8 ms·

For me, it's more about telemetry than licensing.

by bakoo 8y ago

immigrantsheep 8y ago
AFAIK telemetry can be disabled with "telemetry.enableTelemetry": false
- Zekio 8y ago
  isn't it agains't GDPR having it be like that?
  - chii 8y ago
    wouldn't downloading and agreeing to the eula suffice for purposes of this?
    - majewsky 8y ago
      No. GDPR requires that users must be able to use the service after opting out of data collection (except if the data collection is required for rendering the service to the user). A EULA, in contrast, must be accepted, otherwise the service may not be used.
  - jonathonf 8y ago
    An opt-in is required under GDPR for personally identifiable information, not "any data ever". Anonymous/aggregated data collection is allowed under the GDPR, though this data collection should still be made clear to the user (and it is on https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/supporting/FAQ#_gdpr-and-vs-code https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/supporting/FAQ#_gdpr-and-...).
carlmr 8y ago
Doesn't it suffice to set the following in your User Settings? "telemetry.enableTelemetry": false Honestly I'm very happy to give telemetry data. Microsoft is doing so much to improve the experience, they can make it better with some data.
- lucideer 8y ago
  This doesn't suffice unfortunately. That setting has worked inconsistently, or not at all, and add far as I've seen in my own testing it never disables all telemetry. There have been issues open on GitHub about this for a long time, though it's a few months since I checked there for updates (I stopped bothering and just put it in my firewall rules; I still see blocked connections in thy log today). I'm a very happy vscode user, but this is one antifeature does continue to bother me.
  - bunderbunder 8y ago
    It really is annoying that they don't make it opt-in instead. They've got plenty of users; I can't imagine they need to be collecting usage statistics from everyone. I'm curious what would happen if a moderate-size country (say, Belgium) were to pass a law saying that telemetry must be opt-in. I bet it would convince everyone to just be universal opt-in for simplicity's sake. That said, I bet it's still nothing compared to the level of data collection that a typical website does these days.
  - lucideer 8y ago
    > @bunderbunder I bet it's still nothing compared to the level of data collection that a typical website does these days. I'd say the opposite. Consider that (a) you typically visit websites briefly and periodically while most vscode users have it open as long as their computer is on, and (b) Electron provides access to lot more device data than the browser sandbox. The reason websites tend to have such far-reaching and devious user-tracking methods is because they're working in such a restricted environment and have to innovate; native desktop apps have far less restrictions.
    - bunderbunder 8y ago
      Another big difference, though, is that VSCode's telemetry is publicly documented. So, regardless of what they're able to collect, I know what they are collecting, and how personally identifiable it is, and I know that it's pretty tame compared to what I've seen elsewhere.

For me, it's more about telemetry than licensing.

by bakoo 8y ago

For me, it's more about telemetry than licensing.

immigrantsheep 8y ago

AFAIK telemetry can be disabled with "telemetry.enableTelemetry": false

Zekio 8y ago
isn't it agains't GDPR having it be like that?
- chii 8y ago
  wouldn't downloading and agreeing to the eula suffice for purposes of this?
  - majewsky 8y ago
    No. GDPR requires that users must be able to use the service after opting out of data collection (except if the data collection is required for rendering the service to the user). A EULA, in contrast, must be accepted, otherwise the service may not be used.
- jonathonf 8y ago
  An opt-in is required under GDPR for personally identifiable information, not "any data ever". Anonymous/aggregated data collection is allowed under the GDPR, though this data collection should still be made clear to the user (and it is on https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/supporting/FAQ#_gdpr-and-vs-code https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/supporting/FAQ#_gdpr-and-...).

carlmr 8y ago

Doesn't it suffice to set the following in your User Settings? "telemetry.enableTelemetry": false Honestly I'm very happy to give telemetry data. Microsoft is doing so much to improve the experience, they can make it better with some data.

lucideer 8y ago
This doesn't suffice unfortunately. That setting has worked inconsistently, or not at all, and add far as I've seen in my own testing it never disables all telemetry. There have been issues open on GitHub about this for a long time, though it's a few months since I checked there for updates (I stopped bothering and just put it in my firewall rules; I still see blocked connections in thy log today). I'm a very happy vscode user, but this is one antifeature does continue to bother me.
- bunderbunder 8y ago
  It really is annoying that they don't make it opt-in instead. They've got plenty of users; I can't imagine they need to be collecting usage statistics from everyone. I'm curious what would happen if a moderate-size country (say, Belgium) were to pass a law saying that telemetry must be opt-in. I bet it would convince everyone to just be universal opt-in for simplicity's sake. That said, I bet it's still nothing compared to the level of data collection that a typical website does these days.
- lucideer 8y ago
  > @bunderbunder I bet it's still nothing compared to the level of data collection that a typical website does these days. I'd say the opposite. Consider that (a) you typically visit websites briefly and periodically while most vscode users have it open as long as their computer is on, and (b) Electron provides access to lot more device data than the browser sandbox. The reason websites tend to have such far-reaching and devious user-tracking methods is because they're working in such a restricted environment and have to innovate; native desktop apps have far less restrictions.
  - bunderbunder 8y ago
    Another big difference, though, is that VSCode's telemetry is publicly documented. So, regardless of what they're able to collect, I know what they are collecting, and how personally identifiable it is, and I know that it's pretty tame compared to what I've seen elsewhere.