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Comment by MikeKusold | Hacker News Reader

I tried out RescueTime in the past (~2010-12 or so) but I was never comfortable sending my tracking data to a remote server. I since found Qbserve[0] which is a similar product, but it keeps all your data local. If I find myself distracted on any given day, then I turn on focus.app [1] to kill those distractions.

It's not as elegant of a solution as what RescueTime offers, but all my data stays on my machine which is worth the trade off to me.

[0]: https://qotoqot.com/qbserve/

[1]: https://heyfocus.com/

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Requiring sending data to a remote server is definitely something we want to move away from. The good news is our engine is pretty advanced and we're looking at being able to bundle it for a local install. Notes like these help motivate us to prioritize that, so thanks.

This is my #1 need. I was a paying customer, but eventually got uncomfortable with the remote data and cancelled my subscription.

Same here - I used RT early on, when I was younger and more naive, and stopped when it dawned on me what data is being sent out. I would gladly use a local-only version; I remember your application circa 2012 being excellent. I just am not comfortable with the privacy aspect.

Definitely planning on working on it. Thanks for chiming in to help us prioritize this.

Yeah, adding my voice. Rescue time (and apps like it) are far too invasive (by necessity) for me to be comfortable with that data being sent remotely. It amounts to the single most invasive spy tool you could possibly install, since it's literally tracking every single thing I do. It doesn't matter how much you pledge to not spy on me, if you have my data you can change your mind at the drop of a hat.

There is literally nothing you can do to earn my trust with that much data - the rest of tech has not just scorched that Earth, they've glassed it. The only thing you can do that would make me consider becoming a customer is cut off your own ability to spy on me - by ensuring my data stays local and you have no access to it.

Editing to add: I considered Rescue Time in the past, used Freedom for a time (until I realized they were sending off my data and what that meant), then used qbserve for a long time. Stopped while ago when I realized I'd stopped looking at it and had stopped feeling like I needed it.

It’s true that unfortunately over the years there have been enough bad actors where I can’t describe our commitment to privacy in a way that easily instills trust. We’ve definitely benefitted from many users’ trust over the years in that we’ve been able to build a product that’s smarter about the best way to work for most people. Really looking forward to packaging it in a way that will make you feel comfortable.

Same story for me.

I used RescueTime for a long time, but it felt weird.

Also switched to QBserve after a while and it's been great.

RescueTime has more features, for sure (at least it did before), but these days, it is just too much extra data to willingly send to others.

Yeah, we've analyzed enough data over the years that I think for the most part we can finally move away from this. The trick is keeping up with new applications and websites and understanding how they fit into peoples' work habits but that's a solvable problem, I think.

> Yeah, we've analyzed enough data over the years that I think for the most part we can finally move away from this.

I am curious. What were the analyses and what's your conclusion(s)?

Happy RescueTime paying customer here.

Is there a place that clearly states everything RescueTime is sending up? Maybe that would at least help people trust it more?

Of course, what an app says it’s sending, and what it actually does, might not always gel.

Cool! Thanks for being a happy customer! And sure - (copying from a different response below) you can see all of the data that we track by looking at the diagnostics window in the app: https://help.rescuetime.com/article/50-how-can-i-reset-my-re...

In short we track the name of the application you're using, and the window title OR the URL of the website you're on (if you're in a recognized browser). We query the OS to detect what's in focus and whether or not the computer has gone idle to track time spent on a particular thing. We also use crowdsourced data collected over the years to understand what categories applications and websites are (meeting tools, communication tools, design/coding/business tools, etc.) All of our data is never used individually, only analyzed in aggregate in an anonymized way. We're compliant with GDPR rules. Here's our privacy policy for more information: https://www.rescuetime.com/privacy

Shameless plug, but maybe you can try Amna[0] which has local first time tracking (turn off your internet) and provides a focus bar that creates a cohesive deep work experience.

[0] https://getamna.com

I'll check it out. :)

For sure! As long as you don’t eat my baby :)

I love QBserve! It's been really useful for me (if somewhat terrifying to see the amount of time I spend on social media haha). And it's the only product I've found that is both completely functional (a lot of OSS in this space is missing major functionality) and that I trust to not be sending my highly detailed, highly-personal data to... some random server.

I find that altering my hosts file manually and using the new focus feature on MacOS Monterey fits perfectly for my workflow.

I don’t have installed apps that distract me. It’s simply websites (Reddit being the worst in my case) and notifications.

I’m also using a separate user account for dev work and everyone at work knows I check slack and my emails twice a day and they can call me at any time. I’ve found it cuts down on distractions because it’s easy for people to ping me with small things but they feel a significant reason is needed for calls.

Focus on iOS has all notifications muted in my work profile but allows calls from my co-workers and partner.

Those are great ideas. I love the new Focus features in Monterey, too. One thing that MacOS can’t do is tell you when to stop working for the day once you’ve gotten enough focus work done. That feature is the one I use the most in this new version and I rely on it every day.

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