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diff --git a/docs/anonymous-statistics.md b/docs/anonymous-statistics.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..70c502d --- /dev/null +++ b/docs/anonymous-statistics.md @@ -0,0 +1,109 @@ +<!-- +title: "Anonymous statistics" +description: "The Netdata Agent collects anonymous usage information by default and sends it to Google Analytics for quality assurance and product decisions." +custom_edit_url: https://github.com/netdata/netdata/edit/master/docs/anonymous-statistics.md +--> + +# Anonymous statistics + +Starting with v1.12, Netdata collects anonymous usage information by default and sends it to Google Analytics. We use +the statistics gathered from this information for two purposes: + +1. **Quality assurance**, to help us understand if Netdata behaves as expected, and to help us classify repeated + issues with certain distributions or environments. + +2. **Usage statistics**, to help us interpret how people use the Netdata agent in real-world environments, and to help + us identify how our development/design decisions influence the community. + +Netdata sends information to Google Analytics via two different channels: + +- Google Tag Manager fires when you access an agent's dashboard. +- The Netdata daemon executes the [`anonymous-statistics.sh` + script](https://github.com/netdata/netdata/blob/6469cf92724644f5facf343e4bdd76ac0551a418/daemon/anonymous-statistics.sh.in) + when Netdata starts, stops cleanly, or fails. + +You can opt-out from sending anonymous statistics to Netdata through three different [opt-out mechanisms](#opt-out). + +## Google tag manager + +Google tag manager (GTM) is the recommended way of collecting statistics for new implementations using GA. Unlike the +older API, the logic of when to send information to GA and what information to send is controlled centrally. + +We have configured GTM to trigger the tag only when the variable `anonymous_statistics` is true. The value of this +variable is controlled via the [opt-out mechanism](#opt-out). + +To ensure anonymity of the stored information, we have configured GTM's GA variable "Fields to set" as follows: + +| Field name | Value | +| -------------- | -------------------------------------------------- | +| page | netdata-dashboard | +| hostname | dashboard.my-netdata.io | +| anonymizeIp | true | +| title | Netdata dashboard | +| campaignSource | {{machine_guid}} | +| campaignMedium | web | +| referrer | <http://dashboard.my-netdata.io> | +| Page URL | <http://dashboard.my-netdata.io/netdata-dashboard> | +| Page Hostname | <http://dashboard.my-netdata.io> | +| Page Path | /netdata-dashboard | +| location | <http://dashboard.my-netdata.io> | + +In addition, the Netdata-generated unique machine guid is sent to GA via a custom dimension. +You can verify the effect of these settings by examining the GA `collect` request parameters. + +The only thing that's impossible for us to prevent from being **sent** is the URL in the "Referrer" Header of the +browser request to GA. However, the settings above ensure that all **stored** URLs and host names are anonymized. + +## Anonymous Statistics Script + +Every time the daemon is started or stopped and every time a fatal condition is encountered, Netdata uses the anonymous +statistics script to collect system information and send it to GA via an http call. The information collected for all +events is: + +- Netdata version +- OS name, version, id, id_like +- Kernel name, version, architecture +- Virtualization technology +- Containerization technology + +Furthermore, the FATAL event sends the Netdata process & thread name, along with the source code function, source code +filename and source code line number of the fatal error. + +Starting with v1.21, we additionally collect information about: + +- Failures to build the dependencies required to use Cloud features. +- Unavailability of Cloud features in an agent. +- Failures to connect to the Cloud in case the agent has been [claimed](/claim/README.md). This includes error codes + to inform the Netdata team about the reason why the connection failed. + +To see exactly what and how is collected, you can review the script template `daemon/anonymous-statistics.sh.in`. The +template is converted to a bash script called `anonymous-statistics.sh`, installed under the Netdata `plugins +directory`, which is usually `/usr/libexec/netdata/plugins.d`. + +## Opt-out + +You can opt-out from sending anonymous statistics to Netdata through three different opt-out mechanisms: + +**Create a file called `.opt-out-from-anonymous-statistics`.** This empty file, stored in your Netdata configuration +directory (usually `/etc/netdata`), immediately stops the statistics script from running, and works with any type of +installation, including manual, offline, and macOS installations. Create the file by running `touch +.opt-out-from-anonymous-statistics` from your Netdata configuration directory. + +**Pass the option `--disable-telemetry` to any of the installer scripts in the [installation +docs](/packaging/installer/README.md).** You can append this option during the initial installation or a manual +update. You can also export the environment variable `DO_NOT_TRACK` with a non-zero or non-empty value +(e.g: `export DO_NOT_TRACK=1`). + +When using Docker, **set your `DO_NOT_TRACK` environment variable to `1`.** You can set this variable with the following +command: `export DO_NOT_TRACK=1`. When creating a container using Netdata's [Docker +image](/packaging/docker/README.md#run-the-agent-with-the-docker-command) for the first time, this variable will disable +the anonymous statistics script inside of the container. + +Each of these opt-out processes does the following: + +- Prevents the daemon from executing the anonymous statistics script. +- Forces the anonymous statistics script to exit immediately. +- Stops the Google Tag Manager Javascript snippet, which remains on the dashboard, from firing and sending any data to + Google Analytics. + +[]() |