Activation

⚠️ Article status notice: This article has been marked as incomplete

This article needs additional work for its sourcing and verifiability to meet the wiki's Content Guidelines and be in line with our Mission Statement for comprehensive coverage of consumer protection issues. In particular:

1. could use expansion

This notice will be removed once the issue/s highlighted above have been addressed and sufficient documentation has been added to establish the systemic nature of these issues. Once you believe the article is ready to have its notice removed, please visit the Moderator's noticeboard, or the discord and post to the #appeals channel.

Learn more ▼

This Article Requires Additional Verification

---

This article has been flagged due to verification concerns. While the topic might have merit, the claims presented lack citations that live up to our standards, or rely on sources that are questionable or unverifiable by our standards. Articles must meet the Moderator Guidelines and Mission statement; factual accuracy and systemic relevance are required for inclusion here!

Why This Article Is In Question

---

Articles in this wiki are required to:

• Provide verifiable & credible evidence to substantiate claims.
• Avoid relying on anecdotal, unsourced, or suspicious citations that lack legitimacy.
• Make sure that all claims are backed by reliable documentation or reporting from reputable sources.

Examples of issues that trigger this notice:

• A topic that heavily relies on forum posts, personal blogs, or other unverifiable sources.
• Unsupported claims with no evidence or citations to back them up.
• Citations to disreputable sources, like non-expert blogs or sites known for spreading misinformation.

How You Can Improve This Article

---

To address verification concerns:

• Replace or supplement weak citations with credible, verifiable sources.
• Make sure that claims are backed by reputable reporting or independent documentation.
• Provide additional evidence to demonstrate systemic relevance and factual accuracy. For example:
  • Avoid: Claims based entirely on personal anecdotes or hearsay without supporting documentation.
  • Include: Corporate policies, internal communications, receipts, repair logs, verifiable video evidence, or credible investigative reports.

If you believe this notice has been placed in error, or once the article has been updated to address these concerns, please visit the #appeals channel on our Discord server: Join here.

Activation is a license or service validation procedure. It may involve sending information about a device, a license or a licensee to a service provider, and receiving some information that is entered into the device.

For example, Microsoft Windows version 7 and later would collect information about a computer when they were installed. They create a fingerprint of the hardware, and generate a code based on that. Function was limited until the program was activated. One could activate it by telephoning the manufacturer, reading the code, and getting a code in return to enter in to the program. Activation could also be done online.

Online activation, also known as cloud-based activation, is the requirement to connect to the Internet before activating a product or software that the end user paid for. Examples include:

• Some operating systems such as iOS and Windows 11 require registering an account with the device vendor to be set up before first use.
• Xiaomi requires registering an account to be able to unlock the bootloader.
• Some DJI drones and Insta360 cameras require to be linked to a smartphone before first use.

Disadvantages

In order to use a purchased product, users must share their personal data with the manufacturer.

For online activation - It can be unsafe to connect a device to a network before it has the latest security updates. However, getting and installing the latest security updates can be difficult without a fully functioning device. (For example with Windows, if you have a computer with a functional current version of Windows you can download security updates for offline installation. They make this very difficult for those who do not yet have Windows.)

Given that services shut down all the time, activation services can be lost, leaving the user with an unusable product. When the manufacturer regards the product as reaching end of life, they may stop providing activations. However some products may be in service for decades after the manufacturer ceases support. Specialized or orphaned devices may only work with particular versions of software, it may be impossible or impractical to replace the device.

Some places in the world have limited Internet access. This can cause difficulties when activating.

Providers can limit activations or arbitrarily revoke access. For example, Xiaomi only allows one bootloader unlock per person per 30 days and four phones per year, in addition to a week-long delay after purchase.