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0 pointsslimsag3y ago0 comments

In my opinion, analytics should be minimal, 100% anonymous, aggregated, and open to the public - otherwise it’s spying.

I use a self-hosted Plausible analytics server to implement this[0] across all my websites, so it's all public and you get to see exactly what I see[1][2].

[0] https://hexops.com/privacy/

[1] https://opendata.hexops.com/devlog.hexops.com

[2] https://opendata.hexops.com/machengine.org

0 comments

jcheng3y ago

I’m with you on minimal, 100% anonymous, and aggregated, but why does the data need to be open to the public to not be spying? Genuinely curious, you’ve clearly thought about this a lot.

slimsagOP3y ago

There are only two reasons it would need to be private:

(1) you're collecting data where if it was public, people would be outraged. That's spying.

(2) you believe the data is anonymous and valuable, but only you / your group should benefit from the insights it provides. You're afraid someone else is going to 'take your ideas' and execute them better than you can.

Point 1 is ethically wrong, in my view. Point 2 is not ethically wrong, but IMO means what you are just trying to run a monopoly on an idea. That's fine, people do it all the time, especially companies - but I think this is wrong for the progress of humanity overall and I dislike it.

willcipriano3y ago

Someone saving all the letters you have written them isn't spying on you, you have just been careless to write down so many private things.

The easier way is to assume all signals emitted by your computer are being consumed somewhere (Hey CIA friends!) and not emit anything you don't want detected.

1 more reply

ocdtrekkie3y ago

If the data is public, you're instantly able to be held accountable for the data you're collecting. Others can determine if you are doing something privacy invasive, intentionally or inadvertently.

Public analytics therefore help ensure and demonstrate your analytics are ethical.

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