It's accurate in that it's the "remote collection and transmission of data", but it's a term traditionally associated with aerospace. Software has been doing this for a long time, but only recently have people started calling it "telemetry".
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telemetry
Look at that list under Applications. What makes software so different that it shouldn't be included?
Though at this point it's been widespread long enough that I suppose it's just a normal term that's "always been used", to some developers, not a new, alien-feeling part of the software lexicon.
Microsoft OTOH calls their data collection the "Customer Experience Improvement Program" - now THAT is whitewashing.
It's only been a decade or so now that you could rely on most computers always having an internet connection. That's probably why the term feels new - it only started being used when the practice became technically feasible. Maybe others remember things differently. /shrug
Like neural networks?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynamic_programming#History
Sounds super-fancy and advanced, but when you dig in it's like, "oh, that's all?"