesn't make sense to me but that doesn't matter. we're actively documenting how AI violates consumer rights with [[Palantir]] and [[Flock Safety]]. I'm also disregarding my earlier disregardation as we also have documented elements that might be argued is human rights. I get being focused in our mission but being so literal with something such as rights which's quite diverse and convoluted doesn't work [[User:SinexTitan|SinexTitan]] ([[User talk:SinexTitan|talk]]) 19:30, 6 January 2026 (UTC)
::::I think the issue is probably more with the contents of the article than the topic itself. we also have this one https://consumerrights.wiki/w/Generative_artificial_intelligence which I think stays a bit more on the 'CRW' side of the line... It's a messy area though and I can see both sides. The current [[Artificial intelligence]] article starts off like an intro to AI and then just devolves into an 'AI bad' rant, and I'm not entirely sure it currently brings much more value than a link to Wikipedia's page on AI. [[User:Keith|Keith]] ([[User talk:Keith|talk]]) 18:16, 7 January 2026 (UTC)
:::::this indeed is a very complicated topic. imo most of its probs stem from its supbar start. I'd like to reform it. I have done that kind of work before but for me it always takes a significant amount of time. which mind you were not to the same scale as [[Artificial intelligence]]. I can do it but can't promise anything. I am random with my contribs. anyhow, could you guys give me a few pointers on what I should keep in mind? [[User:SinexTitan|SinexTitan]] ([[User talk:SinexTitan|talk]]) 18:44, 7 January 2026 (UTC)
::::::Privacy concerns of AI and unethical training is really the only relevant part I see here. Also focus on online AI models, eg. ChatGPT and Gemini (google, ew). I'll have a tiny look at it right now to see if i have other suggestions. [[User:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|'''''AnotherConsumerRightsPerson''''']] ([[User talk:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|talk]]) 19:56, 7 January 2026 (UTC)
:::::::Fixed the only other issue I had with it. [[User:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|'''''AnotherConsumerRightsPerson''''']] ([[User talk:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|talk]]) 20:01, 7 January 2026 (UTC)

==Redirect cleanup==

I recently looked through [[Special:DoubleRedirects]] and [[Special:BrokenRedirects]] and resolved some double redirects. The remaining items seem like something an admin should just delete so the redirect lists are clean. Thanks [[User:Bythmusters|Bythmusters]] ([[User talk:Bythmusters|talk]]) 04:02, 8 January 2026 (UTC)

:I'll delete the ones that can't be saved now and maybe fix some? [[User:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|'''''AnotherConsumerRightsPerson''''']] ([[User talk:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|talk]]) 06:44, 8 January 2026 (UTC)

==InfoboxCompany to CargoCompany cleanup==

Just converted some articles over, there's still [https://consumerrights.wiki/index.php?title=Special:WhatLinksHere/Template:InfoboxCompany&limit=50&offset=0%7C4371&dir=prev around 70 remaining]. While converting these articles, I found some that I could not remove the InfoboxCompany from, because its template was on the same line as a notice template like StubNotice, which I don't have permission to remove. I guess instead of checking that the notice is still there after the edit, the software is checking whether the line with the notice has been edited at all. Kinda annoying, don't know hard it would be to fix, but anyway, here's some articles that I need the InfoboxCompany template removed from:

[[Asus]] [[GoGuardian]] [[WhatsApp]] [[Stellantis]] [[Mazda]] [[Bosch]] [[Roblox]] [[Epic Games]] [[Canon]] [[CompTIA]] [[Intel]] [[LG]] [[Best Buy]]

[[User:Bythmusters|Bythmusters]] ([[User talk:Bythmusters|talk]]) 01:45, 12 January 2026 (UTC)

:btw there's a lot more of these in the wild,
:https://consumerrights.wiki/index.php?search=%7B%7BStubNotice%7D%7D%7B%7BInfoboxCompany&title=Special%3ASearch&profile=default&fulltext=1
:https://consumerrights.wiki/index.php?search=%7B%7BStubNotice%7D%7D%7B%7BInfoboxProductLine&title=Special%3ASearch&profile=default&fulltext=1
:In the search results, the ones with a space between the two templates are formatted correctly, while the ones without a space are broken and cannot be edited by regular users until the notice has been removed. And this is just StubNotice + InfoBoxCompany/InfoboxProductLine, there's [[:Category:Article notice templates|other notices]]. Would appreciate if someone with perms could, at minimum, remove the notice and add a blank cargo so anyone viewing [[Projects:Cargo-complete|Cargo-complete]] knows it needs to be filled in. [[User:Bythmusters|Bythmusters]] ([[User talk:Bythmusters|talk]]) 06:42, 13 January 2026 (UTC)
::I'll try and deal with this now. [[User:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|'''''AnotherConsumerRightsPerson''''']] ([[User talk:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|talk]]) 18:30, 13 January 2026 (UTC)
:::Just double checking if you can change ones like the case of [[CARIAD]], where there is a space between them? [[User:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|'''''AnotherConsumerRightsPerson''''']] ([[User talk:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|talk]]) 18:47, 13 January 2026 (UTC)
::::Yes, I was able to edit CARIAD. In source view, the StubNotice and InfoboxCompany were not on the same line, and were actually separated by several lines. [[User:Bythmusters|Bythmusters]] ([[User talk:Bythmusters|talk]]) 21:07, 13 January 2026 (UTC)

==Spam Filter==

I'm expanding and adding relevant citations to the Pearson page, marked as one of the articles needing additional work, and seem to keep hitting the spam language filter for the edits all of a sudden. {{Unsigned|Gem}}

:@[[User:Gem|Gem]] I've checked the edits and I have looked at what the filter is and I have no idea how your edit got flagged there as all the words you used are allowed according to the filter unless I'm missing something. That filter catches a lot of bad edits so I don't want to turn it off, but that is an issue. [[User:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|'''''AnotherConsumerRightsPerson''''']] ([[User talk:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|talk]]) 19:08, 13 January 2026 (UTC)

==stub notice bug==

I tried submitting my deletion req for [[FakePortal]] but get hit with "Stub notices can NOT be removed by users with normal privileges". Tried removing the unused infoboxes in [[WhatsApp]], [[GoGuardian]], [[Asus]] and [[Roblox]], and the same dice. w h y? [[User:SinexTitan|SinexTitan]] ([[User talk:SinexTitan|talk]]) 19:31, 12 January 2026 (UTC)

:I'll check this out now [[User:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|'''''AnotherConsumerRightsPerson''''']] ([[User talk:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|talk]]) 18:19, 13 January 2026 (UTC)
::This seems to be a regular issue with the abuse filter [[Consumer_Rights_Wiki_talk:Bugs#How_do_you_edit_beginning_of_an_article_with_StubNotice?|which absolutely has been talked about before]]. It's very annoying and in my opinion we need some sort of edit request system or a new group given to users to bypass the filter, but for now I'll just check the abuse log and apply the edit manually myself. [[User:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|'''''AnotherConsumerRightsPerson''''']] ([[User talk:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|talk]]) 18:28, 13 January 2026 (UTC)

== Pearson Article Appeal ==

Current status for the Pearson page has it as a stub with Inappropriate Tone/Word Usage. The article has been updated and expanded with impact summary, incidents, company products and references. The tone has been corrected to meet guidelines for neutrality with relevant citations to support the statements. [[User:Gem|Gem]] ([[User talk:Gem|talk]]) 06:14, 14 January 2026 (UTC)

Pearson

2026-01-14T05:58:28Z

Gem: /* Products */

{{StubNotice}}
{{ToneWarning}}
{{CompanyCargo
|Founded=1998
|Industry=Education, Technology, Software, Artificial Intelligence, Information Technology
|ParentCompany=Pearson plc
|Type=Subsidiary
|Website=https://www.pearson.com/
|Description=Largest publishing company in higher education, with focus on proprietary eBooks, online educational software and test administration
|Logo=Pearson plc logo.svg}}

Pearson (formerly Pearson Education) is the for-profit global education business arm of the Pearson plc conglomerate. Pearson provides textbooks, homework system platforms, educational content, assessment tools, exam proctoring and digital platforms to schools, universities and professional certifications worldwide.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pearson.com/en-us.html|title=Pearson|access-date=11 Jan 2026}}</ref> <ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pearsonvue.com|title=Pearson Exam Proctoring|access-date=11 Jan 2026}}</ref>

==Consumer-impact summary==

==='''No Ownership Rights, Limited Access to Purchased Materials:'''===
Pearson is phasing out ownership of print textbooks and replacing them with digital textbooks and subscription services. CEO John Fallon stated in a BBC interview, the move is made in "hopes the move will make more students buy its e-textbooks which are updated continually" and that the next generation of consumers, "they expect to rent not own." Purchase of print textbooks has been replaced by a monthly subscription service (Pearson+) and rented e-books have limited access periods that prevent access for future referencing.<ref>{{cite web |date=2019-07-16 |title=Education publisher Pearson to phase out print textbooks |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/business-48998789 |website=BBC}}</ref>

*'''DRM Prevents Resale and Sharing of Purchased Materials:''' Pearson restricts copying, pasting and printing pages from purchased ebooks and digital content. Unlike a physical book, a student cannot sell, give away, or lend their digital copy.

*'''Limited Access''' '''to Purchased Materials:''' Pearson uses access codes for both "owned" and "rented" books and learning materials that limit access, after which the student loses access to material they bought or rented. This limited access prevents people from referencing study materials for future courses and careers. Consumers are essentially purchasing a license to use, not own their books and education.

