[blub]

Spyware is software collecting information about someone without their consent.

Doesn't have to be malicious, doesn't have to be what's legally defined as personal information. The fact that many companies are doing it doesn't make it less inappropriate.

Reputable companies will clearly inform users and ask for their confirmation. Then they respect their choice.

Disreputable companies such as MS or Google take without asking, use dark patterns to trick users, default to always on, reset privacy settings, etc.

[reitanqild]

As someone who has removed my fair share of spyware infections I'll say "easy now".

I think I'll be happy the day EU and American consumer protection agencies start looking closer into Googles business.

I'd also applaud even more visible information about what exactly gets collected and sent (the old gds "Read very carefully - this is not the usual yadda yadda" would be a good start).

However IMO we shouldn't call legitimate telemetry "spyware". I thing that is what you call "crying wolf".