I’d argue the data does have value for users as well as developers – number of active sites implies that the site owners/admins find the plugin to be stable and useful, so they keep it active. Few active sites, but recently published? Ok, take a closer look. Published a good while ago but few active sites? Maybe good to wonder why. Some code fulfils a niche need so will have fewer installs. Otoh, maybe the plugin has stability/compatibility issues or some other reason to look closer before deploying. In the vast majority of cases plugin authors share value at no (or very reasonable) cost and simply knowing how many sites are using their code (so letting them know if the effort to maintain it is worthwhile/appreciated) doesn’t seem an unreasonable thing to me – maybe what’s needed is an open, transparent and trusted common anonymous reporting framework in the core that all of the plugin ecosystem can use … and that site admins can switch off if there’s a pressing need. I bookmarked a thread on a similar theme a while back https://wordpress.stackexchange.com/questions/69388/how-can-i-track-active-users-of-my-plugin-and-why-doesnt-wordpress-org-offer-t