===Inclusive Access & Default Opt-In Raises Tuition Fees===
Pearson's use of Inclusive Access prevents students and professionals from purchasing books and materials from other sources, buying older edition textbooks, or renting materials through other sources.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Duplantis |first=Hilary |date=2024-08-24 |title=Inclusive Access in Higher Education: Unlocking Student Success |url=https://www.pearson.com/en-us/higher-education/insights-and-events/teaching-and-learning-blog/2024/02/inclusive-access-in-higher-education--unlocking-student-success.html |website=Pearson Inclusive Access}}</ref> Known in the publishing industry as Inclusive Access or Equitable Access programs, students are automatically charged by colleges or bookstores for access to mostly online versions of course materials assigned for their classes. This practice has enabled the growth of a digital subscription business model, as the default opt-in automatically bakes Pearson materials costs directly into student tuition and fees. Pearson claims it is to make things convenient and cheaper for students. <ref name=":0" /> There have been criticisms over extensive, round about opt-out processes and mandatory Pearson courseware systems used to grade homework and administer tests that prevent those who opt-out from participating in their classes.<ref name=":0" />

===Lack of Transparency, Non-Disclosure Agreements===
Pearson VUE's exam policy requires test candidates to read and accept the terms of the non-disclosure agreement (NDA) or any other terms and conditions presented to them prior to the start of the exam, contributing to lack of transparency. <ref>{{Cite web |title=Exam Policy |url=https://certiport.pearsonvue.com/Educator-resources/Exam-policies/Test-candidate.aspx |access-date=2026-01-12 |website=Pearson Vue}}</ref>

==='''Market Control'''===
Pearson is the largest company in higher education with influence over test administration, teacher licensing, educational software, eBooks, grading, guidelines. The company has a history of undisclosed lobbying and applying non-profit funds towards their for-profit business.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hu |first=Winnie |date=2011-12-21 |title=Testing Firm Faces Inquiry on Free Trips for Officials |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/22/education/new-york-attorney-general-is-investigating-pearson-education.html |website=New York Times}}</ref> The state of Texas has made efforts to move away from Pearson's 30 year monopoly over exam testing. <ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Gross |first=Allie |date=2015-05-20 |title=Pearson loses Texas testing account to ETS after 15-year relationship |url=https://www.k12dive.com/news/pearson-loses-texas-testing-account-to-ets-after-15-year-relationship/399546/ |website=ABC 13 Eyewitness News}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2021-01-05 |title=Texas hires two companies to run STAAR, moving toward statewide online testing |url=https://abc13.com/post/staar-tests-online-texas-public-schools-cambium-assessment-pearson/9357526/ |website=ABC 13 Eyewitness News}}</ref>

==Incidents==
This is a list of all consumer-protection incidents this company is involved in. Any incidents not mentioned here can be found in the [[:Category:{{FULLPAGENAME}}|{{PAGENAME}} category]].

==='''Pearson Surveillance of Children's Social Media Accounts (2015 - )'''===
Pearson has admitted ongoing surveillance of online activity and social media accounts, comments made about their tests and test contents, and checking accounts against a list of students taking their exams. This has created backlash from parents and states against child surveillance. Among the information collected is is the child's name, state of residence, and which school they attend. The consortium of states has asked Pearson to stop checking names against its own list of students, but Pearson claims it is for due diligence and test security. <ref>{{Cite web |last=Singer |first=Natasha |date=2015-03-17 |title=Pearson Under Fire for Monitoring Students’ Twitter Posts |url=https://archive.nytimes.com/bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/03/17/pearson-under-fire-for-monitoring-students-twitter-posts |website=The New York Times}}</ref>

==='''Standards Breaches and System Failures''' '''(2025)'''===
Pearson was fined more than 2 million pounds ($2.68 million) in 2025 due to standards breaches spanning between 2019 and 2023 that affected tens of thousands of students. Pearson failed to identiy and manage inconsistent grading standards, despite Britain's Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation, Ofqual, highlighting the risk in 2022 and 2023.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-12-15 |title=Ofqual fines Pearson £2 million for rule breaches affecting thousands of students |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/news/ofqual-fines-pearson-2-million-for-rule-breaches-affecting-thousands-of-students |website=GOV.UK}}</ref> A £1,200,000 fine was also levied against Pearson several years prior for prolonged, serious systemic failures to comply with the reviews of exam marking, which must be conducted by an examiner who is not the original marker. Pearson was charged for operating under a "false assumption" of compliance. Problems continued even after Ofqual flagged similar problems at other exam boards AQA and OCR. Pearson's breaches significantly undermined and eroded public confidence in UK testing qualifications.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-12-13 |title=Notice of monetary penalty: Pearson, Reviews of Marking |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/notice-of-monetary-penalty-pearson-reviews-of-marking/notice-of-monetary-penalty-pearson-reviews-of-marking |website=GOV.UK}}</ref>

==='''Data Breach and S.E.C. Settlement ''(2018)'''''===
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced a $1 million settlement against Pearson for omissions and misleading investors about a 2018 data breach involving a data breach related to its AIMSweb1.0 web-based student performance tracking software that resulted the administrator login credentials of 13,000 schools, district and university customer accounts, along with millions of student usernames and passwords stolen. Pearson did not disclose this breach to investors until it was contacted by the media.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Page |first=Carly |date=2021-08-16 |title=Pearson to pay $1M fine for misleading investors about 2018 data breach |url=https://techcrunch.com/2021/08/16/pearson-to-pay-1m-fine-for-misleading-investors-about-2018-data-breach |url-status= |website=Tech Crunch}}</ref>

==='''Unregistered Lobbying through University of Texas Endowments (2013)'''===
$400,000 endowments were made by Pearson and their charity to The University of Texas College of Education Pearson Center for Applied Psychometric Research, which provides evaluation services for policymakers.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |last=Stanford |first=Jason |date=2013-12-19 |title=It's Time to Investigate Pearson in Texas, Too |url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/pearson-new-york-settlement_b_4469167 |website=HuffPost}}</ref> State policymakers have went on to award Pearson over $1 billion in contracts since 2010, suggesting a conflict of interest, including a 5-year deal worth $462 million in testing contract.<ref name=":3" /> Although Texas made it illegal for testing company lobbyists to serve on advisory boards and make campaign contributions, Pearson was allowed to operate without oversight. The Texas stance against lobbying was initially aimed at Sandy Kress, the architect of No Child Left Behind policy and a Pearson lobbyist who served on several state advisory boards.<ref name=":3" />Public opinion, advocates and lawmakers argued Pearson had too much influence over the state's education policy without scrutiny. In 2021, Texas scaled down the 30-year Pearson monopoly by signing on ETS and Cambium Assessment, a Washington D.C.-based testing company a $262 million contract, reduced Pearson's contract to $126 million. <ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" />

==='''Self-Dealing Fraud (2013)'''===
Pearson, the education-publishing company was charged with a $7.7 million settlement for self-dealing fraud. <ref name=":4">{{Cite web |last=Gose |first=Ben |date=2014-11-18 |title=After a Scandal, Pearson Dissolves Foundation |url=https://www.philanthropy.com/news/after-a-scandal-pearson-dissolves-foundation/ |archive-url=}}</ref> Investigations found that Pearson contributed funds to its charity, Pearson Foundation, who then sent $540,000 of the funds to the Chief State School Officers and the copyright holder of the Common Core State Standards. Along with the Gates Foundation, the Common Core course was sold back to the for-profit Pearson company for $15.5 million.<ref name=":4" /> “The fact is that Pearson is a for-profit corporation, and they are prohibited by law from using charitable funds to promote and develop for-profit products,” said Attorney General Eric Scheniderman. <ref>{{Cite web |last=Hernández |first=Javier |date=2013-12-12 |title=Educational Publisher’s Charity, Accused of Seeking Profits, Will Pay Millions |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/13/nyregion/educational-publishers-charity-accused-of-seeking-profits-will-pay-millions.html |website=The New York Times}}</ref> <ref name=":1" />

===New York Statewide Exams Failure (''2012'')===
{{Main|link to the main CR Wiki article}}
Pearson obtained a $32 million contract to administer New York academic tests plus a $1 million contract to maintain testing services with the New York State Education Department and in 2012, a statewide systemic failure involving numerous test errors, printing errors, security breaches and lack of transparency affecting test administration and test scores of hundreds of thousands of students. Thousands of students were denied from graduating due to the Pearson failure on test scoring. The students were assigned further summer school attendance. The Department spokesperson's response was the victimized students would "benefit from the extra instruction in summer school."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Gonen |first=Yoav |date=2012-06-26 |title=7,000 city students wrongly blocked from attending graduation |url=https://nypost.com/2012/07/26/7000-city-students-wrongly-blocked-from-attending-graduation/ |website=New York Post}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Otterman |first=Sharon |date=2011-08-12 |title=In $32 Million Contract, State Lays Out Some Rules for Its Standardized Tests |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/13/nyregion/new-york-in-contract-with-pearson-lays-out-rules-for-state-tests.html}}</ref>

==Products==

* MyLab®
* MyMathTest® and Mastering®
* Pearson Plus + eTextbooks
* Revel® multi-media eTextbooks and interactive learning
* Connections Academy full time online virtual Schools
* K-12 Online Schools<ref>{{Cite web |title=Pearson K-12 Online Schools |url=https://www.pearson.com/en-us/schools/products-services/k12-online-schools.html |website=Pearson}}</ref>
* K-12 Assessments for School Districts
* Pearson Clinical Assessments for Professionals, including BASC™-3, aimsweb®Plus and Q-global®<ref>{{Cite web |title=Pearson Asessments |url=https://www.pearsonassessments.com/professional-assessments/training.html |website=Pearson Assessments}}</ref>

== See also ==
{{Ph-C-SA}}

== References ==
{{reflist}}https://www.wiredacademic.com/2011/10/pearson-draws-criticism-from-new-york-to-texas-justified-or-unjustified/

https://www.pearson.com/content/dam/one-dot-com/one-dot-com/global/Files/get-the-facts/corporate-myth-fact-030116.pdf

https://www.reddit.com/r/Teachers/comments/1glwk0/pearson_seems_to_control_everything_in_education/

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/may/05/pearson-shareholders-reject-pay-revolt-john-fallon
[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]

Pearson

2026-01-14T05:54:28Z

Gem: /* Incidents */

{{StubNotice}}
{{ToneWarning}}
{{CompanyCargo
|Founded=1998
|Industry=Education, Technology, Software, Artificial Intelligence, Information Technology
|ParentCompany=Pearson plc
|Type=Subsidiary
|Website=https://www.pearson.com/
|Description=Largest publishing company in higher education, with focus on proprietary eBooks, online educational software and test administration
|Logo=Pearson plc logo.svg}}

Pearson (formerly Pearson Education) is the for-profit global education business arm of the Pearson plc conglomerate. Pearson provides textbooks, homework system platforms, educational content, assessment tools, exam proctoring and digital platforms to schools, universities and professional certifications worldwide.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pearson.com/en-us.html|title=Pearson|access-date=11 Jan 2026}}</ref> <ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pearsonvue.com|title=Pearson Exam Proctoring|access-date=11 Jan 2026}}</ref>

==Consumer-impact summary==

==='''No Ownership Rights, Limited Access to Purchased Materials:'''===
Pearson is phasing out ownership of print textbooks and replacing them with digital textbooks and subscription services. CEO John Fallon stated in a BBC interview, the move is made in "hopes the move will make more students buy its e-textbooks which are updated continually" and that the next generation of consumers, "they expect to rent not own." Purchase of print textbooks has been replaced by a monthly subscription service (Pearson+) and rented e-books have limited access periods that prevent access for future referencing.<ref>{{cite web |date=2019-07-16 |title=Education publisher Pearson to phase out print textbooks |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/business-48998789 |website=BBC}}</ref>

*'''DRM Prevents Resale and Sharing of Purchased Materials:''' Pearson restricts copying, pasting and printing pages from purchased ebooks and digital content. Unlike a physical book, a student cannot sell, give away, or lend their digital copy.

