Telemetry disclosure for projects.

[rotgruengelb]

Please confirm the following.

• I checked the existing issues for duplicate feature requests

What parts of Modrinth is your feature request related too?

Modrinth.com website

Is your suggested feature related to a problem? Please describe.

Especially in the modding community it is generally not liked to include Telemetry/Tracking. And not being able to quickly, before installing, see if a mod/project includes such is difficult to impossible.

Describe the solution you'd like

An entry in the Details section that can show
"No Telemetry" (or blank/no entry)
"Includes Telemetry"/"Sends Telemetry"
potentially "Anonymized Telemetry"

Additionally, a link type to link to a "Privacy Policy"/"ToS"

Describe alternatives you've considered

• Not allowing new projects that include Telemetry
• Only the privacy policy link type (better than nothing)
• Requiring mods to include the fact they send telemetry in the description

Additional context

Mockup:

[rotgruengelb]

Potential Additional Options
"No Telemetry"/blank
"Opt-in Telemetry"
"Opt-out Telemetry"
"Automatic Telemetry"/"Always-on Telemetry"

[moehreag]

If the above categories were implemented a decision tree/check conditions for moderators might look like this:

• Does it contact any third-party server (Minecraft servers the player joins aren't included)?
  • if no: "No Telemetry"
  • if yes: Is it possible for the user to disable the telemetry and is it enabled by default?
    • if yes and yes: "Opt Out"
    • if yes and no: "Opt In"
    • if no and (irrelevant): "Forced/Always-On"

Special care should be taken for mods that present the user with a choice. If this is done before any server communication is made, the mod should go in the "Opt In" category provided that the options are presented in an equal fashion. If that isn't the case however it would be "Opt Out", and if a 3rd-party server is contacted even before the user is presented with a choice the project/mod should be categorized as including "Forced/Always-On Telemetry".

[rotgruengelb]

List of examples:

• https://modrinth.com/mod/cicada
• https://modrinth.com/mod/modmenu
• https://modrinth.com/mod/geyser
• https://optifine.net/home (optifabric)
• https://bstats.org/ (many plugins on modrinth)
• https://modrinth.com/mod/axiom
• https://modrinth.com/mod/capes
• https://modrinth.com/mod/collective
• https://modrinth.com/mod/axolotlclient
• https://modrinth.com/mod/essential
• https://modrinth.com/mod/fstats
• https://modrinth.com/plugin/mclogs
• https://modrinth.com/mod/e4mc

[isXander]

There is some nuance to this.

What about a mod that downloads something at runtime?
Telemetry could be inferred from any net request: i.e. CloudFlare stats.

But that's not necessarily telemetry.

And suddenly this feels a bit like the network connection police.

[rotgruengelb]

There is some nuance to this.

What about a mod that downloads something at runtime?
Telemetry could be inferred from any net request: i.e. CloudFlare stats.

But that's not necessarily telemetry.

And suddenly this feels a bit like the network connection police.

I'd consider this "External Networking" or something similar as discussed in the discord thread.
Idk what you mean by network connection police, this is purely a matter of improving transparency, not new rules.