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General discussionTelemetry in GOG GALAXY 2.0(91 posts)(91 posts)
(91 posts)
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This is my favourite topic
Posted June 23, 2021
Thank you Yepoleb for this post.
Just found it by searching if anyone checked what insights-collector.gog.com is for.

I'm blocking it on my DNS resolver now, and also I have blocked presence.gog.com which supposedly is used for setting your status as "Online" (but it's not easy to test because I need to get online with a browser to check my status) which I don't need.
I'll see if it breaks anything else.

For those of you folks who are concerned about being tracked everywhere, look up pi-hole, DNS resolver, and custom block lists.
Also you really should not use Windows or MacOS as your main system, it's literally a spyware and an ad delivery service. This is just my personal opinion.
Posted June 23, 2021
low rated
if it helps the app to be better thats fine
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Abishia: hmm that's against EU laws they need your consensus to collect data.

time EU get in the game and fine company's that thinking they can just collect your personal information
what personal info do they gather?
Post edited June 23, 2021 by Orkhepaj
Posted June 23, 2021
“Arguing that you don't care about the right to privacy because you have nothing to hide is no different than saying you don't care about free speech because you have nothing to say.” - Edward Snowden.

"If you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear." - Joseph Goebbels. (Nazi propaganda minister.)

It's never about what information they gather or why. It's ALWAYS about consent. I don't trust them, therefore I do not consent.

All the privacy agreements under the sun mean nothing. Confining data is like confining radioactivity. It will always get out eventually.

Google silently pushed app to users phones

I am not a number.
Post edited June 23, 2021 by borisburke
Posted June 23, 2021
high rated
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borisburke: I don't trust them, therefore I do not consent.
It is also a good practice to not trust them because they did not ask for consent. And I am not only speaking of GOG here.

Is it so hard to ask a question on the first run?
No.
So why they are not doing it?
Because they won't like the answer.
Is it okay to do something many of your users won't agree to if they would have a choice?
I don't think so.
What next thing are they going to do that we won't have a choice about? Just something to think about.
Posted June 23, 2021
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AreYouAfraidOfGod: It is also a good practice to not trust them because they did not ask for consent. And I am not only speaking of GOG here.

Is it so hard to ask a question on the first run?
No.
So why they are not doing it?
Because they won't like the answer.
Is it okay to do something many of your users won't agree to if they would have a choice?
I don't think so.
What next thing are they going to do that we won't have a choice about? Just something to think about.
Very well said.
Posted June 23, 2021
low rated
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Canuck_Cat: Thank you. I want to assign a numerical impact to all this stuff before denouncing this stuff.
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kohlrak: There has been talk from above about doing this in the west, and things like "looking up the wrong products" or "searching for the wrong things" could potentialyl be used against you
This is politics again allowed by mods, who banned others for it!

Where did you see this news?
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Yepoleb: What I can say for sure is that all the privacy focused marketing from GOG is quite dishonest. Galaxy has not been designed with privacy in mind. The people still downloading their games manually and launching them without any clients in between do have at least one more reason to do so. I'm also going to be requesting another personal data dump from GOG according to GDPR to see if there is anything interesting in it that they're honest about collecting.
So why aren't you talking to EU lawyers?
Post edited June 23, 2021 by Crevurre
Posted June 23, 2021
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Crevurre: This is politics again allowed by mods, who banned others for it!
I got a week for it, but i honestly don't care. GOG'll regret the policy, especially with some of the other developments. It's only a matter of time before they either start cracking down equally, close the forums, or go full free speech. My guess is those things will be tried in that order (thus never trying free speech, and eventually the forums will close when they realize how absurd the whole notion is and how much trouble it gets them in, and that it's costing them money).
Where did you see this news?
If you're talking about social credit, I don't have it anymore, as i've heard of it years ago. I remember the evidence was going around the IDW. It's not even complicated to predict, either: the whole cancel culture thing going on right now is demonstration that people are wanting this sort of thing.

As for what has already been implemented, there are leaks of banning for crimethink already (not that we needed leaks to tell us) from project veritas. One of their more recent leakers pointed to "vaccine hesitancy score." They're already all implementing new policies to ban users for "off-site behavior," which we all know means that it's about a user's reputation. We're definitely heading in this direction.
Posted June 23, 2021
low rated
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kohlrak: I got a week for it, but i honestly don't care. GOG'll regret the policy, especially with some of the other developments. It's only a matter of time before they either start cracking down equally, close the forums, or go full free speech.
Really? ...I'm taken aback. Seems like you do know a thing or two, but you don't really express it here.
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kohlrak: If you're talking about social credit, I don't have it anymore, as i've heard of it years ago. I remember the evidence was going around the IDW.
I saw disqus openly selling shadowbanning technology on their website recently.
Post edited June 23, 2021 by Crevurre
Posted June 23, 2021
low rated
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borisburke: Google silently pushed app to users phones
This is why for me, I purchase phones where I can install whatever ROM/OS I prefer and control everything from there. Lineage OS is very good for that at the moment.
Posted June 23, 2021
low rated
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BartonFink: GOG also now sends me emails with discount offers but you have to pass a reCAPTCHA test in order to see what the offer is, which I avoid doing. What kind of telemetry does Google access when you try and pass that test?
Who knows?