*'''Limited Access''' '''to Purchased Materials:''' Pearson uses access codes for both "owned" and "rented" books and learning materials that limit access, after which the student loses access to material they bought or rented. This limited access prevents people from referencing study materials for future courses and careers. Consumers are essentially purchasing a license to use, not own their books and education.

===Inclusive Access & Default Opt-In Raises Tuition Fees===
Pearson's use of Inclusive Access prevents students and professionals from purchasing books and materials from other sources, buying older edition textbooks, or renting materials through other sources.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Duplantis |first=Hilary |date=2024-08-24 |title=Inclusive Access in Higher Education: Unlocking Student Success |url=https://www.pearson.com/en-us/higher-education/insights-and-events/teaching-and-learning-blog/2024/02/inclusive-access-in-higher-education--unlocking-student-success.html |website=Pearson Inclusive Access}}</ref> Known in the publishing industry as Inclusive Access or Equitable Access programs, students are automatically charged by colleges or bookstores for access to mostly online versions of course materials assigned for their classes. This practice has enabled the growth of a digital subscription business model, as the default opt-in automatically bakes Pearson materials costs directly into student tuition and fees. Pearson claims it is to make things convenient and cheaper for students. <ref name=":0" /> There have been criticisms over extensive, round about opt-out processes and mandatory Pearson courseware systems used to grade homework and administer tests that prevent those who opt-out from participating in their classes.<ref name=":0" />

===Lack of Transparency, Non-Disclosure Agreements===
Pearson VUE's exam policy requires test candidates to read and accept the terms of the non-disclosure agreement (NDA) or any other terms and conditions presented to them prior to the start of the exam, contributing to lack of transparency. <ref>{{Cite web |title=Exam Policy |url=https://certiport.pearsonvue.com/Educator-resources/Exam-policies/Test-candidate.aspx |access-date=2026-01-12 |website=Pearson Vue}}</ref>

==='''Market Control'''===
Pearson is the largest company in higher education with influence over test administration, teacher licensing, educational software, eBooks, grading, guidelines. The company has a history of undisclosed lobbying and applying non-profit funds towards their for-profit business.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hu |first=Winnie |date=2011-12-21 |title=Testing Firm Faces Inquiry on Free Trips for Officials |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/22/education/new-york-attorney-general-is-investigating-pearson-education.html |website=New York Times}}</ref> The state of Texas has made efforts to move away from Pearson's 30 year monopoly over exam testing. <ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Gross |first=Allie |date=2015-05-20 |title=Pearson loses Texas testing account to ETS after 15-year relationship |url=https://www.k12dive.com/news/pearson-loses-texas-testing-account-to-ets-after-15-year-relationship/399546/ |website=ABC 13 Eyewitness News}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2021-01-05 |title=Texas hires two companies to run STAAR, moving toward statewide online testing |url=https://abc13.com/post/staar-tests-online-texas-public-schools-cambium-assessment-pearson/9357526/ |website=ABC 13 Eyewitness News}}</ref>

==Incidents==
This is a list of all consumer-protection incidents this company is involved in. Any incidents not mentioned here can be found in the [[:Category:{{FULLPAGENAME}}|{{PAGENAME}} category]].

=== '''Pearson Surveillance of Children's Social Media Accounts (2015 - )''' ===
Pearson has admitted ongoing surveillance of online activity and social media accounts, comments made about their tests and test contents, and checking accounts against a list of students taking their exams. This has created backlash from parents and states against child surveillance. Among the information collected is is the child's name, state of residence, and which school they attend. The consortium of states has asked Pearson to stop checking names against its own list of students, but Pearson claims it is for due diligence and test security. <ref>{{Cite web |last=Singer |first=Natasha |date=2015-03-17 |title=Pearson Under Fire for Monitoring Students’ Twitter Posts |url=https://archive.nytimes.com/bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/03/17/pearson-under-fire-for-monitoring-students-twitter-posts |website=The New York Times}}</ref>

=== '''Standards Breaches and System Failures''' '''(2025)''' ===
Pearson was fined more than 2 million pounds ($2.68 million) in 2025 due to standards breaches spanning between 2019 and 2023 that affected tens of thousands of students. Pearson failed to identiy and manage inconsistent grading standards, despite Britain's Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation, Ofqual, highlighting the risk in 2022 and 2023.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-12-15 |title=Ofqual fines Pearson £2 million for rule breaches affecting thousands of students |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/news/ofqual-fines-pearson-2-million-for-rule-breaches-affecting-thousands-of-students |website=GOV.UK}}</ref> A £1,200,000 fine was also levied against Pearson several years prior for prolonged, serious systemic failures to comply with the reviews of exam marking, which must be conducted by an examiner who is not the original marker. Pearson was charged for operating under a "false assumption" of compliance. Problems continued even after Ofqual flagged similar problems at other exam boards AQA and OCR. Pearson's breaches significantly undermined and eroded public confidence in UK testing qualifications.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-12-13 |title=Notice of monetary penalty: Pearson, Reviews of Marking |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/notice-of-monetary-penalty-pearson-reviews-of-marking/notice-of-monetary-penalty-pearson-reviews-of-marking |website=GOV.UK}}</ref>

==='''Data Breach and S.E.C. Settlement ''(2018)'''''===
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced a $1 million settlement against Pearson for omissions and misleading investors about a 2018 data breach involving a data breach related to its AIMSweb1.0 web-based student performance tracking software that resulted the administrator login credentials of 13,000 schools, district and university customer accounts, along with millions of student usernames and passwords stolen. Pearson did not disclose this breach to investors until it was contacted by the media.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Page |first=Carly |date=2021-08-16 |title=Pearson to pay $1M fine for misleading investors about 2018 data breach |url=https://techcrunch.com/2021/08/16/pearson-to-pay-1m-fine-for-misleading-investors-about-2018-data-breach |url-status= |website=Tech Crunch}}</ref>

=== '''Unregistered Lobbying through University of Texas Endowments (2013)''' ===
$400,000 endowments were made by Pearson and their charity to The University of Texas College of Education Pearson Center for Applied Psychometric Research, which provides evaluation services for policymakers.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |last=Stanford |first=Jason |date=2013-12-19 |title=It's Time to Investigate Pearson in Texas, Too |url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/pearson-new-york-settlement_b_4469167 |website=HuffPost}}</ref> State policymakers have went on to award Pearson over $1 billion in contracts since 2010, suggesting a conflict of interest, including a 5-year deal worth $462 million in testing contract.<ref name=":3" /> Although Texas made it illegal for testing company lobbyists to serve on advisory boards and make campaign contributions, Pearson was allowed to operate without oversight. The Texas stance against lobbying was initially aimed at Sandy Kress, the architect of No Child Left Behind policy and a Pearson lobbyist who served on several state advisory boards.<ref name=":3" />Public opinion, advocates and lawmakers argued Pearson had too much influence over the state's education policy without scrutiny. In 2021, Texas scaled down the 30-year Pearson monopoly by signing on ETS and Cambium Assessment, a Washington D.C.-based testing company a $262 million contract, reduced Pearson's contract to $126 million. <ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" />

=== '''Self-Dealing Fraud (2013)''' ===
Pearson, the education-publishing company was charged with a $7.7 million settlement for self-dealing fraud. <ref name=":4">{{Cite web |last=Gose |first=Ben |date=2014-11-18 |title=After a Scandal, Pearson Dissolves Foundation |url=https://www.philanthropy.com/news/after-a-scandal-pearson-dissolves-foundation/ |archive-url=}}</ref> Investigations found that Pearson contributed funds to its charity, Pearson Foundation, who then sent $540,000 of the funds to the Chief State School Officers and the copyright holder of the Common Core State Standards. Along with the Gates Foundation, the Common Core course was sold back to the for-profit Pearson company for $15.5 million.<ref name=":4" /> “The fact is that Pearson is a for-profit corporation, and they are prohibited by law from using charitable funds to promote and develop for-profit products,” said Attorney General Eric Scheniderman. <ref>{{Cite web |last=Hernández |first=Javier |date=2013-12-12 |title=Educational Publisher’s Charity, Accused of Seeking Profits, Will Pay Millions |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/13/nyregion/educational-publishers-charity-accused-of-seeking-profits-will-pay-millions.html |website=The New York Times}}</ref> <ref name=":1" />

===New York Statewide Exams Failure (''2012'')===
{{Main|link to the main CR Wiki article}}
Pearson obtained a $32 million contract to administer New York academic tests plus a $1 million contract to maintain testing services with the New York State Education Department and in 2012, a statewide systemic failure involving numerous test errors, printing errors, security breaches and lack of transparency affecting test administration and test scores of hundreds of thousands of students. Thousands of students were denied from graduating due to the Pearson failure on test scoring. The students were assigned further summer school attendance. The Department spokesperson's response was the victimized students would "benefit from the extra instruction in summer school."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Gonen |first=Yoav |date=2012-06-26 |title=7,000 city students wrongly blocked from attending graduation |url=https://nypost.com/2012/07/26/7000-city-students-wrongly-blocked-from-attending-graduation/ |website=New York Post}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Otterman |first=Sharon |date=2011-08-12 |title=In $32 Million Contract, State Lays Out Some Rules for Its Standardized Tests |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/13/nyregion/new-york-in-contract-with-pearson-lays-out-rules-for-state-tests.html}}</ref>

==Products==
{{Ph-C-P}}

==See also==
{{Ph-C-SA}}

==References==
{{reflist}}https://www.wiredacademic.com/2011/10/pearson-draws-criticism-from-new-york-to-texas-justified-or-unjustified/

https://www.pearson.com/content/dam/one-dot-com/one-dot-com/global/Files/get-the-facts/corporate-myth-fact-030116.pdf

https://www.reddit.com/r/Teachers/comments/1glwk0/pearson_seems_to_control_everything_in_education/

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/may/05/pearson-shareholders-reject-pay-revolt-john-fallon
[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]

Pearson

2026-01-14T05:19:32Z

Gem: Consumer-impact summary

Pearson

2026-01-13T03:38:10Z

Gem: /* Consumer-impact summary */

Consumer Rights Wiki talk:Moderators' noticeboard

2026-01-12T04:09:34Z

Gem: /* Spam Filter */ new section

<div style="margin: {{#ifeq:{{{navbox|<noinclude>yes</noinclude>}}}|yes|2px}} 0 0.5em; padding: 0.5em; {{{style|border: 1px solid #A0A5AD;}}} {{{backgroundstyle|background-color: var(--background-color-progressive-subtle, #eaf3ff); color: inherit;}}}">
<div style="padding: 0.25em 0; text-align: center; font-size: 120%; border-radius: 3px; font-weight: bold; {{{titlestyle|background-color: var(--background-color-content-added, #aad1ff); color: inherit;}}}">Welcome — post issues of interest to Moderators</div>
*Post '''appeals''' to article notice templates (e.g. Incomplete, Stub, etc.)
*Post requests for '''moderator action''' here (e.g. blocks)
*Just need a mod? Post here or ping a mod with a question.
*Post any information or news relevant to the moderation team here.
*To request an article to be created, do not post here, try [[Article suggestions]] instead.
*Do not report technical issues here, please use the [[Consumer Rights Wiki talk:Bugs|Bugs noticeboard]] instead.

