I made a thread here going into more detail, (which I would recommend reading for some context), but TL;DR:
bsky.app & Bluesky's mobile apps (which this repo pertains to), contain tracking code from Sentry & Statsig.
bsky.social contains tracking code from Google.
There is currently no option to opt out of or disable this functionality.
My proposal is as follows:
Remove Google tracking from bsky.social, period.
Ideally, remove Sentry & Statsig from bsky.app as well; but as a compromise, at least add some kind of setting or toggle to disable it.
Why?
Privacy is a fundamental human right. Sharing data with third parties who can (and in Google's case, will certainly) use that data to profile & track users poses clear privacy concerns.
Bluesky is social media as it should be. Find your community among millions of users, unleash your creativity, and have some fun again.
Evidently, unwanted data collection & tracking is not how social media should be. Among other reasons, it is exactly why myself and millions of other people have left platforms like Facebook & Twitter/X in the first place.
Another quote from Bluesky's website:
Control your scroll
Use powerful moderation lists, content filters, and more to control what ends up in your timeline. In the future, people and organizations will be able to use open tools to contribute even more directly to moderation.
If Bluesky is designed to give control back to users, why would that not extend to other areas, such as privacy & data collection?
Additionally:
IANAL, so I won't go too deep here, but this could potentially raises GDPR concerns, as this data is being collected 1: without clear user consent, 2: without a way to toggle or opt out, and 3: is not necessary for Bluesky to function.
(With the obvious exception of Threads), other widely adopted open social media platforms similar to Bluesky, such as Mastodon and Nostr, have no tracking or data collection, period. This does not reflect well on Bluesky when compared to alternatives, and it will hurt adoption from users.
Above all else, it is simply the right thing to do.
I hope I haven't come off too harsh; Ultimately, I'm filing this issue because I care and want Bluesky to succeed. I've enjoyed my time on the platform, it's been quite refreshing, and I see a bright future ahead of it.
I genuinely want Bluesky to live up to its potential of becoming 'social media as it should be', and I fully believe that it can and should do that. However, it must be said that adding functionality which directly harms users & implementing it in this way is exactly what Bluesky should be against. It is directly antithetical to your stated goals and mission. Bluesky should be rectifying the wrongs of the platforms that preceded it, not repeating them.
I'll end off with repeating a statement from my thread:
i can respect the desire to collect analytics/telemetry to improve a product or service. what i can't respect is giving this data to third parties like statsig, sentry, and GOOGLE, WITHOUT user consent and a way to opt out.
Thank you for your time & consideration. I deeply respect your team and your hard work on this platform, and I fully believe you are doing this for the right reasons. I do not feel like my proposal is an unreasonable request, and I look forward to your response to this matter. Can't wait to see what comes next. 💙
I made a thread here going into more detail, (which I would recommend reading for some context), but TL;DR:
bsky.app& Bluesky's mobile apps (which this repo pertains to), contain tracking code from Sentry & Statsig.bsky.socialcontains tracking code from Google.There is currently no option to opt out of or disable this functionality.
My proposal is as follows:
Remove Google tracking from
bsky.social, period.Ideally, remove Sentry & Statsig from
bsky.appas well; but as a compromise, at least add some kind of setting or toggle to disable it.Why?
Privacy is a fundamental human right. Sharing data with third parties who can (and in Google's case, will certainly) use that data to profile & track users poses clear privacy concerns.
To quote Bluesky's website:
Evidently, unwanted data collection & tracking is not how social media should be. Among other reasons, it is exactly why myself and millions of other people have left platforms like Facebook & Twitter/X in the first place.
If Bluesky is designed to give control back to users, why would that not extend to other areas, such as privacy & data collection?
Additionally:
IANAL, so I won't go too deep here, but this could potentially raises GDPR concerns, as this data is being collected 1: without clear user consent, 2: without a way to toggle or opt out, and 3: is not necessary for Bluesky to function.
(With the obvious exception of Threads), other widely adopted open social media platforms similar to Bluesky, such as Mastodon and Nostr, have no tracking or data collection, period. This does not reflect well on Bluesky when compared to alternatives, and it will hurt adoption from users.
Above all else, it is simply the right thing to do.
Conclusion:
Rose from Bluesky has made the claim that Bluesky won't sell user data. I find this stance odd and think it may be worth reconsidering. After all, if you're just going to hand out data to third party companies, why not get something out of it??? 😬 (/s)
I hope I haven't come off too harsh; Ultimately, I'm filing this issue because I care and want Bluesky to succeed. I've enjoyed my time on the platform, it's been quite refreshing, and I see a bright future ahead of it.
I genuinely want Bluesky to live up to its potential of becoming 'social media as it should be', and I fully believe that it can and should do that. However, it must be said that adding functionality which directly harms users & implementing it in this way is exactly what Bluesky should be against. It is directly antithetical to your stated goals and mission. Bluesky should be rectifying the wrongs of the platforms that preceded it, not repeating them.
I'll end off with repeating a statement from my thread:
Thank you for your time & consideration. I deeply respect your team and your hard work on this platform, and I fully believe you are doing this for the right reasons. I do not feel like my proposal is an unreasonable request, and I look forward to your response to this matter. Can't wait to see what comes next. 💙