Google uses the image captcha's as a way to train AI. Often you are required to identify something that is unclear or indistinct, something that an AI would have difficulty with. And I have no problem with that. But I don't know what else they are harvesting and since I don't trust them, I too avoid the Capcha-wall offers.
Posted June 23, 2021
low rated
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borisburke: Google silently pushed app to users phones
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Arcadius-8606: This is why for me, I purchase phones where I can install whatever ROM/OS I prefer and control everything from there. Lineage OS is very good for that at the moment.
If I could be bothered, I'd probably do something similar, but I can't. My phone is not a smartphone and does not require registering with snoople to activate it. Owning a smart phone is optional for the moment, but even that freedom is being eroded a little every day.

For example, I recently purchased an expensive (for me) gimbal camera. I watched several reviews and how-too's on youtube, and read the online manual, before choosing it. At no point was it made clear that I have no choice but to activate the camera by downloading an app onto a smartphone and registering. The app was mentioned, but only in a 'and you can use this app to get this feature' type way.

When I tried to operate the camera for the first time, it said I need to install the app, I have 4 tries left.

I have not discovered what happens after another 4 tries, but it doesn't sound good.

My solution is to get a friend with a smartphone to activate it for me. If the thing bugs me for a smartphone again, I'm returning it.

Where did you see this news?
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kohlrak: If you're talking about social credit, I don't have it anymore, as i've heard of it years ago. I remember the evidence was going around the IDW. It's not even complicated to predict, either: the whole cancel culture thing going on right now is demonstration that people are wanting this sort of thing.

As for what has already been implemented, there are leaks of banning for crimethink already (not that we needed leaks to tell us) from project veritas. One of their more recent leakers pointed to "vaccine hesitancy score." They're already all implementing new policies to ban users for "off-site behavior," which we all know means that it's about a user's reputation. We're definitely heading in this direction.
Recently, a prominent opposition politician in Hong Kong was imprisoned for a crime they called 'Tactical voting.'. If that's not thoughtcrime I don't know what is. That's about it for any semblance of democracy in Hong Kong.
Post edited June 23, 2021 by borisburke
Posted June 23, 2021
low rated
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borisburke: My solution is to get a friend with a smartphone to activate it for me. If the thing bugs me for a smartphone again, I'm returning it.
I think that's how they gimp drones. These drones could be fun, but now they suck 100%.
Posted June 23, 2021
low rated
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Arcadius-8606: This is why for me, I purchase phones where I can install whatever ROM/OS I prefer and control everything from there. Lineage OS is very good for that at the moment.
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borisburke: If I could be bothered, I'd probably do something similar, but I can't. My phone is not a smartphone and does not require registering with snoople to activate it. Owning a smart phone is optional for the moment, but even that freedom is being eroded a little every day.

For example, I recently purchased an expensive (for me) gimbal camera. I watched several reviews and how-too's on youtube, and read the online manual, before choosing it. At no point was it made clear that I have no choice but to activate the camera by downloading an app onto a smartphone and registering. The app was mentioned, but only in a 'and you can use this app to get this feature' type way.

When I tried to operate the camera for the first time, it said I need to install the app, I have 4 tries left.

I have not discovered what happens after another 4 tries, but it doesn't sound good.

My solution is to get a friend with a smartphone to activate it for me. If the thing bugs me for a smartphone again, I'm returning it.
I'd return it. They now make treadmills that won't start unless you either sign up for a special service fee, or use the secret code to start them up. THe secret code appears to universally be to whole the power button for a whole 30 seconds on the treadmill and it'll override and let you run the thing without hooking it up to hte internet and such. Unfortunately, this is nearly every treadmill now. Only reason i know this was 'cause a few months ago i was helping my old man find one.
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kohlrak: If you're talking about social credit, I don't have it anymore, as i've heard of it years ago. I remember the evidence was going around the IDW. It's not even complicated to predict, either: the whole cancel culture thing going on right now is demonstration that people are wanting this sort of thing.