<div style="padding: 0.25em 0; text-align: center; font-size: 150%; border-radius: 3px; font-weight: bold">[[Special:NewSection/Consumer Rights Wiki talk:Moderators' noticeboard|Start a new section]]</div>
</div>
<br />
{{Archives}} 
==Open tasks==

*[[:Category:Articles with deletion requests]]
*[[:Category:Articles with merge requests]]
*[[:Category:Articles marked as irrelevant]]
*[[Special:NewPages]]

==Idea==

Hello everyone, this is more of a general question than one for mods but the [[Template:StubNotice|Stub template]], [[Template:Incomplete|Incomplete template]], [[Template:ToneWarning|Tone template]] and [[Template:SloppyAI|SloppyAI template]] all have the same layout code (with the box being coloured on the incomplete and sloppyai template being the only exception, but codewise is the same). I'm wondering if people would think it is a good idea if I replicate this code for its own template and replace all the code there with just the template. It would be much easier to work on, but it may be harder to add new special things on without changing the template used by it.

'''TL;DR''' is making a template to use the code used from the stub templates just to make it easier to make new ones or change existing ones okay? [[User:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|<i><b>AnotherConsumerRightsPerson</b></i>]] ([[User talk:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|talk]]) 17:07, 12 November 2025 (UTC)

:That could be a good idea, yeah. Honestly if you're comfortable editing that kind of stuff, anything you could do to make the notices smaller and less obtrusive would be appreciated as well. I'm happy to help with text editing and stuff on them but I'm a bit useless if I have to mess around with css [[User:Keith|Keith]] ([[User talk:Keith|talk]]) 14:40, 14 November 2025 (UTC)
::Making them smaller might require a complete restructure for some, but maybe with smaller text it is fine? I'd need to test it out to see if it doesn't make it hard to read. [[User:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|'''''AnotherConsumerRightsPerson''''']] ([[User talk:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|talk]]) 16:10, 14 November 2025 (UTC)
::Hi @[[User:Keith|Keith]], just wondering what you think of [https://consumerrights.wiki/index.php?title=User:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson/Sandbox&oldid=30697 these two variants] of the incomplete tag and if the idea works at all for making them smaller. I haven't changed div tags at all, but it is just a simple thing to make it smaller. [[User:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|'''''AnotherConsumerRightsPerson''''']] ([[User talk:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|talk]]) 20:26, 19 November 2025 (UTC)
:::I think making them smaller will be more to do with reducing their title text size, and maybe boldness, to be less in-your-face (but still obvious. perhaps more like the 'revision as of...' box you can see if you click the link to the variants you just posted [[User:Keith|Keith]] ([[User talk:Keith|talk]]) 00:54, 20 November 2025 (UTC)
::::Ah I don't know much about how to do CSS, and therefore can't do that, but I could just try looking at some resources online to figure it out like how I learned HTML. [[User:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|'''''AnotherConsumerRightsPerson''''']] ([[User talk:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|talk]]) 06:17, 20 November 2025 (UTC)
:::::@[[User:Keith|Keith]] Had another go at it [https://consumerrights.wiki/index.php?title=User:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson/Sandbox&oldid=30772 here] and although it definitely isn't perfect, I just want to know what you think of it before I continue. [[User:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|'''''AnotherConsumerRightsPerson''''']] ([[User talk:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|talk]]) 19:50, 20 November 2025 (UTC)
::::::Obviously the spacing needs to come in a bit from the side, but it's certainly closer to what we want! I think changing 'incomplete' to 'verification concerns' or something might make sense (since that's what it's usually used for) [[User:Keith|Keith]] ([[User talk:Keith|talk]]) 21:32, 20 November 2025 (UTC)
:::::::Just my 2 cents... I like that it says incomplete and has fields to specify. I find myself using it for things beyond verification, such as how to improve the language, structure, etc. Basically I've been using it as a catch-all, which I know is against what it's intended for, but I've also noticed some users actually commit to those specific changes because it shows how an article could be improved with small efforts.
:::::::I have not been active lately, so I'm not completely certain what improvements @[[User:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|AnotherConsumerRightsPerson]] has been making to the other templates. But I think going broad could be good, while having input fields for mods or whoever to specify the issues. [[User:Beanie Bo|Beanie Bo]] ([[User talk:Beanie Bo|talk]]) 19:25, 21 November 2025 (UTC)
::::::::I haven't made any other changes to templates except for deleting a couple, but I have to agree that the incomplete template is often used for what it isn't meant to be used for, but does make sense why; I thought for a while that it was just for articles that are better than stubs, but still need to be marked. It isn't clear by nature as it currently is on what it does unless you read the read more bit. [[User:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|'''''AnotherConsumerRightsPerson''''']] ([[User talk:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|talk]]) 19:30, 21 November 2025 (UTC)
:::::::::@[[User:Keith|Keith]] @[[User:Beanie Bo|Beanie Bo]] [https://consumerrights.wiki/index.php?title=User:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson/Sandbox&oldid=30921 The latest one I did] hasn't really done much, but I'd say it is an improvement over the last one. I'm trying to figure out how to make text from the issue params not go right on the border right now, as that really sabotages accessibility. [[User:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|'''''AnotherConsumerRightsPerson''''']] ([[User talk:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|talk]]) 20:42, 22 November 2025 (UTC)

==Tone appeal - Smartwool==

Hi, since the [[Smartwool adds forced arbitration to EULA|Smartwool EULA incident]] is on "Highlighted Article", I would like to ask if there's any more tone issues; and if there are, some guidance/assistance on fixing them. Thank you for your time! [[User:Raster|Raster]] ([[User talk:Raster|talk]]) 04:09, 22 November 2025 (UTC)

:After a quick read, tone seems okay, but if you do want to help out, I think expanding it is a great step forward, as it is currently quite small. [[User:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|'''''AnotherConsumerRightsPerson''''']] ([[User talk:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|talk]]) 09:12, 22 November 2025 (UTC)
::I guess the main thing it's missing are some 'public response' bits going over public/commentator reaction to it happening [[User:Keith|Keith]] ([[User talk:Keith|talk]]) 11:35, 22 November 2025 (UTC)
:::I was tired at the time I posted this, and didn't realize Keith had removed said notice 6 minutes after my edit asking for it, so the pointers are appreciated.
:::I remember searching a bit for public reaction, and mostly got reddit posts pointing back to the Rossmann video. Maybe someday I'll know what search terms to punch into Duckduckgo. [[User:Raster|Raster]] ([[User talk:Raster|talk]]) 15:20, 22 November 2025 (UTC)
::::If that is what comes up, it's more likely there are no sources imo and was only talked about by King Louis. [[User:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|'''''AnotherConsumerRightsPerson''''']] ([[User talk:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|talk]]) 15:22, 22 November 2025 (UTC)

==Approve deletion request==

Regarding my article on Bahnhof, I have all the emails mentioned in the article, and I can share them with you. I also have other direct communications with the CEO (who is also the media contact). I did not mention those in the article to avoid making it personal.

However, I have no idea whether customers are facing the same treatment or just me, and I did not see any media reporting on it, therefore I can not get you a confirmation from a second source.

I published this article as consumer advocacy and to start documenting this company's abuse of their own terms of services.

I am sorry my article did not meet your standards. I could not find how to delete it, so please go ahead and delete it from your site. [[User:Se|Se]] ([[User talk:Se|talk]]) 09:40, 22 November 2025 (UTC)

:Hi, I've deleted it, but just wanted to let you know that if you do find good sources, you're welcome to recreate the article or ask me to undelete it for you to get the version as of when it was deleted. Also, most articles I see get deleted for similar reasons, so you're not alone. [[User:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|'''''AnotherConsumerRightsPerson''''']] ([[User talk:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|talk]]) 10:13, 22 November 2025 (UTC)
:I don't think there's any need to delete the article as it is - the content which is currently there is supported by the corren article. I think what @[[User:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|AnotherConsumerRightsPerson]] was referring to in their edit notice was specifically the sentence that he removed? [[User:Keith|Keith]] ([[User talk:Keith|talk]]) 11:14, 22 November 2025 (UTC)
::Ok nvm I was getting confused and believed that this was referring to this article: [[Stångåstaden kickbacks and hidden rent]] which also mentions bahnhof [[User:Keith|Keith]] ([[User talk:Keith|talk]]) 11:15, 22 November 2025 (UTC)
:::having reviewed the actual article this was about, I'd tend to agree with the deletion for now. If @[[User:Se|Se]] can get this story in front of news orgs or major blogs or similar who can confirm it and back it up and who treat it as a story worth publishing, then we can reconsider but for now it's more of a user report, and this wiki is not intended to be the first port of call for reporting things - instead we aim to be a collection of well-documented articles that can hold up to a bit of outside scrutiny. [[User:Keith|Keith]] ([[User talk:Keith|talk]]) 11:21, 22 November 2025 (UTC)

==Notice for mods==

@[[User:Keith|Keith]] @[[User:JakeL|JakeL]] @[[User:UntoK|UntoK]] I've changed lots of links, including the ones in the sidebar, because there seems to be a backend update changing the name for CRW talk pages. [[User:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|'''''AnotherConsumerRightsPerson''''']] ([[User talk:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|talk]]) 06:30, 30 November 2025 (UTC)

