I get where you're coming from, and this is a problem, but this isn't a practical or pragmatic stance. Typical web/app tracking is orders of magnitude cheaper than research.

> Yes, it costs more to collect the data manually.

Not just that, but you also get data biased to people willing to spend two hours answering questions for a $25 Amazon gift card.

> Not just that, but you also get data biased to people willing to spend two hours answering questions for a $25 Amazon gift card.

Sure, but the whole point of this article was that the telemetry data is also biased.

There is no magic bullet. Your options are to get biased data the cheap way or the ethical way. Either way, the data is biased and you have to consider that when making decisions.

> Typical web/app tracking is orders of magnitude cheaper than research.

It doesn't just ethics, and I think it should be "first, do no harm", as in, first, be ethical.

Btw, opt-in metrics are ethical and cheap afaik. As for biased? all metrics are biased...

Its not charity, I allow them to collect my data so that they can use it to improve the service.

Then you are being charitable.

No since I'm not giving my data for free. I expect service improvement as a return.

You're already paying for the service. The service improves because the business providing it has to stay competitive to keep getting payed.

A business is not obligated to improve a service just because you donated your telemetry data.

Yes and in addition I also pay with my data. I didn't simply donate my data. I expect the company to use my data and my money to improve the service. Even with money, the company is not obligated to improve service just because you pay.

If they stop improving, I'll stop paying them as well as stop giving them my data.

> Giving a business your data is an act of charity. It should never be an expectation.

Alternatively the business could pay us to do that but obviously they resist the idea.