As for what has already been implemented, there are leaks of banning for crimethink already (not that we needed leaks to tell us) from project veritas. One of their more recent leakers pointed to "vaccine hesitancy score." They're already all implementing new policies to ban users for "off-site behavior," which we all know means that it's about a user's reputation. We're definitely heading in this direction.
Recently, a prominent opposition politician in Hong Kong was imprisoned for a crime they called 'Tactical voting.'. If that's not thoughtcrime I don't know what is. That's about it for any semblance of democracy in Hong Kong.
Don't get me wrong, we're no where near hong kong anywhere in the west... Except the UK. May God give those poor people a reasonable reprieve.
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kohlrak: I got a week for it, but i honestly don't care. GOG'll regret the policy, especially with some of the other developments. It's only a matter of time before they either start cracking down equally, close the forums, or go full free speech.
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Crevurre: Really? ...I'm taken aback. Seems like you do know a thing or two, but you don't really express it here.
A mix of experience and logic. I don't really have anything on the inside of GOG or anything, but they clearly want the forums so we talk about gog and it's problems where gog can keep an eye on it. As more and more BS comes down, they have to vainly attempt to enforce their policies. Free speech isn't really an option, which is why it goes last. In reality, they'll realize the forums are costing them more in reputation and attempts to moderate it than it would be to just shut them down. I just know from experience that they can't maintain this no politics rule, because it's just absolutely untenable when you think about what politics is and what is and is not actually political (which is why they already caved when it comes to talking about "in game politics"). They just haven't gone the whole way to realizing that. I heard already they're starting to crack down more fairly since people are calling them out on it, but they still haven't addressed the elephant in the room with their own political posts and the games they're selling being overtly tied to real world politics. It's not like almost all the major news agencies didn't remove their comments sections, either, for lesser reasons.
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kohlrak: If you're talking about social credit, I don't have it anymore, as i've heard of it years ago. I remember the evidence was going around the IDW.
I saw disqus openly selling shadowbanning technology on their website recently.
Yeah, because you have the problem of places like twitter saying access to twitter is a fundamental human right, yet twitter is banning users. Shadow banning is how they attempt to square that circle.
Post edited June 23, 2021 by kohlrak
Posted September 08, 2021
low rated
Ah yes a thread about valid concerns that's gone on a year with no GOG team member response.
I see this thread amounting to much.
Posted December 10, 2021
low rated
Bookmarking this post. Has the OP revisited this thread to discuss the results of their GDPR request for info?
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Yepoleb: Hey,

I had a peek behind the scenes of the Galaxy client again and noticed an awful lot of requests to an insights-collector.gog.com domain. So I played around with the client for some time to see what kind of insights GOG is collecting. Here's a quick list of the events that were transmitted, loosely in the order that I triggered them:

* When the client is launched
* When you successfully log in
* When you open/focus the client window
* When you unfocus the client window
* When you minimize the client window
* When you view your activity feed
* When you view a game
* When you switch tabs (Overview, My progress, Extras) in the game view
* When you view your friend list
* When you view a friend's profile
* When you view your library
* When you click the install button on a game
* When you look at the currently downloads
* When you open the store
* When a game finished downloading including how long it took
* When you open a store page
* When a game is installed
* When you open the settings
* When you switch settings tabs
* When you change a setting
* When you click the menu option to file a bug report
* When you open the search
* When you click on a search result
* When you filter the library
* When you clear library filters

All of these actions are sent to GOG as soon as they are triggered along with a second-accuracy timestamp and the currently logged in user. In summary there's very little you can do in the Galaxy client without GOG knowing exactly what you did.

Now, is this a reason for concern? Maybe. There is nothing in the transmitted data that couldn't also be collected from using the website. It's also very unlikely that this stream of events would reveal anything personal about you. It's still a bit unsettling, to me at least, that Galaxy users are tracked so closely and without any attempt at anonymization. I have no problem with GOG having the technical ability to look at who I chat with and whose profiles I visit, but to know that they actually feed that data into their analytics... that's just a little bit creepy. There's surely a use to some level of telemetry, but this seems quite far away from the amount required to ensure a good user experience, especially when there are more than enough people who voluntarily give their opinions on what needs improvement.

What I can say for sure is that all the privacy focused marketing from GOG is quite dishonest. Galaxy has not been designed with privacy in mind. The people still downloading their games manually and launching them without any clients in between do have at least one more reason to do so. I'm also going to be requesting another personal data dump from GOG according to GDPR to see if there is anything interesting in it that they're honest about collecting.
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This is my favourite topic
Community
General discussionTelemetry in GOG GALAXY 2.0(91 posts)(91 posts)
(91 posts)