:Please change this yourself next time if you don't mind, as it's been a bit of a pain going through the links throughout the last 25 minutes! [[User:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|'''''AnotherConsumerRightsPerson''''']] ([[User talk:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|talk]]) 06:45, 30 November 2025 (UTC)
::wait, that shouldn't have happened... The projects namespace was supposed to be a new empty one to use for projects, not a name-change of an existing namespace? I'll talk to Unto about it and see what happened [[User:Keith|Keith]] ([[User talk:Keith|talk]]) 09:58, 30 November 2025 (UTC)
:::Thank you very much for noticing and making things work again! This seems to have been a bug that caused some cursed mediawiki spaghetti interactions. should hopefully have it resolved shortly, and then we'll revert all changes. [[User:Keith|Keith]] ([[User talk:Keith|talk]]) 10:07, 30 November 2025 (UTC)
::::Should we display a [[MediaWiki:Sitenotice]] while it's happening? Because I got very confused by this and ended up checking the logs to see if it was accidentally moved here. [[User:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|'''''AnotherConsumerRightsPerson''''']] ([[User talk:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|talk]]) 10:19, 30 November 2025 (UTC)
:::::Ok, Unto's sorted the bug, and I think between us we've un-changed the links. Sorry about all this, and the double reversion on the Incomplete page! [[User:Keith|Keith]] ([[User talk:Keith|talk]]) 10:43, 30 November 2025 (UTC)
::::::It's okay. I've also got some screenshots of me witnessing what's happening, I'll upload them now. [[User:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|'''''AnotherConsumerRightsPerson''''']] ([[User talk:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|talk]]) 10:44, 30 November 2025 (UTC)
:::::::How did it affect the Oneplus page GoInfo was working on? that seems doubly weird if it did anything there [[User:Keith|Keith]] ([[User talk:Keith|talk]]) 10:45, 30 November 2025 (UTC)
::::::::They said this just now:
::::::::<blockquote>It complained my "stashed changes" didn't exist, and whenever I went back to the page, those changes appeared again. Had to copy all the changes, discard the edit, and reformat the article again for it to be accepted. Seems all good now. Timing's a Biatch sometimes ay
::::::::</blockquote>
::::::::That seems very unusual. [[User:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|'''''AnotherConsumerRightsPerson''''']] ([[User talk:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|talk]]) 10:47, 30 November 2025 (UTC)
:::::::::Ok, hopefully I think that should just be what happened as a result of an edit being in progress while Unto pushed the change, rather than anything to do with the changes themselves. [[User:Keith|Keith]] ([[User talk:Keith|talk]]) 10:49, 30 November 2025 (UTC)
::::::::::Ah okay. [[User:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|'''''AnotherConsumerRightsPerson''''']] ([[User talk:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|talk]]) 10:49, 30 November 2025 (UTC)
:::::::::::You might not be able to change this, but [[Special:NewPages]] and my watchlist has been completely cleared. [[User:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|'''''AnotherConsumerRightsPerson''''']] ([[User talk:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|talk]]) 11:00, 30 November 2025 (UTC)
::::::::::::Having a look, it looks like watchlist and also the [[Special:RecentChanges]] are cut off as of two days ago. Also the NewUserMessage actions are showing up there despite the human(not bot) filter being auto-enabled. I have no idea why this might be the case but I'll pass it on to unto [[User:Keith|Keith]] ([[User talk:Keith|talk]]) 11:11, 30 November 2025 (UTC)
:::::::::::::Also did you get what you wanted to do done? Or did you not get the project namespace finished? Doesn't look like it but just curious lol [[User:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|'''''AnotherConsumerRightsPerson''''']] ([[User talk:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|talk]]) 11:13, 30 November 2025 (UTC)
::::::::::::::Looks like you did! [[User:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|'''''AnotherConsumerRightsPerson''''']] ([[User talk:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|talk]]) 11:17, 30 November 2025 (UTC)
::::::::::::::haven't put the projects in the projects namespace yet, will be doing that in the next day or so, but I think things are technically working as they should [[User:Keith|Keith]] ([[User talk:Keith|talk]]) 11:21, 30 November 2025 (UTC)
::::::::hey there, not sure I'm allowed to post here but here's what happened exactly :
::::::::*created my account
::::::::*created new "product" page for OnePlus AI
::::::::*while creating it, I got kicked out (it said my session was expired). Checked and I was indeed logged out after next reload of the page
::::::::*the product page was created anyway
::::::::*went to edit the product page to add all the descriptions and contents, wrote the whole article in one go
::::::::*when trying to publish, I got "non-existing stashed changes <uuid>" or something similiar, couldn't publish, couldn't go to "edit source".
::::::::*logged out, back in, the page was still empty
::::::::*when I went back to the "edit" page, the wiki page re-added my last changes and I basically lost no work on it
::::::::*still couldn't publish for the same error
::::::::*what I had to do was copy the whole contents, cancel the edit, go back to the product page and create a new edit (it asked if I wanted to discard my previous changes or keep them, I discarded), re-formatted the whole article, and it was then golden
::::::::I'm assuming my edit session got deleted on the server-side somehow but was still existing on my client-side and it got desynced that way. Don't think there's much you need to do regarding that issue, but if you're working on the backend, I would freeze all edits to avoid that in the future [[User:GOinfo|GOinfo]] ([[User talk:GOinfo|talk]]) 11:36, 30 November 2025 (UTC)
:::::::::Yeah, apologies for this - I think it got caught in the middle of a hotfix. Im the one who's to blame here because I asked Unto to 'just add a feature quickly for me, don't wait for the next patch to be ready'. I'll try to refrain from this in future unless it's properly urgent! [[User:Keith|Keith]] ([[User talk:Keith|talk]]) 12:34, 2 December 2025 (UTC)

==Appeal: GMS==

([[Google Mobile Services]]). I made the page because GMS is a powerful "card" that google uses to preserve (and grow) its monopoly. They incentivize Android app developers to depend on google-libraries and APIs. Pretty much every app on Play-Store depends so much on Play-Services that they refuse to do any basic tasks (discord and whatsapp are examples, last time I checked). I believe GMS doesn't get enough attention, and google wants it to stay that way.

However, I do agree that the article is very anemic in its current state. But I thought it was a good idea to centralize all knowledge about GMS, so that its relationships can be shown in a link-graph ("What Links Here", and similar stuff) [[User:Rudxain|Rudxain]] ([[User talk:Rudxain|talk]]) 05:15, 2 December 2025 (UTC)

:I've appended the deletion notice with something saying 'don't delete yet, we're discussing it here'. I think if you can find/add one or two non-wikipedia sources that discuss it being an issue, that would be sufficient to keep it as a stub and get rid of the deletion notice. [[User:Keith|Keith]] ([[User talk:Keith|talk]]) 12:39, 2 December 2025 (UTC)
::Status update @[[User:Rudxain|Rudxain]]? [[User:Mr Pollo|Mr Pollo]] ([[User talk:Mr Pollo|talk]]) 22:29, 3 January 2026 (UTC)
:::I thought I'd find new sources "naturally", but so far the only sources I have are the same from Wikipedia (or transitive ("recursive") sources). Is it ok if I copy the sources from WP by citing them in a different way? [[User:Rudxain|Rudxain]] ([[User talk:Rudxain|talk]]) 08:29, 6 January 2026 (UTC)

==Is youtube still a stub?==

[[YouTube|This]] doesn't look like a stub to me [[User:Rudxain|Rudxain]] ([[User talk:Rudxain|talk]]) 05:18, 2 December 2025 (UTC)

:Removed stubnotice! [[User:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|'''''AnotherConsumerRightsPerson''''']] ([[User talk:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|talk]]) 07:33, 2 December 2025 (UTC)

==Quiz==

Hello, I've been working on this quiz of scope over time for a while [[User:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson/Quiz|here]]. I want to get input on how I could make this better as currently it is okay but not completely accurate yet and needs some more checking. Ideally this would be a part of the CRW namespace that helps people understand scope easier, but I'm just not quite there yet. [[User:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|'''''AnotherConsumerRightsPerson''''']] ([[User talk:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|talk]]) 15:46, 5 December 2025 (UTC)

:I guess it probably needs to assess notability as well as scope, and we need to decide where that line goes for the creation of an article (e.g. for forced arbitration, do we need one secondary source to have talked about the forced arbitration in order for it to be notable enough for its own article and not just a mention on the company page?) [[User:Keith|Keith]] ([[User talk:Keith|talk]]) 21:55, 6 December 2025 (UTC)
::I guess it would need a mention outside of the company page or it might be considered original research. I was thinking about that when I made this, my first idea was just to have the company page but I switched to thinking that a random Reddit post would confirm that it has been talked about and therefore can be added. [[User:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|'''''AnotherConsumerRightsPerson''''']] ([[User talk:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|talk]]) 06:48, 7 December 2025 (UTC)

==Filter change==

I've changed [[Special:AbuseFilter/4|filter 4]] to stop it affecting userspace. If there are issues, feel free to revert. [[User:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|'''''AnotherConsumerRightsPerson''''']] ([[User talk:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|talk]]) 18:42, 9 December 2025 (UTC)

:Sounds good to me. Thanks for the catch. - [[User:Atsumari|Atsumari]] ([[User talk:Atsumari|talk]]) 22:36, 9 December 2025 (UTC)

==Projects namespace is gone==

Hello, I assume this is on purpose but just in case: The projects namespace has been removed entirely. [[User:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|'''''AnotherConsumerRightsPerson''''']] ([[User talk:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|talk]]) 19:39, 16 December 2025 (UTC)

:very likely not on purpose, I'll talk to unto [[User:Keith|Keith]] ([[User talk:Keith|talk]]) 09:51, 17 December 2025 (UTC)
::@[[User:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|AnotherConsumerRightsPerson]] should be resolved now! [[User:Keith|Keith]] ([[User talk:Keith|talk]]) 10:02, 17 December 2025 (UTC)
:::Project Talk pages are still broken with the naming, but work fine otherwise. [[User:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|'''''AnotherConsumerRightsPerson''''']] ([[User talk:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|talk]]) 18:33, 17 December 2025 (UTC)
::::I’m not seeing any issue. Are you still encountering this? - [[User:Atsumari|Atsumari]] ([[User talk:Atsumari|talk]]) 19:40, 23 December 2025 (UTC)
:::::No, it's fixed now. It seems to have been only temporary. [[User:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|'''''AnotherConsumerRightsPerson''''']] ([[User talk:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|talk]]) 21:08, 23 December 2025 (UTC)

==Redirect Request==

In Louis' most recent video on Flock, he linked an article in the description which is incomplete. I think he meant to link [[Common Questions, Arguments, & Responses when discussing Flock Surveillance]] instead of [[Common Questions]], which seems to have been created after the video was posted. The title "Common Questions" doesn't even make sense for the content of the article.

