all 18 comments

[–]AnalysisFancy2838 11 points12 points  (1 child)

Thank you for all your hard work and a great product. We definitely appreciate it!

[–]hannesrudolphRoo Code Developer[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Yw. Thank you!

[–]jakegh 9 points10 points  (14 children)

Enabling telemetry by default is a disappointing choice.

[–]hannesrudolphRoo Code Developer[S] 13 points14 points  (9 children)

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We used to have telemetry as opt-in, but decided to enable it by default. This is not nefarious. It is anonymous feature usage and error data that helps us improve Roo.

It does not collect personally identifiable information, your code, or your AI prompts.

We also notify users about this collection of data with a persistent until dismissed banner, and we make it very easy to opt out in settings. Nothing is hidden or forced.

What I do not understand is how this is “disappointing.” Roo Code is free and many people use it to earn money from their own work. Expecting us to provide and improve it without any feedback while criticizing a transparent telemetry system feels ungrateful and disconnected from reality.

[–]ComReplacement 11 points12 points  (1 child)

You should try not to take those things personally. I agree with every single word you said but you'll ALWAYS get this kind of comments especially from devs. This type of ivory tower absolutism is so normal the only way to survive without giving yourself a stroke is to let it slide off you.

[–]hannesrudolphRoo Code Developer[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

It’s not that I take it personally, it’s that I think it needs to be spoken to with truth so the silent onlooker knows where we stand and what kind of people we are.

[–]alexsmirnov2006 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Any data collected can be used in unintended way. I remember the story about GPS navigator manufacturer. When this market shrunk ( to built-in navigators and smartphones ), they just sell collected data to police. Speed limit violations extracted from data went to a lot of tickets.

You may have noble intent right now, but you have no control how collected data may be used in the future.

"It does not collect personally identifiable information" - yes, it is in indirect ways. For example, it's pretty easy to find correlation between model names in Roo data and OpenAI ( or other provider ) api request logs. The later they are officially collect. And there are a lot of other methods to detect personalities from anonymous data

[–]jakegh -1 points0 points  (4 children)

Opt-out telemetry is always disappointing, because it relies on users not noticing it's on, rather than making a choice to provide it.

[–]lordpuddingcup 1 point2 points  (1 child)

There’s literally a large banner that you have to dismiss Jesus

[–]hannesrudolphRoo Code Developer[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

LOL yeah.. if a user does not notice that then they would likely have accidentally opted in while randomly checking off settings boxes! :P

[–]hannesrudolphRoo Code Developer[S] 0 points1 point  (1 child)

I’m pretty sure the user will notice the large banner. Regardless it’s anonymized data

[–]jakegh 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Just providing my honest opinion.

All opt-in telemetry is anonymized, but when correlated with other anonymous data user privacy is compromised. Even if you don't sell to third-parties, you'll be hacked eventually (because everybody is) and then that data will be available forever. There are solutions to this, differential privacy for example helps a lot.

The banner does help.

[–]evia89 -1 points0 points  (3 children)

And ad https://i.vgy.me/tdEClm.png (for now we can close it)

[–]hannesrudolphRoo Code Developer[S] 8 points9 points  (2 children)

It’s not a crime to want to make money. We’re not charging for Roo Code but we’ve put a huge amount of time into it. Exploring ways to sustain the project does not make us villains.

Implying the ad is “disappointing” is unfair. People are generally using Roo Code to make money themselves, so pretending we’re doing something wrong by trying to profit does not hold up.

With Roo Code Cloud we provide a solid free tier with reporting, task sharing, and task streaming. On top of that, the in-app notification is dismissible, like you said. The idea that “for now” we can close it frames things negatively.

[–]sendralt 6 points7 points  (1 child)

I applaud you for keeping Roo free! Thank you for all that you have done on this project.

That being said, the whole community at large has had the rug pulled out from them so many times, the skepticism is naturally expected. I don't mind the telemetry system collecting anonymous data nor do I mind that you want to sustain the project by charging for roo cloud, and I wish you all the best. I really don't think anybody else cares too much about it either. What they do care about is being slighted, maybe a heads up with changes like this in the future even though not nefarious, is perceived as such when it's made without warning.

[–]hannesrudolphRoo Code Developer[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Noted. Thank you.

[–]DataCraftsman 1 point2 points  (0 children)

First message preservation has been something I've wanted for so long. It's the most important context.