1. Developers managed just fine in times before pervasive telemetry was normalized.
2. How "data driven" development usually fails in practice, and is a false promise - that is indeed a big and interesting topic, spanning across issues like Goodhart's law, or whether the data is used to "improve your experience" as if the user was a Thanksgiving turkey.
3. But even if you are of pure intentions and able to avoid all the pitfals of 2, I have no reason to believe that. As a user, I don't know you, I don't trust you. All I know is that, before telemetry became something developers suddenly can't do a good job without, it was the domain of spooks, criminals, and shady advertisers. We used to call it "spyware" and classified it as a form of malware. What reason do I have to believe you are and will forever be using this data in my interest, and not against it?
4. Between HIPAA, GDPR and various cybersecurity policies of one's organization/employer, your benign, unadvertised, opt-out telemetry may be landing some of your users in hot water - and it's the major reason why organizations keep getting stricter about what can or cannot be installed on work machines. Savvy users will prefer to avoid your telemetry-rich product, rather than to take the risk of a fuss with IT or Legal if the product captures some bits of protected information.
2. How "data driven" development usually fails in practice, and is a false promise - that is indeed a big and interesting topic, spanning across issues like Goodhart's law, or whether the data is used to "improve your experience" as if the user was a Thanksgiving turkey.
3. But even if you are of pure intentions and able to avoid all the pitfals of 2, I have no reason to believe that. As a user, I don't know you, I don't trust you. All I know is that, before telemetry became something developers suddenly can't do a good job without, it was the domain of spooks, criminals, and shady advertisers. We used to call it "spyware" and classified it as a form of malware. What reason do I have to believe you are and will forever be using this data in my interest, and not against it?
4. Between HIPAA, GDPR and various cybersecurity policies of one's organization/employer, your benign, unadvertised, opt-out telemetry may be landing some of your users in hot water - and it's the major reason why organizations keep getting stricter about what can or cannot be installed on work machines. Savvy users will prefer to avoid your telemetry-rich product, rather than to take the risk of a fuss with IT or Legal if the product captures some bits of protected information.