Tracker inside

[IzzySoft]

First thanks for making your module available under a libre license! But with great power (and we're speaking of root and Xposed here), it's all the more important who gets access (whom do I tell 🙈). Checking your app I find:

Offending libs:
---------------
* Microsoft Appcenter Analytics (/com/microsoft/appcenter/analytics): Tracking
* Microsoft Appcenter Crashes (/com/microsoft/appcenter/crashes): Tracking

2 offenders.

So two analytic modules, both by a company not exactly known to protect OUR privacy. Would you consider removing these? If you just need "some" analytics, there are things like (self-hosted) Sentry and more, some of them can be found here.

Thanks in advance!

[GuhDoy]

Thanks for your suggestion. I can read your sincere concern about privacy between the lines.
However, I am still confused about your suggestion. It seems that Sentry and appcenter are collecting similar data, and both of them are open-sourced. Why is Sentry acceptable but appcenter don't?

[IzzySoft]

I can read your sincere concern about privacy between the lines.

Yupp. I'm one of those "privacy proponents" 😄 In a world where privacy seems to detoriate (driven by "big tech"), I feel this is an important topic.

It seems that Sentry and appcenter are collecting similar data, and both of them are open-sourced. Why is Sentry acceptable but appcenter don't?

AppCenter collects data and transfers them to Microsoft (a player not exactly known for really respecting our privacy) – while Sentry can (and should) be configured with your own server, and then ideally be configured to be opt-in. As you write both collect similar data: maybe you could switch to the latter then, and make it opt-in? 😉

[GuhDoy]

Thanks for your patient presentation. I get it. Sadly I don't have my own server 😢(maybe have one in the future, but that will take a long time). What can I do before I have my own server?

[IzzySoft]

AFAIK, Sentry also offers space on their servers. So one option would be switching to Sentry with their server configured, but collection turned off by default (have e.g. a popup at first start, or a screen in the onboarding activity, to explain to and ask users if they want it turned on – with the switch on "off" by default). Once you have your own server, you'd then only need to replace the "collection point". And with it turned off by default, there'd be no reason for a Tracking anti-feature (speaking in terms of F-Droid).

If you'd do that and let me know when a matching release with APK is ready, I could cross-check ASAP and take the app into my repo if all is well – plus guide you for an inclusion with the (more trusted) F-Droid.org repo.

(disclosure: I'm one of the F-Droid.org maintainers)