4 ms·

Wow, this works amazingly well. However, when I blurred something it made a network request to it's server (/telemetry.php) which is kind of creepy for a tool

by mrtksn 4y ago

Wow, this works amazingly well. However, when I blurred something it made a network request to it's server (/telemetry.php) which is kind of creepy for a tool with privileged access that helps you hide data. Is there a reason for its developer to be anonymous? Who is getting the telemetry and what's the monetisation for this tool? Edit: My bad, apparently the telemetry is disclosed on the website.

Fnoord 4y ago
On the landing page it says: > After launch Shottr contacts https://shottr.cc/api/version.json https://shottr.cc/api/version.json to check for an update. It won't download a new version, but will notify you with a red icon in the toolbar. It also sends home telemetry to help us find bugs, measure performance and gauge popularity of certain features. Telemetry does not contain any personal or identifiable information. It's not used for advertising or retargeting purposes, and is never sold to the third parties. There's an option to turn off telemetry collection in the app Preferences. Earlier versions of Shottr included Google Analytics code, but it was removed in v1.5.1. (Perhaps one shouldn't use closed source binaries with privileged access or network access. Its a thing to consider. That being said, I use Little Snitch.)
- mrtksn 4y ago
  Thanks, I missed that. Yet, I would prefer to know who is behind it to decide if you should trust it. The app is so good that I would probably pay for it. It's the dream screenshot app, just I would like to know who i'm trusting my private data with.
  - ffitch 4y ago
    I was pondering over submitting the app to the Mac App Store (it'll take some work and work = time), perhaps that would alleviate the anonymity concerns
- Veen 4y ago
  Also, in the advanced tab of the app's preferences it says: > We DO collect: performance metrics, error codes, frequency of feature usage; OS version, screen resolution and internationalization preferences. We DON'T collect: any personal information, IP address, text entered in the app. Screenshots never leave the computer unless you upload them to the cloud. (This text wasn't copyable, so I used Shottr's built in OCR on it. It worked very well)
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
ffitch 4y ago
Hi! I'm the author. Totally understand your concerns. I wasn't sure about the telemetry but it helped me to fix some issues so far, so I decided to keep it on an optional basis. The telemetry is fairly benign (mostly time assertions, error codes and feature usage frequency), but you don't have to trust me on this, it can be turned off in the settings. If you want a 100% peace of mind, you can use a third party tool to cut Shottr off the internet, it doesn't need the connection to work anyway. About the monetization — it's free and brings no income apart from the occasional buy-me-a-coffee donations. I really doubt I personally could've find a way to monetize stolen screenshots, I'm not that creative : )
- mrtksn 4y ago
  Thanks for reaching out, I guess I developed trust issues to the stuff on the internet :) A defence mechanism is to look at the person or company behind it, it feels better when you can say "a developer from Denmark made it" or "It's made by this American company". The app is not controversial or anything like that, I'm curious why do you prefer to be anonymous?
  - ffitch 4y ago
    I’m not really anonymous, the app is signed with a certificate with my name on it, guess you can find my name in other places as well. I just don’t feel comfortable being a public figure, if that makes sense?
    - mrtksn 4y ago
      Fair enough. Anyway, thanks for the app. It's really good, maybe you can write articles about your thought process and etc?

by mrtksn 4y ago

Fnoord 4y ago

On the landing page it says: > After launch Shottr contacts https://shottr.cc/api/version.json https://shottr.cc/api/version.json to check for an update. It won't download a new version, but will notify you with a red icon in the toolbar. It also sends home telemetry to help us find bugs, measure performance and gauge popularity of certain features. Telemetry does not contain any personal or identifiable information. It's not used for advertising or retargeting purposes, and is never sold to the third parties. There's an option to turn off telemetry collection in the app Preferences. Earlier versions of Shottr included Google Analytics code, but it was removed in v1.5.1. (Perhaps one shouldn't use closed source binaries with privileged access or network access. Its a thing to consider. That being said, I use Little Snitch.)

mrtksn 4y ago
Thanks, I missed that. Yet, I would prefer to know who is behind it to decide if you should trust it. The app is so good that I would probably pay for it. It's the dream screenshot app, just I would like to know who i'm trusting my private data with.
- ffitch 4y ago
  I was pondering over submitting the app to the Mac App Store (it'll take some work and work = time), perhaps that would alleviate the anonymity concerns
Veen 4y ago
Also, in the advanced tab of the app's preferences it says: > We DO collect: performance metrics, error codes, frequency of feature usage; OS version, screen resolution and internationalization preferences. We DON'T collect: any personal information, IP address, text entered in the app. Screenshots never leave the computer unless you upload them to the cloud. (This text wasn't copyable, so I used Shottr's built in OCR on it. It worked very well)

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

ffitch 4y ago

Hi! I'm the author. Totally understand your concerns. I wasn't sure about the telemetry but it helped me to fix some issues so far, so I decided to keep it on an optional basis. The telemetry is fairly benign (mostly time assertions, error codes and feature usage frequency), but you don't have to trust me on this, it can be turned off in the settings. If you want a 100% peace of mind, you can use a third party tool to cut Shottr off the internet, it doesn't need the connection to work anyway. About the monetization — it's free and brings no income apart from the occasional buy-me-a-coffee donations. I really doubt I personally could've find a way to monetize stolen screenshots, I'm not that creative : )

mrtksn 4y ago
Thanks for reaching out, I guess I developed trust issues to the stuff on the internet :) A defence mechanism is to look at the person or company behind it, it feels better when you can say "a developer from Denmark made it" or "It's made by this American company". The app is not controversial or anything like that, I'm curious why do you prefer to be anonymous?
- ffitch 4y ago
  I’m not really anonymous, the app is signed with a certificate with my name on it, guess you can find my name in other places as well. I just don’t feel comfortable being a public figure, if that makes sense?
  - mrtksn 4y ago
    Fair enough. Anyway, thanks for the app. It's really good, maybe you can write articles about your thought process and etc?