It was a pull request to add opt-out analytics that got blown out of proportion, where the real issue was the EULA and how tonedeaf of a move it was considering the community around Audacity. IIRC, they ended up replacing it with opt-in analytics.
Comment on Audacity adds AI audio editing capabilities thanks to free Intel OpenVINO plugins
wewbull@feddit.uk 10 months ago
I thought audacity was tarnished with spyware or something these days. Is it safe again?
InfiniWheel@lemmy.one 10 months ago
RmDebArc_5@lemmy.ml 10 months ago
Not really, but there is a fork called tenacity which fixes this
xor@infosec.pub 10 months ago
after looking into it:
it’s not and it never was.
a) it’s open source, so nobody’s putting that shit in there without getting caught
b) it had an opt-in error reporting feature that would send data back… that was the entire thing…
drislands@lemmy.world 10 months ago
What? You must be joking. Really? The entire thing was about opt-in error reporting?
… seriously, that can’t be it, can it?
eager_eagle@lemmy.world 10 months ago
Not really, it was an apparent change to the privacy policy that vaguely anticipated collection of arbitrary user data, which shook the confidence of the open source community on the project. The fact this happened right after audacity was sold was the cherry on top.
github.com/audacity/audacity/issues/1213
Changes were eventually reverted.
doctorcrimson@lemmy.world 10 months ago
Were they? I’ll have to check later, but an official statement from Muse Group stated they provided the data they collected to third parties so idk. If the telemetry is still there then I’m not downloading it, Open Source projects generally don’t need telemetry to begin with.
xor@infosec.pub 10 months ago
yep… really just that…
i’ve used it forever with a very restrictive firewall and i’ve never seen it do anything unexpected… or any phoning home at all…
doctorcrimson@lemmy.world 10 months ago
in 2021 Audacity was acquired by a company called MuseGroup who added unnecessary telemetry and they admit that they do provide the data the collect to third parties. It’s spyware as far as I’m concerned.
StereoTrespasser@lemmy.world 10 months ago
If opt-in telemetry is spyware then the FOSS community truly is off the rails.
Klear@sh.itjust.works 10 months ago
I’ve read this exact or very similar comment from you for the fourth time at least. You’re a spambot as far as I’m concerned.
books@lemmy.world 10 months ago
Point a has always me me wonder, is that accurate? Are there actually people going through the code to make sure open source isn’t malicious? I can barely read my coworkers code… Let alone a strangers.
xor@infosec.pub 10 months ago
people are definitely going through the code on a project as popular as audacity…
less well known stuff is much less scrutinized, of course
aidan@lemmy.world 10 months ago
Its way less work than going through the code to check for telemetry unless it is an intentionally hidden attack- just use Wireshark and check if there is network traffic other than checking for an update on program start.
lemmeee@sh.itjust.works 10 months ago
If a project is popular people will make changes to it every day. But you can look at the repo and judge for yourself.
doctorcrimson@lemmy.world 10 months ago
That’s not entirely true, Audacity was acquired by a company called MuseGroup who added unnecessary telemetry and they admit that they do provide the data the collect to third parties. It’s spyware as far as I’m concerned.
xor@infosec.pub 10 months ago
i don’t believe you
doctorcrimson@lemmy.world 10 months ago
And thats fair, you should always do your own research and make your own informed decisions.