Once upon a time, all of my plugins called home. I added an XML-RPC hook to my server to capture the calls that told me which plugin was installed, which version, what versions of PHP/WP/MySQL were installed, and the email address of the site administrator. They would also immediately send me any reports of crashes or errors so I could debug things proactively and release updates that targeted specific, observed user issues.

The information was invaluable.

But I gradually realized the problem with my system. I was, essentially, farming a huge email list on my site. I had contact information for thousands of users, the names of sites they administered, and detailed diagnostic information about their servers.

And they had no idea.

Then someone using a plugin I wrote in a tutorial found the code, loved it, forked it, and added it to a few of their own systems. Suddenly I had a flood of data from other plugins (they forgot to change the XML-RPC server endpoint) ... again, without user input or permission.

The thought that someone other than me could be collecting this data scared me to death. I trust me. But I also know some of the people who use my code, and I DON'T trust them.

So, until I rewrite my API to allow anonymous, opt-in communication, I've pulled it from every system I write. I've also deleted any records I have on my end because, really, I don't want to be responsible for holding on to an extensive list of other people's email addresses.