[Nicksil]

>Devil's advocate: you could always not run those apps. Although for non-technical users it would be challenging to determine if the apps were transmitting that info, it's possible for technical users to detect it (assuming the info goes to an obviously-facebook url and isn't piped through e.g. spotify)

But therein lies the rub: the overwhelming majority of users of software are not like you and me and have no idea what's going on behind the curtains.

>Additionally I don't think there is anything wrong with client-side analytics in general since it's basically the only way to monitor performance/usage in production. And this type of thing is hard to discern from the more benign case

I hear this argument a lot and I empathize with the idea that having such information can aid in the development process. However, the argument asserting that some data may be useful to the developer so the developer is thus entitled to it, doesn't wash.

Regardless of the ubiquity of this behavior in today's software development industry, the fact remains that this process consumes the user's resources without their knowing or say in the matter and it's not OK.

[lonelappde]

The resources are trivial. If you don't like it you don't have to use the app that you chose to install.

[Nicksil]

>The resources are trivial.

Some of them aren't, though. The Facebook SDK isn't a trivial resource. It also depends a lot on the specific device the software is being loaded on to. It may be trivial to a newer device or one with upgraded hardware, but perhaps not so with baseline hardware or devices several years old.

>If you don't like it you don't have to use the app that you chose to install.

This argument may work with someone working in the software industry, but falls flat the moment the implied obligation is place on the unsuspecting.

[kaishiro]

You've very quickly sidestepped the primary point of the parent - many users would not know if it was even being loaded.

[saagarjha]

> The resources are trivial.

I think I as a user should get to decide that.