[simplotek]

> That's only for the telemetry that happens during the install process (if I've read the link correctly).

Wrong. That's for the dotnet cli tool to phone home each and every time you run a command.

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/core/tools/telemetr...

Microsoft even provides a page which showcases summaries of some of the metrics they collect from you if you don't disable this feature. These metrics even include MAC addresses.

https://dotnet.microsoft.com/en-us/platform/telemetry

> Seems quite reasonable as long as we accept them sending telemetry during install.

There is nothing reasonable about this. You should not be required to have tribal knowledge on how to use arcane tricks prior to running an application just to avoid being spied upon. It's a dark pattern, and one that conveys a motivation to spy upon unsuspecting users whether they approve it or not.

[sleepyfran]

But they do mention that you can disable it at anytime, only that for the telemetry that is sent with the installer you have to set the flag beforehand (obviously):

> The .NET SDK telemetry feature is enabled by default. To opt out of the telemetry feature, set the DOTNET_CLI_TELEMETRY_OPTOUT environment variable to 1 or true.

> A single telemetry entry is also sent by the .NET SDK installer when a successful installation happens. To opt out, set the DOTNET_CLI_TELEMETRY_OPTOUT environment variable before you install the .NET SDK.

[jve]

> These metrics even include MAC addresses.

MAC address SHA256 hashes, to be precise.

[account42]

MAC addresses are only 48-bit and sparsely allocated (i.e. the first half indentifies the vendor). I wouldn't be surprised if the hashes for all normal hardware (i.e. with known vendors) can be easily brute forced.