According to ZDNet, Canonical is swapping out its aging Ubuntu Report system for a new, open-source telemetry platform called Ubuntu Insights. The key detail is that participation is completely opt-in, and the data collected—things like hardware specs, display info, and partition types—contains exactly zero personal information. This data is stored locally for a week before a user decides to send it, and it’s uploaded only once a month. Canonical’s stated goal is to use this anonymized data to guide performance optimizations and, crucially, to share aggregated stats with hardware vendors to prove demand for Linux support. The entire codebase is available on GitHub for public audit, and Canonical has detailed the changes on its community discourse page.
Why this is different
Here’s the thing: when we hear “telemetry,” we instinctively flinch. And for good reason. It’s usually a black box of data harvesting, sold to the highest bidder or used to build creepy ad profiles. But Ubuntu’s approach flips the script. It’s transparent by necessity—it’s open source, so you can literally read every line of what it’s doing. The JSON file it creates is just a dry list of components: your CPU model, your GPU vendor ID, your screen resolution. No keystrokes, no location pings, no browsing history.
So why do it at all? Canonical says it helps them optimize the OS for real-world hardware, which is fair. But the bigger play is the vendor argument. Think about it. If Canonical can go to HP or Lenovo with hard data showing a thousand-percent spike in Linux installs on their latest laptops, that’s a game-changer. It moves Linux from being a “niche enthusiast OS” to a market with proven, measurable users. That’s how you get pre-installed systems and proper driver support. It’s community data being weaponized for the community’s benefit.
The trust factor
Look, I get the skepticism. Trust is earned, not given. But the mechanics here are designed for verification. The data sits in your ~/.cache directory for a week before it even has a chance to be sent. You can look at it anytime. You can write a script to monitor it. The source code is public. This is about as far from Windows or macOS telemetry as you can get. In those ecosystems, you’re trusting a corporation’s pinky swear. With Ubuntu Insights, you can verify it yourself. That’s a fundamental power shift.
And let’s be real—this kind of data collection is table stakes for a modern OS. You need to know what hardware people are using to fix bugs and prioritize features. The alternative isn’t some pristine, data-free experience; it’s developers flying blind. The question isn’t *if* data is collected, but *how* and *for what purpose*. Canonical’s model, focused on improving the core product and expanding its ecosystem, is arguably the most defensible purpose there is.
A model others should copy
This is where the lesson is for everyone else. The exodus from Windows and macOS to Linux isn’t just about avoiding telemetry. It’s about avoiding *opaque, exploitative* telemetry. Ubuntu is demonstrating that you can gather useful data while respecting user autonomy and privacy. You do it in the open, you make it optional, and you use it to make the product better—not to build a surveillance profile.
If other platforms want to stem the tide, they need to adopt this level of transparency. But will they? Probably not. Their data empires are too lucrative. And that’s exactly why Canonical’s approach with Ubuntu Insights feels like such a win-win. It gives the developers what they need to build a better system, and it gives users a reason to actually opt-in, knowing their data is serving a cause they likely believe in: making Linux a more viable, better-supported platform for everyone. That’s a rare alignment of interests in tech today.
