Automatically opting a user into data collection, without explicitly asking the user, is a dark pattern.

Requiring the user to set an environment variable to opt out is smarmy.

Phones home...

Some people disagree. If they didn't, why is this on HN with a lot of comments from people who a unhappy with this change?

If software compromises my privacy, I feel that I have been betrayed and lost something that I can not take back.

If you don't get to automatically participate in a "anonymous" usage survey, have you lost something you can not undo?

That in my opinion, is why software should always err on the side of privacy.

People just LOOVE to be outraged. For example in this thread people rage about google getting hands on their data. When I point out that the webmaster has to explicitly chose to share the data with google, I get downvoted. When I say that GA prohibits the use of PII, I get downvoted. It doesn't matter that I'm right. People WANT to be outraged. Reason, no reason, doesn't matter.

Chill, dude. Most of us dislike GA and its monopoly on web/mobile tracking. Why trust GA to respect webmaster options when you don't have to?

...anyway, complaining about getting downvoted is a surefire way to keep getting downvoted :P