Request: move/merge/delete the second article and redirect its name to the first article, or get Louis to change the video description. [[User:Bythmusters|Bythmusters]] ([[User talk:Bythmusters|talk]]) 10:39, 29 December 2025 (UTC)

:just realized i have permissions to do this so i went ahead and moved the second article and created a redirect, the conflicting article is now here [[Flock arguments]] [[User:Bythmusters|Bythmusters]] ([[User talk:Bythmusters|talk]]) 10:44, 29 December 2025 (UTC)

==Cloudflare trackers are on this site?==

I decided to open the DuckDuckGo privacy essentials extension on this site, expecting to see no trackers at all, but I saw Cloudflare load tracking requests. Can we remove this if possible please? [[User:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|'''''AnotherConsumerRightsPerson''''']] ([[User talk:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|talk]]) 15:14, 3 January 2026 (UTC)

:I'll flag down Keith and the tech team so someone can look into this for you. - [[User:Atsumari|Atsumari]] ([[User talk:Atsumari|talk]]) 20:45, 3 January 2026 (UTC)
::@[[User:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|AnotherConsumerRightsPerson]] I've checked in with the tech guys on this and these Cloudflare trackers are something we use to monitor site load and usage patterns and stuff, and seem to be alright in terms of privacy (especially since we use Cloudflare for caching and stuff anyway).
::https://blog.cloudflare.com/privacy-first-web-analytics/ these are the relevant analytics. [[User:Keith|Keith]] ([[User talk:Keith|talk]]) 14:38, 9 January 2026 (UTC)
:::Okay, good to know! [[User:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|'''''AnotherConsumerRightsPerson''''']] ([[User talk:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|talk]]) 16:01, 9 January 2026 (UTC)

==some template inconstancies==

whilst editing some pages I found a few "oversights" with these templates. [[Template_talk:IndividualPage]] [[Template_talk:ProductLinePreload]] [[Template_talk:ProductCargo]] [[User:SinexTitan|SinexTitan]] ([[User talk:SinexTitan|talk]]) 16:04, 4 January 2026 (UTC)

:Protected ProductLinePreload, marked InduvidualPage as historical, I might need JakeL or Unto to look at ProductCargo as it uses something that I have no clue how to approach and I could very easily make breaking changes. [[User:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|'''''AnotherConsumerRightsPerson''''']] ([[User talk:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|talk]]) 16:48, 4 January 2026 (UTC)
::can we update [[Template:IndividualPage]]? I was editing [[Mark Zuckerberg]] yesterday and w/o an infobox it felt like smth was missing [[User:SinexTitan|SinexTitan]] ([[User talk:SinexTitan|talk]]) 17:10, 4 January 2026 (UTC)
:::Individual page is unused I'm pretty sure, so no action needed there [[User:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|'''''AnotherConsumerRightsPerson''''']] ([[User talk:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|talk]]) 17:17, 4 January 2026 (UTC)

==Incomplete Article Appeal==

[[BlueDriver OBD2 scanner now requires account login and collects data]]

References have been updated to be more aligned with the [[Template:Cite web]] template. [[User:JesseAye|JesseAye]] ([[User talk:JesseAye|talk]]) 18:05, 4 January 2026 (UTC)

:{{Done}}. Nice job on archiving by the way. [[User:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|'''''AnotherConsumerRightsPerson''''']] ([[User talk:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|talk]]) 20:28, 4 January 2026 (UTC)
::Awesome, thank you very much! :) [[User:JesseAye|JesseAye]] ([[User talk:JesseAye|talk]]) 23:56, 4 January 2026 (UTC)

==some thoughts on the browser extension==

as the browser extension uses data from the description field could we "rebrand" it? the description of the description field states "Description of '''''x''''' in 150 characters or less" and its name makes it sound like a summary which we already have at the start of every article. instead a field like "info for extension" might be better

edit: smth I missed
[[User:SinexTitan|SinexTitan]] ([[User talk:SinexTitan|talk]]) 17:17, 6 January 2026 (UTC)

:Since you put your thoughts, I'll put mine here as well. It is really bad at accuracy of what you are actually looking at. So for example, if you go to addons.mozilla.org, it will only read the addons bit and there are no articles found about "addons" on the CRW. I think it should query not just that, but also in that title: mozilla, mozilla.org, addons.mozilla, etc. This will significantly increase server load, so maybe just mozilla and mozilla.org, for example, but it will make it more accurate. [[User:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|'''''AnotherConsumerRightsPerson''''']] ([[User talk:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|talk]]) 17:48, 6 January 2026 (UTC)
::Also, can it exclude titles starting with "#REDRECT" as these are redirects, not actual articles, as well as potentially working with other wiki markup as well? [[User:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|'''''AnotherConsumerRightsPerson''''']] ([[User talk:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|talk]]) 17:50, 6 January 2026 (UTC)
:::I think the most recent things worked on may not be reflected on the GitHub just yet. the core functioning of the search is very much WIP at the moment- should be done in the next month or so. [[User:Keith|Keith]] ([[User talk:Keith|talk]]) 18:01, 6 January 2026 (UTC)
::::speaking of search, I'm taking this a bit off topic. but anyway the search on the site itself be improved? yesterday I was looking up an article of mine but only with keywords as I didn't remember the full name of it. searched "Nvidia Intel" but nothing showed up, it only did when I recalled the name of it [[Nvidia buys stake in Intel]]. [[User:SinexTitan|SinexTitan]] ([[User talk:SinexTitan|talk]]) 10:06, 7 January 2026 (UTC)
:::::That'd probably be painful to do as that is baked into the MediaWiki software. [[User:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|'''''AnotherConsumerRightsPerson''''']] ([[User talk:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|talk]]) 16:04, 7 January 2026 (UTC)
::::::I think there are ways and means of improving it, but it's not something I've looked into in-depth. one thing I do want to get implemented is an extension which lets us (anyone on the wiki) see a page with failed searches, that we can use to create sensible redirects which are a big help for search. I think there are also some search improvement extensions. [[User:Keith|Keith]] ([[User talk:Keith|talk]]) 18:10, 7 January 2026 (UTC)
:::::::I'd like to preface this by saying idk how any of this shit works just me throwing out ideas. anyway could we implement keyword based search? example: searching "Intel" brings up all articles which include Intel in the title. currently articles that only include Intel as the first word in the title show up. [[User:SinexTitan|SinexTitan]] ([[User talk:SinexTitan|talk]]) 18:53, 7 January 2026 (UTC)

==Article Relevance appeal==

[[Artificial_intelligence]] deserves to have [[Template:Irrelevant]] be removed. how does it even have that in the first place? regardless a general AI article is very much required as there are many consumer rights issues that might never get documented. I myself just added the concerns over deepfakes. the work on the article's nowhere to be done. there be loads of CR issues still pending to be mentioned, like: AI takin our gosh darn jobs!, AI hogging up all the fresh water, AI hogging up all the electricity. [[User:SinexTitan|SinexTitan]] ([[User talk:SinexTitan|talk]]) 19:09, 6 January 2026 (UTC)

:disregard the examples cuz I blurred the lines between consumer and human rights [[User:SinexTitan|SinexTitan]] ([[User talk:SinexTitan|talk]]) 19:13, 6 January 2026 (UTC)
::I think we should have more discussion on that. Privacy and AI really don't mix and privacy with online ai like chatgpt is horrible, but that only applies to specific AI. I think it should be kept but it can be considered irrelevant because of that. [[User:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|'''''AnotherConsumerRightsPerson''''']] ([[User talk:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|talk]]) 19:18, 6 January 2026 (UTC)
:::I see but it still kinda doesn't make sense to me but that doesn't matter. we're actively documenting how AI violates consumer rights with [[Palantir]] and [[Flock Safety]]. I'm also disregarding my earlier disregardation as we also have documented elements that might be argued is human rights. I get being focused in our mission but being so literal with something such as rights which's quite diverse and convoluted doesn't work [[User:SinexTitan|SinexTitan]] ([[User talk:SinexTitan|talk]]) 19:30, 6 January 2026 (UTC)
::::I think the issue is probably more with the contents of the article than the topic itself. we also have this one https://consumerrights.wiki/w/Generative_artificial_intelligence which I think stays a bit more on the 'CRW' side of the line... It's a messy area though and I can see both sides. The current [[Artificial intelligence]] article starts off like an intro to AI and then just devolves into an 'AI bad' rant, and I'm not entirely sure it currently brings much more value than a link to Wikipedia's page on AI. [[User:Keith|Keith]] ([[User talk:Keith|talk]]) 18:16, 7 January 2026 (UTC)
:::::this indeed is a very complicated topic. imo most of its probs stem from its supbar start. I'd like to reform it. I have done that kind of work before but for me it always takes a significant amount of time. which mind you were not to the same scale as [[Artificial intelligence]]. I can do it but can't promise anything. I am random with my contribs. anyhow, could you guys give me a few pointers on what I should keep in mind? [[User:SinexTitan|SinexTitan]] ([[User talk:SinexTitan|talk]]) 18:44, 7 January 2026 (UTC)
::::::Privacy concerns of AI and unethical training is really the only relevant part I see here. Also focus on online AI models, eg. ChatGPT and Gemini (google, ew). I'll have a tiny look at it right now to see if i have other suggestions. [[User:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|'''''AnotherConsumerRightsPerson''''']] ([[User talk:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|talk]]) 19:56, 7 January 2026 (UTC)
:::::::Fixed the only other issue I had with it. [[User:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|'''''AnotherConsumerRightsPerson''''']] ([[User talk:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|talk]]) 20:01, 7 January 2026 (UTC)

==Redirect cleanup==

I recently looked through [[Special:DoubleRedirects]] and [[Special:BrokenRedirects]] and resolved some double redirects. The remaining items seem like something an admin should just delete so the redirect lists are clean. Thanks [[User:Bythmusters|Bythmusters]] ([[User talk:Bythmusters|talk]]) 04:02, 8 January 2026 (UTC)

:I'll delete the ones that can't be saved now and maybe fix some? [[User:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|'''''AnotherConsumerRightsPerson''''']] ([[User talk:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|talk]]) 06:44, 8 January 2026 (UTC)

== InfoboxCompany to CargoCompany cleanup ==

Just converted some articles over, there's still [https://consumerrights.wiki/index.php?title=Special:WhatLinksHere/Template:InfoboxCompany&limit=50&offset=0%7C4371&dir=prev around 70 remaining]. While converting these articles, I found some that I could not remove the InfoboxCompany from, because its template was on the same line as a notice template like StubNotice, which I don't have permission to remove. I guess instead of checking that the notice is still there after the edit, the software is checking whether the line with the notice has been edited at all. Kinda annoying, don't know hard it would be to fix, but anyway, here's some articles that I need the InfoboxCompany template removed from:

[[Asus]] [[GoGuardian]] [[WhatsApp]] [[Stellantis]] [[Mazda]] [[Bosch]] [[Roblox]] [[Epic Games]] [[Canon]] [[CompTIA]] [[Intel]] [[LG]] [[Best Buy]]

[[User:Bythmusters|Bythmusters]] ([[User talk:Bythmusters|talk]]) 01:45, 12 January 2026 (UTC)

== Spam Filter ==

I'm expanding and adding relevant citations to the Pearson page, marked as one of the articles needing additional work, and seem to keep hitting the spam language filter for the edits all of a sudden.

