Remove google analytics

[jkopka]

Describe the new feature: I just installed version 2.6.1 from https://www.openshot.org/. At the first start it wants a connection to google-analytics. wtf?

Describe the solution you'd like: Remove it.

[JacksonRG]

Hi, We use the analytics to get an idea of how many daily users we have, and how they are using our app. All data is anonymized. If you want to avoid all google-analytics, you can opt out on install.

(One GA connection is made during install. To avoid that, install can be done offline)

[cboltz]

I'm afraid that google analytics violates GDPR in more than one way:

• opt-out / enabled by default
• no serious way to prevent the connection during install (no, "go offline" isn't a valid suggestion nowadays ;-)
• servers outside of the EU, which means transferring personal data outside of the EU (IP addresses are seen as personal data, and even if you can't see them, google will see them)

Besides that, it's an easy way to upset lots of OpenShot users, as you can see by the numerous tickets about this topic.

The best solution would indeed be to stop using google analytics.

If you don't want to do that, I'd recommend to

• make sending metrics opt-in
• do not call google analytics during installation (that will miss all the users with distro packages anyway)
• clearly explain that you use google analytics, for example by extending the send anonymous metrics and errors option with something like (using google analytics)
• IANAL, but I wouldn't be too surprised if GDPR requires you to include a privacy statement including a section about google analytics etc.

So in the end - do you really enjoy looking at numbers so much that it's worth this hassle? ;-)

Note: I don't know which data you get in case of errors, but in these (hopefully rare) cases, it might be the best idea to ask the user (while displaying exactly what will be sent). I'm quite sure that many users will allow that to get the problem fixed, but the key is to be transparent about it.

[baka0815]

https://matomo.org/ seems to be a GDPR compatible way to replace GA. You might give that a try.

[stale[bot]]

Thank you so much for submitting an issue to help improve OpenShot Video Editor. We are sorry about this, but this particular issue has gone unnoticed for quite some time. To help keep the OpenShot GitHub Issue Tracker organized and focused, we must ensure that every issue is correctly labelled and triaged, to get the proper attention.

This issue will be closed, as it meets the following criteria:

• No activity in the past 180 days
• No one is assigned to this issue

We'd like to ask you to help us out and determine whether this issue should be reopened.

• If this issue is reporting a bug, please can you attempt to reproduce on the latest daily build to help us to understand whether the bug still needs our attention.
• If this issue is proposing a new feature, please can you verify whether the feature proposal is still relevant.

Thanks again for your help!

[cboltz]

Ignoring this issue will not fix the GDPR violation...

[varverd]

Plus, it causes the application to freeze or crash when the user blocks the network request, as noted in https://github.com/OpenShot/openshot-qt/issues/5002 and https://github.com/OpenShot/openshot-qt/issues/4824.

Kind regards

[stale[bot]]

Thank you so much for submitting an issue to help improve OpenShot Video Editor. We are sorry about this, but this particular issue has gone unnoticed for quite some time. To help keep the OpenShot GitHub Issue Tracker organized and focused, we must ensure that every issue is correctly labelled and triaged, to get the proper attention.

This issue will be closed, as it meets the following criteria:

• No activity in the past 180 days
• No one is assigned to this issue

We'd like to ask you to help us out and determine whether this issue should be reopened.

• If this issue is reporting a bug, please can you attempt to reproduce on the latest daily build to help us to understand whether the bug still needs our attention.
• If this issue is proposing a new feature, please can you verify whether the feature proposal is still relevant.

Thanks again for your help!

[cboltz]

Ignoring this issue will not fix the GDPR violation...

[jonoomph]

All analytic data in OpenShot Video Editor is anonymized (no IP addresses are recorded or tracked), and no personal info is tracked. Users can opt out of ALL tracking on 1st launch (screenshot below) and OpenShot continues to function fine after opt-out. We are trying to collect the most basic of statistics, such as # of installs, screen usage, and exception reporting. We are certainly not trying to violate any laws on purpose.

The use of the analytics data helps us find errors, broken code, exceptions, and unused screens. This data helps us make OpenShot a better product and react more quickly to bugs. I am open to suggestions on improving this process, especially if there are better patterns, better analytic tools, better consent/explanations. I would love to find the a solution that satisfies the concerns mentioned here, and also allows consenting users to share vital statistics with our team to make OpenShot better.

[cboltz]

Making the analytics opt-in is a good first step, and a big improvement.

IANAL, but to my knownledge, GDPR requires informed consent, while the dialog only gives a vague idea of what will be sent. For example, it doesn't explain what exactly "metrics" means, doesn't explain that it uses google analytics etc. I'm afraid you'll need to have a privacy policy explaining all that, and will need a way to display the privacy policy (for example with a link in the dialog) before users agree with sending metrics.

There are some more things and details you should keep in mind, see my comment from Jul 10, 2022 in this issue.

BTW, since someone mentioned Matomo: that's indeed a good alternative to google analytics - but it doesn't change too much on the requirements (user consent, privacy policy etc.).