DO_NOT_TRACK A standard for respecting user privacy in software
The Problem
Many CLI tools, SDKs, and frameworks collect telemetry data by default. Each one has its own way to opt out:
Tool Opt-out method .NET DOTNET_CLI_TELEMETRY_OPTOUT=1 Copy AWS SAM CLI SAM_CLI_TELEMETRY=0 Copy Azure CLI AZURE_CORE_COLLECT_TELEMETRY=0 Copy Gatsby GATSBY_TELEMETRY_DISABLED=1 Copy Go go telemetry off Copy Google Cloud SDK gcloud config set disable_usage_reporting true Copy Homebrew HOMEBREW_NO_ANALYTICS=1 Copy Netlify CLI netlify --telemetry-disable Copy Syncthing STNOUPGRADE=1 Copy
You get the idea. There are too many, and they are all different.
The Proposal
A single, standard environment variable that clearly and unambiguously expresses a user's wish to opt out of any of the following:
Ad tracking
Usage reporting, anonymous or not
Telemetry
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