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Homebrew now sends usage information to Google Analytics

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Re: Homebrew now sends usage information to Google Analytics

#211

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I second that. It must be an opt-in feature.

I don't see why; you're tracked like this on nearly every website you visit unless you opt out. This isn't malicious.

That doesn't follow. The fact that many websites do this doesn't prove that it isn't malicious. It may not be (it probably isn't), but that has little to do with the complaints made about the change.

Re: Homebrew now sends usage information to Google Analytics

#212

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Firstly, this is a decision that should be up to the user , not the webmaster. Secondly, do you have a source for that? I find that a very dubious claim, from a business perspective.

"We use the information we collect from all of our services to provide, maintain, protect and improve them, to develop new ones, and to protect Google and our users. We also use this information to offer you tailored content – like giving you more relevant search results and ads." https://www.google.com/intl/en/policies/privacy/ "When you visit a website that uses our advertising products (like AdSense), social produ…

Also related:

"""

Google Analytics protects the confidentiality of Google Analytics data in several ways:

Google Analytics data may not be shared without customer consent, except under certain limited circumstances, such as when required by law.

Security-dedicated engineering teams at Google guard against external threats to data. Internal access to data (e.g., by employees) is regulated and subject to the Employee Access Controls and Procedures.

"""

https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/6004245?hl=en

Re: Homebrew now sends usage information to Google Analytics

#213
post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

trashing the telemetry data they're using to figure out what OS/ver people are using and bugs they are hitting makes you a real jerk use their opt-out if you want

Collecting telemetry data without letting users even know about it (much less opt in) isn't cool, either.

[deleted]

Re: Homebrew now sends usage information to Google Analytics

#214

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Firstly, this is a decision that should be up to the user , not the webmaster. Secondly, do you have a source for that? I find that a very dubious claim, from a business perspective.

> this is a decision that should be up to the user , not the webmaster. This may be a dumb example, but if I get someone (I don't know very well) a glass of water from the kitchen, I won't take a little sip from it on the way. Yes, they might not care, and it's super unlikely that I would infect them with anything. But it's still not my call, and you only need to see someone not get something so basic once to lose a…

If enough users disagree with that, let them take over maintenance of homebrew.

But nobody actually cares that much, only enough to complain. At length.

Re: Homebrew now sends usage information to Google Analytics

#215

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't see why; you're tracked like this on nearly every website you visit unless you opt out. This isn't malicious.

That doesn't follow. The fact that many websites do this doesn't prove that it isn't malicious. It may not be (it probably isn't), but that has little to do with the complaints made about the change.

Since more people downvoted you than upvoted you, that proves that when most websites do something, it can't be malicious when an application on your computer does it. I think?

Re: Homebrew now sends usage information to Google Analytics

#216

I'm the maintainer who added this. I apologise for the poor communication. I would have responded sooner but I've been on a plane for the last 10 hours. I'd hoped the documentation would have made clear our reasons for doing this but I feel the discomfort so since getting off my flight I've opened and merged three PRs ( https://github.com/Homebrew/install/pull/42 https://github.com/Homebrew/brew/pull/143 https://gith…

It should be opt-in, not opt-out.

Man, the privacy critics really come out of the woodwork every single time "opt-out" is mentioned, regardless of the actual facts for a specific situation. The developers explicitly state they set the anonymous IP address flag. There is nothing that links back to you as a person. Are you really concerned that the developers know which packages a random, unknown person has installed?

Crying "opt-in" to every single little thing that has ever tracked you for non-nefarious reasons completely detracts from the cases where tracking is nefarious. Homebrew is not tracking for ads. They are not tracking for anything worth selling to a 3rd party. They're not - and are incapable of - linking this to any other database that does contain personally identifiable information. There's no "profile" worth anything to anybody except the developers, who are trying to get some very basic information completely detached from any identity.

>> You will be notified the first time you run brew update or install Homebrew.

>> to opt-out of Homebrew's analytics you may set HOMEBREW_NO_ANALYTICS=1 in your environment

They went to the lengths to document this. And to notify you when you run the software. You have the opportunity to opt-out of something that is completely harmless. There is no valid reason to be crying foul over this. Of all the tracking that goes on with our internet connections, this should by far be the least of anyone's concerns.

I have uBlock Origin installed in Chrome. With all the ad networks and analytics scripts blocked. Google Analytics does not run in my browser. And yet, I am not even slightly opposed to homebrew's use of it. It's actually anonymous, unlike how many developers use GA in the browser (tracking IP addresses, custom fields like user ids that link back to the site's database, etc). God speed, homebrew devs.

Re: Homebrew now sends usage information to Google Analytics

#217
post #212

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"We use the information we collect from all of our services to provide, maintain, protect and improve them, to develop new ones, and to protect Google and our users. We also use this information to offer you tailored content – like giving you more relevant search results and ads." https://www.google.com/intl/en/policies/privacy/ "When you visit a website that uses our advertising products (like AdSense), social produ…

Also related: """ Google Analytics protects the confidentiality of Google Analytics data in several ways: Google Analytics data may not be shared without customer consent, except under certain limited circumstances, such as when required by law. Security-dedicated engineering teams at Google guard against external threats to data. Internal access to data (e.g., by employees) is regulated and subject to the Employee A…

That seems to say Google won't share your Analytics data without making any guarantee that they won't _use_ your analytics data.

Re: Homebrew now sends usage information to Google Analytics

#220

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't see why; you're tracked like this on nearly every website you visit unless you opt out. This isn't malicious.

That doesn't follow. The fact that many websites do this doesn't prove that it isn't malicious. It may not be (it probably isn't), but that has little to do with the complaints made about the change.

Not even your IP address is recorded. It's physically impossible for this to be malicious. There are no real privacy advocates complaining here, only people who post "it must be opt-in!" as an instant reaction to just reading the term "opt-out". Most of the complaints are probably from people who have never even used homebrew. The submission headline contains the phrase "Google Analytics", which attracts the people who always come to criticize the tool rather than actually analyzing how the tool is being used in each case.
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