Data Tracking via a Brainworx/Plugin Alliance plugin

[11arts]

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Check this out, guys!
TRACKING via a plugin from Brainworx/Plugin Alliance.
WTF!?
I didn't know that something like this was done, and I've never seen anything like it before.

Shadow Hills Mastering Compressor A
Changelog - Version 1.5.0 (Mar 3, 2025)
- General: ADDED USAGE DATA TRACKING

https://www.plugin-alliance.com/en/prod ... _comp.html (https://plugin-alliance.sjv.io/c/4241666/2521506/30401?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.plugin-alliance.com%2Fen%2Fproducts%2Fshadow_hills_class_a_mastering_comp.html)

What do you think about that?

[Teksonik]

It's because they were acquired by Native Instruments. It's the same tracking system they use.

I noticed it too recently when a couple of my PA plugins showed an "update" was available. About all the update brought was data tracking.

I believe one of those plugins was the Shadow Hills MC (not the Red) and I was hoping they finally listened to customers and added resizing but nope....data tracking.

You can easily turn it off but it is Opt Out rather than Opt In. What do I think about it? I hate data tracking with an unbounded passion.

"Oooooh but it helps them improve the plugins". Yeah how? Spying on what we do while using the plugin? No thanks. They're just plugins not a tool for you to do data mining. *Rant Over*....for now.

PA Tracking.png

[seangm]

It's because they were acquired by Native Instruments. It's the same tracking system they use.

I noticed it too recently when a couple of my PA plugins showed an "update" was available. About all the update brought was data tracking.

I believe one of those plugins was the Shadow Hills MC (not the Red) and I was hoping they finally listened to customers and added resizing but nope....data tracking.

You can easily turn it off but it is Opt Out rather than Opt In. What do I think about it? I hate data tracking with an unbounded passion.

"Oooooh but it helps them improve the plugins". Yeah how? Spying on what we do while using the plugin? No thanks. They're just plugins not a tool for you to do data mining. *Rant Over*....for now.


PA Tracking.png

Would you mind telling where you go to turn off that data tracking like in that screen shot? Is it in the setting somewhere, I can't seem to find it. Thanks.

[Calagan]

Data tracking is unacceptable. Especially when you don’t fix obvious issues and actually don’t listen to your users… it shows the point is not about enhancing things, but about collecting marketing data.
P.S. : For exemple I have some CPU peak issues with HG2 when turning it on/off in Ableton Live (and it’s a crucial part of using plugins on stage with Live : turning them on and off depending on the chain used). I know some plug-in do this, depending on how they are coded (good ones don’t do it). They will never fix it and absolutely don’t care. How data tracking could even show that type of issue ? They just need to fix the obvious issues users ask them to fix instead of adding features that only serve their marketing departement…

[Vortifex]

Specifically what data are they tracking anyway? Usage time? Feature use? Crash events? I always disable it anyway, it just feels weird and needlessly intrusive to have a plugin do that.

[Teksonik]

Would you mind telling where you go to turn off that data tracking like in that screen shot? Is it in the setting somewhere, I can't seem to find it. Thanks.

This is where it's located on the Shadow Hills Compressor. It may be located in different locations in other plugins. Keep in mind it's only in the latest versions and I'm only aware of two of the plugins that have been "updated" to data tracking out of the 20 or so PA plugins I own:

PA Tracking 2.png

Specifically what data are they tracking anyway? Usage time? Feature use? Crash events? I always disable it anyway, it just feels weird and needlessly intrusive to have a plugin do that.

We have to ask ourselves why would PA/NI pay the coding man hours to add data tracking if they weren't getting something in return? Call me cynical but the larger a company gets the less I trust them.

I use some of the PA plugins all the time so will probably not update them if nothing is added but tracking.

Here is PA's Privacy Policy. Basically "we may collect personal data and share it with third parties":

https://www.plugin-alliance.com/en/privacy-policy.html

[seangm]

Ok I see it now thanks.

