markwyner, 1 year ago

@downey @1password I’m not sure I see the parallel between this and spyware. It’s use analytics, the data is aggregated/decoupled from personal ID, and we can opt-out.

I’d love to better understand why you think it’s spyware and how it’s going to compromise privacy.

downey, 1 year ago

@markwyner How exactly is collecting private information about a person without their explicit informed consent not spying?

And why on earth would anyone defend such behavior?

markwyner, 1 year ago

@downey I was defending nothing. I was stating an observation and asking a clarifying question. No rhetoric was intended.

What private information would be collected here? And how is it without consent? My interpretation is that they’re collecting behavioral data with an option to opt out.

I’m asking because I’d love to know what you know that I’m not seeing. You don’t have to explain, I’m just curious.

downey, 1 year ago

@markwyner No way to know what they're doing behind their secret proprietary code.

It's without consent per se if it's opt out.

JamesDBartlett3, 1 year ago

@downey @markwyner
I'm a #BitWarden guy myself, so I don't have a dog in this fight, but I really don't see what all the fuss is about here. Randomized, de-identified telemetry (app usage & performance) data is not even remotely the same thing as individual user data.

We all want better usability, stability, performance, security, etc. from our apps, right? Well, anonymous telemetry data collection allows app developers to observe how their users as a whole interact with the app, the errors and UI/UX challenges they encounter, etc. Telemetry doesn't tell the app developer how you personally use the app. That level of granularity is too specific to be useful, consumes more compute time and storage than anonymized data, and comes with an extraordinary increase in liability in case of a data breach.

Why on earth would any org pay extra AWS/GCP/Azure fees to collect, process, store, and analyze data that they don't need, only to increase their liability risk?

markwyner, 1 year ago (edited 1 year ago)

@JamesDBartlett3 @downey I also have no dog in this fight. In fact, I didn’t know there even was a fight. I was just respectfully asking for clarification. Then he blocked me. 🤷🏻‍♂️

But I agree with you, which is why I originally asked. Conspiracy theories and propaganda doesn’t help anyone. We absolutely should be diligent about software privacy. When relevant. In this case, there’s no evidence to claim a breach of privacy.