But, speaking as a developer of an open source software product that includes telemetry[1], I expect they're tracking really basic stuff, like: DAU, MAU, edited file types, project size, crash reports, etc. Basically, information that helps to internally justify the continued existence of the project, and data that lets them better prioritize resources on the project.
> I expect they're tracking really basic stuff [...] information that helps to internally justify the continued existence of the project, and data that lets them better prioritize resources on the project.
This is my big issue with almost all analytics setups. Sure, you expect that they're probably tracking stuff like that, which is perfectly reasonable and benefits everyone. But when you look at the privacy policy inevitably you find that the data they "may" collect is incredibly vaguely defined, wide-ranging, and generally not actually limited (they use phrases like "we collect data such as..." and "some examples of data we collect are...").
And then what they do with the data is also left unrestricted by phrases like "ways we use the data include..."
And then when you point this out, everyone tells you that you're being paranoid and they're just covering themselves and don't be silly.
And then when they do precisely what their policy legally enables them to do (cough Facebook cough Cambridge Analytica cough) everyone is aghast.
I wouldn’t (unfortunately) ever bother with what terms say. They are written by a legal person who worries about future legal issues.
This is basically down to the reputation of the vendor and what information I can guess they gather based on what sort of outrage they would face if they cross a line.
There are two messages here:
1. Legal. Basically a catch all that says they might sample your blood in the future
2. Non-legal e.g developers. Says they gather harmless statistics.
Obviously #1 smells. But that’s how US corporate legal culture works. The judgement I have to do is whether the vendor can be trusted to do only what they say in message #2. I wouldn’t trust all companies in this respect, especially not those that trade in information like Facebook, but I do give Microsoft the benefit of the doubt.
Thank you! I can always use more hands with it, too. I’m essentially the only person working on the iOS version right now, and I do it pretty much entirely on a volunteer basis (ie nights and weekends, when I’m lucky)
Does anyone know what exactly is being tracked?