Pearson

2026-01-12T02:19:10Z

Gem:

Pearson

2026-01-12T02:18:21Z

Gem: typo

Pearson

2026-01-12T02:17:09Z

Gem:

Pearson

2026-01-12T02:14:52Z

Gem: Introductory paragraph

Canva Affinity Studio adds arbitration clause

2026-01-11T20:17:08Z

Gem: /* Background */

{{Incomplete|Issue 1=Too many external links. Should be reformatted as proper citations and references}}

Canva, the company that acquired Serif (parent company of Affinity and its respective graphic editing software) has removed the ability for users to purchase older versions of the Affinity applications; the new software, Affinity Studio, requires users to create or sign into a Canva account, thereby requiring the user's agreement to an arbitration clause among other agreements not present in the retired Serif versions of Affinity applications, Photo, Designer, and Publisher.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Thacker |first=Tim |date=2025-10-12 |title=Why has Serif stopped selling its Affinity software? |url=https://www.cgchannel.com/2025/10/why-has-serif-stopped-selling-its-affinity-software/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.ph/iuZhr |archive-date=2025-11-02 |access-date=2025-11-02 |website=cgchannel}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=30 Oct 2025 |title=Terms of Use |url=https://www.canva.com/policies/terms-of-use/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.ph/RNeoi |archive-date=2025-11-02 |access-date=2025-11-02 |website=Canva}}</ref>

==Background==
Serif, a UK based software development company, released the Affinity V2 Universal License in 2022 for their flgaship brand Affinity, a professional photo editing, vector illustration and page design software. The cross-platform Universal License bundled Affinity Photo 2, Affinity Designer 2 and Affinity Publisher 2. Instead of subscription model payments, user access to the Affinity V2 suite could be purchased and installed and activated through Serif and Serif user accounts for a one-time payment.<ref name=":02">{{Cite web |date=2024-03-25 |title=Canva Acquires Design Platform Affinity to Bring Professional Design Tools to Every Organization |url=https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240325965656/en/Canva-Acquires-Design-Platform-Affinity-to-Bring-Professional-Design-Tools-to-Every-Organization |access-date=2025-11-02 |website=BusinessWire}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-11-09 |title=Press Release - Affinity Version 2 sets new standards in creative software |url=https://affinity.serif.com/en-us/press/newsroom/affinity-v2-sets-new-standards-in-creative-software/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221109150704/https://affinity.serif.com/en-us/press/newsroom/affinity-v2-sets-new-standards-in-creative-software/ |archive-date=2022-11-09 |access-date=2025-11-02 |website=Affinity Serif}}</ref>

In 2024, Canva, a drag and drop graphic design template platform, acquired Affinity's parent company, Serif, as part of a series of global serial acquisitions in the stock photo, graphics, and artificial intelligence sectors.<ref name=":12">{{Cite web |date=2025-09-06 |title=Acquisitions by Canva - List of Canva's Acquisitions |url=https://tracxn.com/d/acquisitions/acquisitions-by-canva/__LHKOZhxQIkd1nKd00xe8ZiSIZ1WlxGLsiY4nuztOWOY#list-of-acquisitions |access-date=2025-11-02 |website=Tracxn}}</ref> In the same year that Serif/Affinity was acquired, Canva also acquired AI image and art generation platform Leonardo AI.<ref name=":12" /> After the acquisition, Affinity and Canva created a fair pricing pledge in which "perpetual license will always be offered" to adopt Affinity users "to scale their workflows using Canva as a platform to share and collaborate on their Affinity assets." The second part of the pledge stated, "Affinity is here to stay."<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-03-27 |title=The Affinity and Canva Pledge |url=https://affinity.serif.com/en-us/press/newsroom/affinity-and-canva-pledge/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251002083749/https://affinity.serif.com/en-us/press/newsroom/affinity-and-canva-pledge/ |archive-date=2025-10-02 |access-date=2025-11-03 |website=Affinity/Serif Press Release}}</ref>

==Incident==
At the start of October 2025 (approximately [https://web.archive.org/web/20251002034439/https://affinity.serif.com/en-gb/ October 2nd based on Serif website archives]), the store page offering the V2 suite of Affinity applications was taken down, removing user's ability to purchase a new license to the V2 software; the [https://web.archive.org/web/20251002041803/https://affinity.serif.com/en-gb/ main page (archived here)] displayed the text, "Creative Freedom Is Coming," and displaying the date, October 30th. On October 30th, the main Serif page announced that new Affinity Studio software arrived, encouraging viewers to visit the new [https://www.affinity.studio/ Affinity.Studio website] where users can download Affinity Studio, an application that is said to combine all three older Affinity applications into one and also adds Canva-backed features into the software.

As soon as October 3rd, 2025, there was [https://forum.affinity.serif.com/index.php?/topic/235901-revealing-the-future-of-affinity/ discussion and speculation on a Serif forum] discussing the future of Affinity, and the original post reflects many aspects that happened, including that Affinity's software became free, that the new version of Affinity would be separated from the older versions, and that AI would be part of the new software. The post included concern that the forum may eventually be discontinued, and as of November 2nd, 2025, the forums are set to "read only." A pinned notice indicates that the forums went to read-only mode on October 6th, 2025, but Patrick Conner, the individual who wrote the read-me linked in the notice, indicated that the forums would still remain available, just without the ability to create new posts.

===The new software is free, but...===
The new Affinity Studio application is available free of charge to download, but with an asterisk for at least two reasons.

*First, users of Affinity Studio are required [https://www.canva.com/product-suite-integration/authn/affinity?redirect_uri=https://www.affinity.studio%2Fen%2Fdownload&source=download_login_redirect&locale=en sign into Canva's website] to download the new Affinity Studio application. This means users must agree to both [https://www.canva.com/policies/terms-of-use/ Canva's Terms of Use] (last updated October 30th, 2025) and the [https://www.canva.com/policies/affinity-additional-terms/ Affinity Additional Terms]; the dialog also prompts users to read the [https://www.canva.com/policies/privacy-policy/ Canva Privacy Policy]. Creating a Canva account automatically opts the user in to data collection and AI training on user data, though this currently only seems to affect the Canva web app. Users can [https://www.canva.com/account/privacy-preferences opt out here]. The ''Affinity Terms'' page also includes the following passage: <blockquote>If your Agreement allows multiple Users within your team to access the Affinity Software, then: […] Canva or its authorized agent will be entitled to enter onto your premises with reasonable notice to audit your use of the Affinity Software. This provision will survive termination of this License.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-10-30 |title=Affinity Terms |url=https://www.canva.com/policies/affinity-additional-terms/ |access-date=2025-11-03 |website=Canva}}</ref></blockquote>
*Second, while most of the main features previously included in Serif's application appear to be present, features already available through Canva have been added to the Studio app, and these Canva AI-powered features require a subscription to use them.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Colbow |first=Brad |date=2025-10-30 |title=This? This was the Big Affinity and Canva Announcement? |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZzh3zVX-Zk |access-date=2025-11-02 |website=YouTube / Brad Colbow}}</ref> This also includes features that rely on local (offline) machine learning models and incur no server processing costs, such as the "Create Depth Map" command, as well as the "Select Subject" command, which was previously available as part of the base toolset and is now only available via a subscription.
*It's not clear what the future holds in regards to the Affinity Studio software, and whether existing features may get moved behind a paywall among other concerns.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=Blake |first=Alex |date=2025-10-31 |title=Affinity says its new Adobe-rivaling creative app is ‘free forever’ – here’s how that really works |url=https://www.techradar.com/computing/affinity-says-its-new-adobe-rivaling-creative-app-is-free-forever-heres-how-that-really-works |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251103054755/https://www.techradar.com/computing/affinity-says-its-new-adobe-rivaling-creative-app-is-free-forever-heres-how-that-really-works |archive-date=2025-11-03 |access-date=2025-11-02 |website=techradar}}</ref>

===Existing Serif/Affinity V2 users can still download install files and view their license info.===
As of November 2nd, 2025, users of the previous versions of Affinity software including V2 can still sign in via the [https://affinity.serif.com/en-us/v2/ Serif website] to view license info and downloads, including install files on both Windows and MacOS systems. On iPad, the V2 Affinity applications can be downloaded from the App Store free of charge.
==Consumer response==

Within days after (October 2nd, when) the ability to purchase V2 of the Affinity Applications was shut down, many showed concern and even fear that Affinity may become subscription-based, change the terms of the sale, or otherwise change things in ways undesirable to Affinity software users.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-10-04 |title=What is Going on with Affinity on Oct 30th? |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qcHmHltkuk |access-date=2025-11-02 |website=YouTube / ben designs}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-10-02 |title=What's happening with Affinity? Subscription Coming? |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qedkKR-yhR8 |access-date=2025-11-02 |website=YouTube / Design Method}}</ref><ref name=":2" /> While the software didn't become entirely subscription-based, some newly added features are locked behind a subscription paywall including Canva-backed, AI-powered features.<ref name=":1" /> At this point in time as of November 2nd, 2025, it doesn't appear that previous agreements with the older software have changed, but users moving to Affinity Studio or new users starting to use Affinity Studio (Canva's new version of Affinity) will have to agree to new terms of service when creating or signing into a Canva account which includes agreeing to an arbitration clause.

There is still public concern over the longevity of the "free" software and whether existing features may one day get locked behind a paywall. The company claims that the app is free forever; in a social media post, Affinity says that there isn't a catch, that user data isn't being sold, that user creativity isn't being monetized, and that data isn't being used to train AI models.<ref name=":2" /> However, [https://www.canva.com/policies/privacy-policy/ Canva's Privacy Policy] indicates that information collected about their users is used for data analytics, service improvement (including analytics and machine learning), and for advertising purposes in addition to other purposes often included in a Privacy Policy.

