Opera
Contents6
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| Basic Information | |
|---|---|
| Release Year | 1995 |
| Product Type | Web browser |
| In Production | Yes |
| Official Website | https://www.opera.com/ |
Opera is a Chromium-based web browser developed by its namesake company Opera.
Opera was released on 10 April 1995, making it one of the oldest desktop web browsers to exist. It was commercial software for its first ten years and had its own proprietary layout engine, Presto. In 2013, it switched from the Presto engine to Chromium.[1]
Consumer-impact summary
Overview of concerns that arise from the conduct towards users of the product (if applicable):
- User Freedom
- User Privacy
- Business Model
- Market Control
Add your text below this box. Once this section is complete, delete this box by clicking on it and pressing backspace.
Freedom
Privacy
Business model
Market control
Incidents
This is a list of all consumer-protection incidents related to this product. This section is still in progress.
Fraudulent Loaning Services (2019-2020)
Between 2019 and 2020, Opera released multiple short-term loaning apps in developing countries, including OKash and OPesa.[2] These apps were made available in Nigeria, Kenya and India and would let users take short-term loans. However, the interest rates on those loans ranged from 365-876% per year, and loan terms from 7-29 days. Opera also falsely advertised longer loan terms and lower interest rates in the app descriptions, because the Google Play Store had rules against predatory loan services.
In addition, OKash and OPesa asked for permission to the phone contacts during the setup process, violating the user's privacy.[how?] The service would also recur to scare-tactics by sending threatening messages to the user's contacts when a borrower was late on their payments.
The money from these loan apps amounted to 42.5% of Opera's revenue by mid-2019, meaning that Opera was making profit from scamming people in developing countries.[3]
Telemetry
Opera has been a controversial web browser due to its potential telemetry and data collection.
See also
References
- ↑ "Opera gears up at 300 million users". Opera press. 2013-02-13. Archived from the original on 8 Dec 2025. Retrieved 2025-11-02.
- ↑ Davenport, Corbin (2024-01-24). "Stop using Opera Browser and Opera GX". Spacebar. Archived from the original on 11 Feb 2026. Retrieved 2025-11-02.
- ↑ Kazeem, Yomi (2022-07-20). "A Chinese super app is facing claims of predatory consumer lending in Nigeria, Kenya and India". Archived from the original on 24 Jun 2025. Retrieved 2025-11-02.