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Topic: Audacity will spy you (Read 20414 times) previous topic - next topic
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Audacity will spy you

Bad news for us weirdos who use(d) Audacity for recording and decrackling vinyl records: their new owner Muse considers Google telemetry a good thing.

https://github.com/audacity/audacity/pull/835/files

Regardless of how this will end, it is probably a good idea to try alternatives. (Suggestions are welcome, by the way.)
audiophile // flac & wavpack, mostly // using too many audio players

Re: Audacity will spy you

Reply #1 –
I paid the money for iZotope RX 8 and haven't looked back

Re: Audacity will spy you

Reply #2 –
Continue using a version without the telemetry. For declicking RX can't be beat. RX2 is still very good. As a multi-track editor, consider Reaper.

Re: Audacity will spy you

Reply #3 –
Thanks for sharing this.
I feel very disappointed. That's all I have to say...
gold plated toslink fan

Re: Audacity will spy you

Reply #4 –
Looking at the code, it looks like there will be an option to disable Google telemetry.  Not good they put "etc" in what information they're collecting though.

Code: [Select]
static const auto title =
/* i18n-hint: Title of the telemetry permission dialog */
XO ("Help us improve Audacity");

static const auto firstParagraph =
/* i18-hint: The first paragraph of telemetry permission dialog */
XO (
"We would like to collect anonymous usage data to \
help us prioritize improvements and making Audacity \
better in the future. This includes things like \
frequency of use, preferred file formats, crash logs etc."

Re: Audacity will spy you

Reply #7 –
Why do you really care if the developer knows how you use their app without you explicitly emailing them a breakdown of every feature you use? Is it that the developer should explicitly care about everything the app supports, and never focus on any one thing, in case they want to please literally everyone without being able to ask anyone what they actually use?

Re: Audacity will spy you

Reply #8 –
I use Little Snitch to block telemetry from many applications; that way, it doesn't matter what the app wants, I still get to choose.

Re: Audacity will spy you

Reply #9 –
People complaining about this are weird.

Little do they know many video games do telemetry and even analytics of player behaviour.

Re: Audacity will spy you

Reply #10 –
Oh no! Someone wants to know something about you. Better lock yourself in a shelter and cease all interaction with the world.

Re: Audacity will spy you

Reply #11 –
Looking at the PR, it seems the default is off and you have to explicitly allow it (as it should be).
So not _that_ big of a deal, it's just disappointing that some people here have the "who cares lol" attidute towards privacy.

And yes, it is known that many other software is tracking you, including games (unity is the worst offender), but we have ways of blocking that as well.

Re: Audacity will spy you

Reply #12 –
Find a statement by one of the new Audacity developer team members regarding the added telemetry functions:
https://github.com/audacity/audacity/pull/835

An ongoing discussion is taking place right below the statement.

Re: Audacity will spy you

Reply #14 –
"Everyone does it" is not the same thing as "you accept it anyway".
Evaluating REAPER, looks good to me - thank you!
audiophile // flac & wavpack, mostly // using too many audio players

Re: Audacity will spy you

Reply #15 –
Speaking of privacy, uBlock Origin on my Firefox blocks nothing on hydrogenaud.io, even though I have several privacy/annoyance filters enabled, which is very rare.

Re: Audacity will spy you

Reply #16 –
Quote from: bennetng on
Speaking of privacy, uBlock Origin on my Firefox blocks nothing on hydrogenaud.io, even though I have several privacy/annoyance filters enabled, which is very rare.
Well, that does not belong here. You should have opened a new thread.

In uBlock Origin check that hydrogenaud.io isn't listed on the 'Trusted Sites' tab. Blocking is disabled for trusted sites entirely, regardless of any filters/rules. If that isn't the case, you might want to disable 'Easy List' from the 'Filter Lists' tab temporarily, as it causes issues with certain rules at times.

Re: Audacity will spy you

Reply #17 –
What bennetng meaned is that there really is nothing to block on hydrogenaud.io.

Re: Audacity will spy you

Reply #18 –
If he actually meant that, he did not express it quite easy to comprehend. I can agree with bennetng's opinion, though.

Re: Audacity will spy you

Reply #19 –
Quote from: Rollin on
What bennetng meaned is that there really is nothing to block on hydrogenaud.io.
Right and thanks. Anyway, I have no more comment about the site's privacy.
Yes, Reaper is great, but learning curve is steep as well.

Re: Audacity will spy you

Reply #20 –
Quote from: kode54 on
Oh no! Someone wants to know something about you. Better lock yourself in a shelter and cease all interaction with the world.

Hey, I tried that and it didn't work :P.
So yeah, agreed. At sooner or later the world will get to know you. Games, apps, and even OSes are just the start.
 

Re: Audacity will spy you

Reply #21 –
NextDNS should solve the problem

Re: Audacity will spy you

Reply #22 –
"Sooner or later everyone will violate your privacy" is a weird reason to just accept it.
audiophile // flac & wavpack, mostly // using too many audio players

Re: Audacity will spy you

Reply #23 –
Quote from: sld on
NextDNS should solve the problem

Yes, it probably would, but switching to a different software does as well. The more people leave Audacity, the more likely they will change their mind about good and bad ways to track users.

Being a software developer myself, I agree that telemetry can be important. Yet, the GDPR exists for a reason.
audiophile // flac & wavpack, mostly // using too many audio players

Re: Audacity will spy you

Reply #24 –
Quote from: tuxman on
[...] is a weird reason to just accept it.
Frau Merkel accepted it and calmed down. Relax. Google is an American corporation of the Good. Obey!