There's also concern as to whether the older versions of Affinity that provided a perpetual license may some day be revoked.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-10-03 |title=Revealing the future of Affinity |url=https://forum.affinity.serif.com/index.php?/topic/235901-revealing-the-future-of-affinity/ |access-date=2025-11-02 |website=Serif / Affinity Forums}}</ref> The EULA for the V2 Affinity applications indicate that Serif or Serif Licensors could suspend remove, modify, disable, or impose limits on access to Serif Software without notice or liability to the user, further increasing concern over if and when V2 or other Affinity Software may eventually be un-installable or otherwise rendered unusable for existing users.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:Canva]]
[[Category:Serif]]
[[Category:Affinity]]
[[Category:Forced arbitration]]
[[Category:2025 incidents]]

[[Category:Articles in need of additional work]]
[[Category:Articles requiring expansion]]

Canva Affinity Studio adds arbitration clause

2026-01-11T20:11:11Z

Gem: /* Background */ Timeline and context for incident

{{Incomplete|Issue 1=Too many external links. Should be reformatted as proper citations and references}}

Canva, the company that acquired Serif (parent company of Affinity and its respective graphic editing software) has removed the ability for users to purchase older versions of the Affinity applications; the new software, Affinity Studio, requires users to create or sign into a Canva account, thereby requiring the user's agreement to an arbitration clause among other agreements not present in the retired Serif versions of Affinity applications, Photo, Designer, and Publisher.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Thacker |first=Tim |date=2025-10-12 |title=Why has Serif stopped selling its Affinity software? |url=https://www.cgchannel.com/2025/10/why-has-serif-stopped-selling-its-affinity-software/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.ph/iuZhr |archive-date=2025-11-02 |access-date=2025-11-02 |website=cgchannel}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=30 Oct 2025 |title=Terms of Use |url=https://www.canva.com/policies/terms-of-use/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.ph/RNeoi |archive-date=2025-11-02 |access-date=2025-11-02 |website=Canva}}</ref>

==Background==
Serif, a UK based software development company, released the Affinity V2 Universal License in 2022 for their flgaship brand Affinity, a professional photo editing, vector illustration and page design software. The cross-platform Universal License bundled Affinity Photo 2, Affinity Designer 2 and Affinity Publisher 2. Instead of subscription model payments, user access to the Affinity V2 suite could be purchased and installed through Serif and Serif user accounts for a one-time payment.<ref name=":02">{{Cite web |date=2024-03-25 |title=Canva Acquires Design Platform Affinity to Bring Professional Design Tools to Every Organization |url=https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240325965656/en/Canva-Acquires-Design-Platform-Affinity-to-Bring-Professional-Design-Tools-to-Every-Organization |access-date=2025-11-02 |website=BusinessWire}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-11-09 |title=Press Release - Affinity Version 2 sets new standards in creative software |url=https://affinity.serif.com/en-us/press/newsroom/affinity-v2-sets-new-standards-in-creative-software/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221109150704/https://affinity.serif.com/en-us/press/newsroom/affinity-v2-sets-new-standards-in-creative-software/ |archive-date=2022-11-09 |access-date=2025-11-02 |website=Affinity Serif}}</ref>

In 2024, Canva, a drag and drop graphic design template platform, acquired Affinity's parent company, Serif, as part of a series of global serial acquisitions in the stock photo, graphics, and artificial intelligence sectors.<ref name=":12">{{Cite web |date=2025-09-06 |title=Acquisitions by Canva - List of Canva's Acquisitions |url=https://tracxn.com/d/acquisitions/acquisitions-by-canva/__LHKOZhxQIkd1nKd00xe8ZiSIZ1WlxGLsiY4nuztOWOY#list-of-acquisitions |access-date=2025-11-02 |website=Tracxn}}</ref> In the same year that Serif/Affinity was acquired, Canva also acquired AI image and art generation platform Leonardo AI.<ref name=":12" /> After the acquisition, Affinity and Canva created a fair pricing pledge in which "perpetual license will always be offered" to adopt Affinity users "to scale their workflows using Canva as a platform to share and collaborate on their Affinity assets." The second part of the pledge stated, "Affinity is here to stay."<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-03-27 |title=The Affinity and Canva Pledge |url=https://affinity.serif.com/en-us/press/newsroom/affinity-and-canva-pledge/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251002083749/https://affinity.serif.com/en-us/press/newsroom/affinity-and-canva-pledge/ |archive-date=2025-10-02 |access-date=2025-11-03 |website=Affinity/Serif Press Release}}</ref>

==Incident==
At the start of October 2025 (approximately [https://web.archive.org/web/20251002034439/https://affinity.serif.com/en-gb/ October 2nd based on Serif website archives]), the store page offering the V2 suite of Affinity applications was taken down, removing user's ability to purchase a new license to the V2 software; the [https://web.archive.org/web/20251002041803/https://affinity.serif.com/en-gb/ main page (archived here)] displayed the text, "Creative Freedom Is Coming," and displaying the date, October 30th. On October 30th, the main Serif page announced that new Affinity Studio software arrived, encouraging viewers to visit the new [https://www.affinity.studio/ Affinity.Studio website] where users can download Affinity Studio, an application that is said to combine all three older Affinity applications into one and also adds Canva-backed features into the software.

As soon as October 3rd, 2025, there was [https://forum.affinity.serif.com/index.php?/topic/235901-revealing-the-future-of-affinity/ discussion and speculation on a Serif forum] discussing the future of Affinity, and the original post reflects many aspects that happened, including that Affinity's software became free, that the new version of Affinity would be separated from the older versions, and that AI would be part of the new software. The post included concern that the forum may eventually be discontinued, and as of November 2nd, 2025, the forums are set to "read only." A pinned notice indicates that the forums went to read-only mode on October 6th, 2025, but Patrick Conner, the individual who wrote the read-me linked in the notice, indicated that the forums would still remain available, just without the ability to create new posts.

===The new software is free, but...===
The new Affinity Studio application is available free of charge to download, but with an asterisk for at least two reasons.

*First, users of Affinity Studio are required [https://www.canva.com/product-suite-integration/authn/affinity?redirect_uri=https://www.affinity.studio%2Fen%2Fdownload&source=download_login_redirect&locale=en sign into Canva's website] to download the new Affinity Studio application. This means users must agree to both [https://www.canva.com/policies/terms-of-use/ Canva's Terms of Use] (last updated October 30th, 2025) and the [https://www.canva.com/policies/affinity-additional-terms/ Affinity Additional Terms]; the dialog also prompts users to read the [https://www.canva.com/policies/privacy-policy/ Canva Privacy Policy]. Creating a Canva account automatically opts the user in to data collection and AI training on user data, though this currently only seems to affect the Canva web app. Users can [https://www.canva.com/account/privacy-preferences opt out here]. The ''Affinity Terms'' page also includes the following passage: <blockquote>If your Agreement allows multiple Users within your team to access the Affinity Software, then: […] Canva or its authorized agent will be entitled to enter onto your premises with reasonable notice to audit your use of the Affinity Software. This provision will survive termination of this License.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-10-30 |title=Affinity Terms |url=https://www.canva.com/policies/affinity-additional-terms/ |access-date=2025-11-03 |website=Canva}}</ref></blockquote>
*Second, while most of the main features previously included in Serif's application appear to be present, features already available through Canva have been added to the Studio app, and these Canva AI-powered features require a subscription to use them.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Colbow |first=Brad |date=2025-10-30 |title=This? This was the Big Affinity and Canva Announcement? |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZzh3zVX-Zk |access-date=2025-11-02 |website=YouTube / Brad Colbow}}</ref> This also includes features that rely on local (offline) machine learning models and incur no server processing costs, such as the "Create Depth Map" command, as well as the "Select Subject" command, which was previously available as part of the base toolset and is now only available via a subscription.
*It's not clear what the future holds in regards to the Affinity Studio software, and whether existing features may get moved behind a paywall among other concerns.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=Blake |first=Alex |date=2025-10-31 |title=Affinity says its new Adobe-rivaling creative app is ‘free forever’ – here’s how that really works |url=https://www.techradar.com/computing/affinity-says-its-new-adobe-rivaling-creative-app-is-free-forever-heres-how-that-really-works |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251103054755/https://www.techradar.com/computing/affinity-says-its-new-adobe-rivaling-creative-app-is-free-forever-heres-how-that-really-works |archive-date=2025-11-03 |access-date=2025-11-02 |website=techradar}}</ref>

===Existing Serif/Affinity V2 users can still download install files and view their license info.===
As of November 2nd, 2025, users of the previous versions of Affinity software including V2 can still sign in via the [https://affinity.serif.com/en-us/v2/ Serif website] to view license info and downloads, including install files on both Windows and MacOS systems. On iPad, the V2 Affinity applications can be downloaded from the App Store free of charge.
==Consumer response==

Within days after (October 2nd, when) the ability to purchase V2 of the Affinity Applications was shut down, many showed concern and even fear that Affinity may become subscription-based, change the terms of the sale, or otherwise change things in ways undesirable to Affinity software users.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-10-04 |title=What is Going on with Affinity on Oct 30th? |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qcHmHltkuk |access-date=2025-11-02 |website=YouTube / ben designs}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-10-02 |title=What's happening with Affinity? Subscription Coming? |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qedkKR-yhR8 |access-date=2025-11-02 |website=YouTube / Design Method}}</ref><ref name=":2" /> While the software didn't become entirely subscription-based, some newly added features are locked behind a subscription paywall including Canva-backed, AI-powered features.<ref name=":1" /> At this point in time as of November 2nd, 2025, it doesn't appear that previous agreements with the older software have changed, but users moving to Affinity Studio or new users starting to use Affinity Studio (Canva's new version of Affinity) will have to agree to new terms of service when creating or signing into a Canva account which includes agreeing to an arbitration clause.

There is still public concern over the longevity of the "free" software and whether existing features may one day get locked behind a paywall. The company claims that the app is free forever; in a social media post, Affinity says that there isn't a catch, that user data isn't being sold, that user creativity isn't being monetized, and that data isn't being used to train AI models.<ref name=":2" /> However, [https://www.canva.com/policies/privacy-policy/ Canva's Privacy Policy] indicates that information collected about their users is used for data analytics, service improvement (including analytics and machine learning), and for advertising purposes in addition to other purposes often included in a Privacy Policy.

There's also concern as to whether the older versions of Affinity that provided a perpetual license may some day be revoked.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-10-03 |title=Revealing the future of Affinity |url=https://forum.affinity.serif.com/index.php?/topic/235901-revealing-the-future-of-affinity/ |access-date=2025-11-02 |website=Serif / Affinity Forums}}</ref> The EULA for the V2 Affinity applications indicate that Serif or Serif Licensors could suspend remove, modify, disable, or impose limits on access to Serif Software without notice or liability to the user, further increasing concern over if and when V2 or other Affinity Software may eventually be un-installable or otherwise rendered unusable for existing users.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:Canva]]
[[Category:Serif]]
[[Category:Affinity]]
[[Category:Forced arbitration]]
[[Category:2025 incidents]]

[[Category:Articles in need of additional work]]
[[Category:Articles requiring expansion]]