In reply to Alec.
There is no reason that data collection could not be opt-in. The last couple of months this issue has come up repeatedly and it is painfully clear that we really don’t have a good handle on how WordPress is used.

Data collection is a sensitive area and there would need to be safeguards in place to preserve privacy. On the flip side, I would like to see the aggregate data shared so that we can talk intelligently about the options.