MacPorts Statistics (was Re: usage numbers for macports vs. homebrew?)

[MK-MacPorts at techno.ms]

Dear Clemens,

first of all I apologise if my words were too harsh. It was not my intention to attack you or anyone else on a personal level!
I am just concerned about everyone’s privacy.

> I have (as I said I was going to in a different part of my last mail you
> didn't quote) changed my webserver logging setup to anonymize the IP address
> in the logfiles and removed all previous logs. A successful stats submit now
> looks like this to me:
> 0.0.0.0 - - [23/Mar/2014:14:37:01 +0100] "POST /submissions HTTP/1.1" 302 968 "-" "MacPorts/2.2.99 libcurl/7.30.0"
> 0.0.0.0 - - [23/Mar/2014:14:37:08 +0100] "GET /submissions HTTP/1.1" 200 2603 "-" "MacPorts/2.2.99 libcurl/7.30.0”
OK, that’s better. The 0.0.0.0 slipped my attention.

> I don't know what "NSA-like meta-data" you mean in this case. Without the
> IP addresses there is absolutely no way to link a user to his UUID.
I just wanted to make sure that there is no link between a person and an UUID.

> And honestly, I find it disrespectful and inappropriate to compare this (and
> me) with the NSA's actions.
As I said, in no way I wanted to be disrespectful or anything close.
And I admit my comparison was perhaps a bit over the top, but the revelations of the past year have made me a bit nervous regarding the privacy topic.

> An opt-in based system that submits specific
> data (and it's no secret what it submits either, the code is open source
> and the FAQ on the stats site clearly explains it) is hardly comparable to
> global mass surveillance without the victim's knowledge. Please refrain
> from using such inappropriate comparisons in the future.
I am sorry that it came across as inappropriate, but this post regarding handing over the database:
—
> 	I'd take a copy.  Maybe you could just put it on DropBox or something similar?
—
made me shudder because I thought we’d distribute the database with all information including UUID to anyone who can work dropbox.
Does that not sound odd?
I know that the poster has no NSA-intentions, for goodness sake, but I just wanted to ring a bell here and raise attention somewhat.
(I hope that makes it clear enough why I wrote my posts.)

> And from what I recall the result of the discussion was that the system had
> to be opt-in, and that's what it currently is. You might not see the point
> of having package statistics, but nobody is forcing you to participate. Frankly
> I see the benefit of these statistics and I have put quite some work into it –
> if you think you can do better or improve the privacy, submit patches.
I was - from the beginning on - actually always PRO this feature, i.e. I DO SEE the advantage to have such a system in place.
If you go back to those discussion on the list you will see that. So, I am not against this great feature at all.
I just wanted to make sure that the database is not handed over to anyone who asks as long as it is unclear whether the data are really not traceable back to the individual.

> The mpstats port currently submits statistics data up to four times per month
> automatically. We however only store one set of data per user per month. To
> get this done, we need a way to link multiple submissions by the same
> installation together. I think the UUID is a good way to achieve this.
OK, I see now that such an UUID is a must for that scenario.

> If you disagree, back your criticism with a patch and a better way to do this. I think
> what we have is sufficient (especially when compared to all the involuntary(!)
> tracking anybody using a web browser out there is subject to) and I will not be
> putting more of my time into it.
All fine, as I said, I was just overly afraid because of un-backed half-knowledge on my end.
Again, I am for the feature if it keeps submissions anonymous.

Once more: I never meant to attack anyone, especially not you, Clemens, personally, because I am myself waiting for the stats feature since back then when the discussions started.

OK, I think I’ve put enough ashes on my head for today.
Marko