[FearNotDaniel]

Just to be clear: that is to opt out of the single telemetry message sent by the installer itself on successful install, not to opt out of .NET telemetry in general. You can do that at any time post install by setting the env var, no need to remove and reinstall the entire SDK just to turn off telemetry.

[alias_neo]

I still consider this fairly egregious in that if you've already installed it (but not used it) before finding this out; a bunch of details has already been reported about your environment. Does opting it before install also keep you opted out of all telemetry or does that have to be done separately?

If a new starter did this on a company machine, boom, misconduct on their first day; though I hope the network/operations team have already put a block in place for that.

That is an extreme example, but it's kind of annoying you have to look this up, and make sure you didn't typo the flag for every piece of software you use/test.

[jaywalk]

That flag opts out of all telemetry.

[ilyt]

It not being opt-in is the problem

[yamtaddle]

If it's not opt-in, the software's spyware, pure and simple, and ought to be lumped in with other malware that should be rejected, shamed, and marginalized until/unless that behavior changes.

I'm sticking to our much-better norms for this shit from c. 2000, damnit! It really is crazy how fast and completely that changed.

[matheusmoreira]

No idea why you're being downvoted. The only difference between telemetry and spyware is there's a "legitimate company" with "legitimate interests" behind it.

[ilyt]

Well, it's not as simple. Telemetry can be something as benign as sending error report when app crashed (which generally is useful if it doesn't leak other data and leads to better app), or as intrusive as tracking every click.

The context is also important, beta test of a game's entire point is to get that data to improve the product.