So do I, which is why I wrote I’m unwilling to implement it :) The original (and, to be clear, purely theoretical) point was, opt-out is too manipulative while opt-in is likely useless.
Ah shoot. Did you take that to mean that I’m unwilling to implement an off switch at all? That wasn’t it, sorry for the confusion.
The struggle is real. As a developer, more data is obviously desirable and can make development much easier. I just can't think of a way to do telemetry that, if I were a user, I would accept. And I don't want to produce software that I wouldn't personally use.
I just don't know how to have my cake and eat it too.
I don't think the issue here is making decisions for users and not giving them a choice. 99.999% of software does not have a flag to change it. The issue seems to be more about the precise nature of this specific feature.
Of course. Not really just this specific feature, but any and all features that can violate users privacy or security. In the end, I don't think these are decisions that developers should be making for users, because not all users have the same needs and getting this wrong can do harm.
That's why, for these sorts of things, meaningful user consent is critically important.