Should we start collecting software usage data?

With the help of ChatGPT (GPT-3.5)

My humble prompting trial

What’s a dark pattern? What’s a deceptive pattern?

Dark patterns and deceptive patterns are both terms used to describe unethical or manipulative practices used in user interface design and online marketing to trick or deceive users into taking actions they might not want to take. These practices are designed to benefit the business or website at the expense of the user’s best interests. While they may be effective in the short term, they can harm the user experience and damage a company’s reputation in the long run.

Dark Patterns:
Dark patterns refer to user interface design choices that intentionally mislead or deceive users. These patterns are typically used to trick users into making decisions or taking actions that they might not otherwise choose if they had full and clear information. Dark patterns can take various forms, including:
    Misdirection: Steering users towards a particular action by making it more prominent or attractive while downplaying other options.
    Hidden Costs: Concealing additional charges or fees until late in the transaction process.
    Forced Continuity: Making it difficult for users to cancel subscriptions or memberships.
    Trick Questions: Using confusing language or design to manipulate user choices.
    Urgency and Scarcity: Creating a false sense of urgency or scarcity to pressure users into taking immediate action.

Deceptive Patterns:
Deceptive patterns refer to a broader range of practices that go beyond just user interface design and include any deceptive tactics or strategies employed by a company or marketer to manipulate or mislead consumers. This can include not only design elements but also misleading advertisements, false claims, or any practice that involves dishonesty. Deceptive patterns can take many forms, such as:
    False Advertising: Making false or misleading claims about a product or service.
    Bait-and-Switch: Advertising one product but substituting it with a different, often lower-quality, product.
    Phishing: Attempting to trick users into revealing personal information by posing as a legitimate entity.
    Fake Reviews: Posting fabricated positive reviews to artificially boost a product's reputation.
    Disguised Ads: Making advertisements look like regular content to deceive users.

Both dark and deceptive patterns are considered unethical and can damage a company’s reputation when discovered. Many countries have laws and regulations in place to protect consumers from such practices, and companies that engage in these behaviors may face legal consequences or fines. Ethical design and transparent marketing practices are generally recommended to build trust and maintain a positive relationship with customers.

What’s Slicer biomedical research software?

3D Slicer is not specific to biomedical research but is widely used in the field due to its versatility and capabilities. It’s an open-source software platform used for medical image analysis, visualization, and 3D image reconstruction. Biomedical researchers, clinicians, and engineers often use 3D Slicer for a variety of tasks, including but not limited to:

  1. Medical Imaging Research: Researchers can use 3D Slicer to process and analyze medical images from various modalities such as MRI, CT, ultrasound, and more. It allows for segmentation (identifying and outlining specific structures or regions of interest), registration (aligning images from different scans or time points), and advanced visualization.
  2. Surgical Planning: Surgeons use 3D Slicer to plan and simulate procedures. They can visualize patient-specific anatomical structures in 3D, helping them make more informed decisions before surgeries.
  3. Image-Guided Interventions: 3D Slicer supports real-time navigation during medical procedures. It can register preoperative images with the patient’s current anatomy, aiding in guidance and precision during surgeries.
  4. Radiomics and Radiogenomics: Researchers use 3D Slicer to extract quantitative features from medical images, allowing for the analysis of large datasets to identify correlations between image-based metrics and clinical outcomes.
  5. Diffusion Imaging: It’s widely used in the analysis of diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) data, which can provide insights into the microstructure of tissues in the brain and other organs.
  6. Custom Module Development: 3D Slicer is highly extensible, and researchers can create custom modules and extensions to tailor it to their specific research needs.
  7. Education and Training: It’s used in medical education and training, providing a platform for students and professionals to learn and practice medical image analysis and 3D visualization.

3D Slicer is a powerful and flexible tool, and its open-source nature means that it has a large and active user community, which contributes to its development and supports its use in various applications, including biomedical research. It is often used in conjunction with other software and tools to enable a wide range of medical image analysis and research applications.

Write a non dark-pattern, non deceptive-pattern telemetry collection statement for 3D Slicer

Certainly, here’s a straightforward and transparent telemetry collection statement for 3D Slicer:

"At 3D Slicer, we are committed to improving our software and providing a better user experience. To achieve this, we collect limited telemetry data to help us understand how our software is being used and identify areas for enhancement. We value your privacy and are dedicated to being transparent about our data collection practices.

What data is collected:

  • Usage statistics: We collect information about the features and tools used within 3D Slicer, helping us understand which functionalities are most valuable to our users.
  • Error reports: In the event of a software error or crash, we may collect diagnostic information to diagnose and address issues more effectively.
  • Basic system information: We may gather data about the operating system and hardware configuration to optimize compatibility and performance.

How we use the data: The collected data is exclusively used for improving 3D Slicer. It helps us identify and prioritize software enhancements, address technical issues promptly, and enhance the user experience.

Data Protection: Your privacy is important to us. The data we collect is anonymized and aggregated to ensure that it cannot be used to identify individual users. We do not collect any personal or sensitive information.

Opting out: Participation in telemetry data collection is entirely optional. You can easily opt out of telemetry data sharing during the installation process or within the software’s settings.

We are dedicated to maintaining transparency and respecting your privacy. Your feedback and usage data play a crucial role in our efforts to make 3D Slicer a more valuable tool for the biomedical research community. Thank you for your support."

This telemetry collection statement is designed to inform users about the purpose of data collection, how it’s used, and how they can opt out if they wish, without resorting to dark patterns or deceptive practices.


As discussed on 2023.10.31 Weekly Meeting, a telemetry collection statement is proposed.

What do you think? :slight_smile:

NOTE: This OSS example of implementation was also mentioned on that meeting.

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