[11arts]

Hey, thanks to everyone for the feedback and interesting information!

So I didn't know before that Native Instruments had a hand in this.
I completely agree with you all, and I'm pretty shocked about this because I thought that users should be informed in advance about changes like this.
Really big and clearly visible information, not just a small line in the changelog for updates.
I only saw it by chance, just as described here by @Teksonik, because I actually wanted to do an update.
But there was no information from Brainworx or PluginAlliance that you could deactivate it. I find that pretty outrageous.
And it gets interesting when it comes to NI.
Native Instruments is headquartered in Germany. That means they are subject to European data protection regulations. And I'm pretty sure that this “secret” introduction of data tracking is in complete violation of the data protection regulation. And that means that one or more complaints could get uncomfortable for NI.
Well, I'm thinking of filing a complaint and/or reporting it to the consumer protection agency in Germany.
From the perspective of a “professional” producer, this could even be considered criminal “economic espionage,” because we all don't know exactly what data they are collecting. What is the purpose of this? Are they doing this to determine whether a plugin is being used at all, or what? They have their sales reports for that. And how exactly a plugin is used, or on which tracks or what, is none of their damn business. They should just post official surveys in forums like this one, if they want to now something like that, where users can decide whether they want to share something or not.
On top of that, there are other blatant intrusions:
Well, I get it, that they must have built in code that sends the data. Without prior information and my consent, this is clearly spyware and a criminal offense under German law.
What's more, they have to collect the relevant data somehow until a computer goes online, and then send it home.
That means they are illegally occupying storage space on computers. Sure, it's not much for text data, but it's the principle that matters to me. It's my computer, and illegally accessing storage space should, in principle, make it possible to sue for damages, because in real life they would have to ask and then “rent” the space if one agreed.
I think that's a valid point, even if it may sound silly.
It's different when I'm clearly informed in advance and it is immediately clear where and how I can deactivate it at any time. As @Teksonik said, it should even be an “opt-in” and not an “opt-out.”
But this sneaky crap is totally unacceptable!

Perhaps it would also be helpful if all users who have plugins from Plugin Alliance or shop there could send an email to their support and ask what this shit is all about...and that they should please change it back...?

[bnz]

Thanks for the pointer. Opted out. Thankfully, the setting seems to be used across all plugins. Otherwise, this would have been maddening.

[metamorphosis]

Here's the info on data tracking, including what they track (user interaction with the plugin, info about the OS/host), why they track it (to identify problematic systems/interactions) and what they don't track (everything else):
https://support.native-instruments.com/ ... a-Tracking

[bnz]

"Current location (country and city)", cultural bias about plugin usage baked right into the data analysis

[Proteinshake]

Thanks for the pointer. Opted out. Thankfully, the setting seems to be used across all plugins. Otherwise, this would have been maddening.

Speaking of maddening .. if a company doesn't care to ask for your consent in the first place - do you still have it in you to trust their code? Even I can program you a checkbox, that makes absolutely no difference.

I opted out by moving away from PA/NI entirely.

[martinjuenke]

This practice of all these plugin providers is annoying.
I wonder if I should go back to hardware only.

[metamorphosis]

"Current location (country and city)", cultural bias about plugin usage baked right into the data analysis

I would imagine it's more to isolate regions that may be receiving different OS updates than others and/or internet connectivity issues.

[bnz]

I would imagine it's more to isolate regions that may be receiving different OS updates than others and/or internet connectivity issues.

Granted, my comment was maybe a bit exaggerated. But OS updates are the reason why they collect a system profile so that they don't need to infer anything from such a weak data parameter such as origin country. Personally, I don't think there is any good reason for an audio plugin developer to know where I make my vacation or where I live. If they could make data analyses that infer that people from country X won't keep their Windows versions up-to-date or will cause the majority of support costs contrasted to the money they spend, they will make these analyses.