The answer I've gotten to this question from multiple sources is: because if we ask, not enough users say yes.

Which speaks volumes.

I've learned that a lot of people somehow made it to adulthood without a single lesson on what actual enthusiastic true consent is.

The followup to that is: '...and they'll switch to alternatives that don't ask.'

because 80% of users dont opt in, dont opt out, they roll with the defaults, and when asked dont mind that youre getting anonymized telemetry back. most users are not privacy maxis like those motivated to comment 3 threads down on hn posts like these. they want to get their stuff done and expect the product to improve and understand that we have evolved these practices as pragmatic tradeoffs.

Not to mention it's usually possible to opt out (as it is with Next.js/Vercel).

They trust us and we are eroding that trust by invading their privacy for bs reasons.

They do not understand, they just shrug “I guess devs need this”. They expect us to know, to care, because it is our job. We don’t and it’s sad.

And because of this erosion, more people are pushing back on telemetry. Imagine if everyone decided to get together, detail what telemetry they needed and why and outline how users can help - protect their privacy and actually Do The Right Thing(tm) that more people would be willing to care, and maybe contribute.

The type of people who volunteer are different from the general population.

That’s why things like public opinion surveys have to be random and why jury duty selection isn’t volunteer.