Either it's a simple fabrication, or Ledger knows exactly how much someone has on their devices, which means that they log all the data from the device every time such a device is online.
If you use Ledger Live, then this is a given, since it connects to Ledger servers. And remember they are offering insurance with Ledger Recover, so they are 100% keeping track of your balances.
That has happened in 2019, do they still suffer from the same problem? Btw they removed the support of AOPP but yeah, what you say about them is true.
It's interesting to know what you think about Coldcard or do you think that no hardware wallet is trustable and airgapped encrypted devices are the only last and one devices to use.
As I said, the vulnerability is unfixable. It still exists and will always exist on these devices. Coldcard is certainly airgapped, but as Pmalek points out it is not open source and the company behind it spread lies about competitors for their own gain. I personally wouldn't use it.
If I had to buy a hardware wallet right now, I would buy a Passport. But I'd much rather continue to use a separate airgapped, encrypted device, running a FOSS OS and wallet.
And to my knowledge the hardware buttons of a Ledger Nono are completely software controlled. The buttons are not directly wired to the Secure Element where most of Ledger's firmware magic happens. The MCU controls the display and the buttons and proxies user interactions to the Secure Element. It's the firmware that decides what to do when you press a Ledger button. As the firmware is a black box what exactly prevents Ledger to not need your button press? ... Exactly: nothing! It's their secret sauce code...
This is the exact point I've been making:
Given that a simple software update means the secret element can now export private keys, then a simple software update could make this feature mandatory, or could remove the need for any physical button presses, or could take everyone's private keys without their knowledge or consent. The whole point of the secure element is moot. The entire security of the device hinges on non malicious software.