Arguably it was Microsoft who started the whole trend of calling spyware "telemetry" to obfuscate what they were doing.

averageRoyalty 6 days ago | parent | next [-]

I can't prove it, but I think that's untrue. Anecdotally, I've only heard MS using it in the last 10 years or so, and it's been pretty common terminology for years before that.

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userbinator 6 days ago | parent [-]

Last 10 years is right - Windows 10 was when they went all-in, and that was released in 2015. Before that, "telemetry" usually referred to situations where the same entity owned both ends of the data collection, so "consent" wasn't even necessary.

	▲	jeroenhd 6 days ago \| parent [-]
		Microsoft caught flack for backporting telemetry to Windows 7 in the Windows 8/8.1 era. They really started sucking down data in Windows 10 but their spying started years before that.

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tempaccount420 6 days ago | parent | prev [-]

Obfuscate? Telemetry arguably helps with deobfuscation.

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inetknght 6 days ago | parent [-]

> Telemetry arguably helps with deobfuscation.

Can you please expand on that? I have trouble understanding how telemetry helps me, as a user of the product, understand how the product works.

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chaps 6 days ago | parent | next [-]

Yeah. One of the most frustrating things about modern gaming is companies collecting metrics about how their game is played, then publishing "X players did Y!" pages. They're always interesting, but.... why can't I see those stats for my own games?! Looking at you, Doom Eternal and BG3.

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tempaccount420 6 days ago | parent | prev [-]

You can capture the telemetry data with a HTTPS MITM and read it yourself.

Or (if you're working lower level) you can see an obfuscated function is emitting telemetry, saying "User did X", then you can understand that the function is doing X.

	▲	inetknght 6 days ago \| parent [-]
		> You can capture the telemetry data with a HTTPS MITM and read it yourself. That's not helping me, the user. That's helping me, the developer. > Or (if you're working lower level) you can see an obfuscated function is emitting telemetry, saying "User did X", then you can understand that the function is doing X. Again, it helps me, the developer. Neither of these help me, the user.