Question about the analytics

[opk12]

Description

Does the f-droid build do data collection by default, or without prior explicit user consent? If so, it should be marked with the Tracking antifeature which it currently does not have

[ashutoshgngwr]

@opk12 F-Droid build doesn't have analytics. Only the Play Store build has the capability to collect analytics data. Moreover, Play Store build only sends analytics data when "Share usage and behaviour data" is turned on.

Bruh 🗿

[ashutoshgngwr]

For reference, see:

1. Analytics Provider implementation for free variant.
2. Analytics Provider implementation for full variant
3. Android Manifest for full variant that disables analytics data sharing by default. It also permanently disables the collection of Advertising IDs and Secure Settings Android IDs.
4. Consent Notice users see on the first launch, which only enables data sharing if you click "Accept".

In summary, the data collection doesn't happen without the user's consent. For the F-Droid (free) variant, this consent is implicitly denied since the behaviour is prohibited. For the Play Store(full) variant, the data is automatically collected in the local storage. It is only shared (uploaded to servers) when the user's consent is granted.