Move PostHog data collection to the backend

[liamcain]

Hi @louis030195 and @hotkartoffel. We (the Obsidian team) noticed that AVA has client-side telemetry code posting user data to PostHog from directly within Obsidian. We are still drafting a privacy and data collection policy for plugins, but there are a few guidelines we have already agreed on. Mainly, plugins should not submit user data to third-party telemetry services from directly within Obsidian, even if the data collection is opt-in.

Client-side libraries like PostHog's make it too easy for user data unrelated to your plugin to get collected. Instead, we ask that you move that data collection to your backend service; you should still be able to collect the same relevant usage information without risking user privacy.

[benjaminshafii]

@liamcain alright thanks for letting us know

we've already scaled down our usage of telemetry extensively (during the last week) and will continue to do so iteratively in the following weeks.

[liamcain]

Thanks!

[joethei]

What's the current state?

We have released these policies here: https://docs.obsidian.md/Developer+policies

[louis030195]

@joethei @liamcain hey, sorry about the delay, been particularly busy, just removed all analytics and release a new version:

041111e

https://github.com/louis030195/obsidian-ava/releases/tag/2.20.0

[louis030195]

as for privacy there is a possibility to run the API that powers Links locally (need to be technical though):

https://docs.embedbase.xyz/examples/implement-a-local-first-embedbase

(DM me if anyone interested)