[dtrailin]

Basically every Android and IOS app you use collects telemetry (which you usually cannot disable) for UX purposes but suddenly when Microsoft does it it's a Big Deal. I don't see the issue with refining UX using anonymous data if it improves the product for the end users. Every high quality commercial app does this.

[em3rgent0rdr]

F-Droid maintains a repository of open-source only android apps, and either doesn't allow apps that has telemetry or at least flags apps which may have such anti-features:

https://f-droid.org/en/packages/

[reaperducer]

Basically every Android and IOS app you use collects telemetry

So it's OK, then. Jimmy jumped off a bridge, so it's OK if Johnny does it, too. No harm done!

but suddenly when Microsoft does it it's a Big Deal

No, it's a big deal because Microsoft feels entitled to collect information about people using... wait for it... a calculator.

using anonymous data

It's not anonymous. We know it's going to at least get a timestamp and IP address.

I don't see the issue with refining UX

Neither do I. Do it by bringing people in and testing the program on them, the way it was done for decades before "telemetry" became one of those SV euphemisms.

Every high quality commercial app does this.

No. They don't.

[millstone]

Is this data actually anonymous? I can't find anything saying so.

Apple does not collect data at anywhere near this granularity, e.g. which buttons were pressed.

[rozenmd]

You can effectively disable telemetry in Android by getting Blokada from F-droid

[oblio]

Can it run on regular Android?

[narcissus]

You don't need to root your phone to run Blokada, if that's what you're asking... I installed it sometime last year and as of right now, it claims to have blocked 595944 requests.