docs: describe our telemetry

ammario · ghuntley · commit 7f75e9588226 · 2022-09-07T02:32:36.000Z
diff --git a/docs/manifest.json b/docs/manifest.json
@@ -134,6 +134,18 @@
       "icon_path": "./images/icons/users.svg",
       "path": "./users.md"
     },
+    {
+      "title": "Admin",
+      "description": "How to install and deploy Coder",
+      "icon_path": "./images/icons/cog.svg",
+      "children": [
+        {
+          "title": "Telemetry",
+          "description": "Learn what usage telemetry Coder collects",
+          "path": "./admin/telemetry.md"
+        }
+      ]
+    },
     {
       "title": "Contributing",
       "description": "Learn how to contribute to Coder",
diff --git a/docs/telemetry.md b/docs/telemetry.md
@@ -0,0 +1,43 @@
+# Telemetry
+
+Coder collects telemetry data from all free installations. Our users have the right to know what we collect, why we collect it, and how we use the data.
+
+## What we collect
+
+First of all, we do not collect any information that could threaten the security of your
+installation. For example, we do not collect parameters,
+environment variables, or passwords.
+
+You can find a full list of the data we collect in the source code [here](https://github.com/coder/coder/blob/main/coderd/telemetry/telemetry.go).
+
+We offer three levels of telemetry that can be configured with the
+`CODER_TELEMETRY=x` environment variable. For example, telemetry level 1 can
+be configured with `CODER_TELEMETRY=1`.
+
+`CODER_TELEMETRY=2` is our default level. It includes user email and
+IP addresses. This information is used in aggregate to understand where our
+users are and general demographic information. We may reach out to the
+deployment admin, but will never use these emails for outbound marketing.
+
+`CODER_TELEMETRY=1` is our lightweight telemetry setting. It excludes
+email and IP addresses, but everything else in the aforementioned source
+code is still sent out. In this level, it is nearly impossible for Coder
+to associate an installation to specific organizations or users.
+
+`CODER_TELEMETRY=0` disables telemetry altogether. We reserve this setting
+for our enterprise customers. You can also reach out to contact@coder.com if
+you need a zero-telemetry license due to security policy requirements.
+
+## How we use telemetry
+
+We use telemetry to build product better and faster. Without telemetry, we don't
+know which features are most useful, we don't know where users are dropping
+off in our funnel, and we don't know if our roadmap is aligned with the
+demographics that really use Coder.
+
+Typical SaaS companies collect far more than what we do with little transparency
+and configurability. It's hard to imagine our favorite products today existing
+without their backers having good intelligence.
+
+We've decided the only way we can make our product open-source _and_ build
+at a fast pace is by collecting usage data as well.
