1Password, the popular password management service, has announced the upcoming launch of a groundbreaking privacy-preserving telemetry system. The new system aims to better understand the platform’s customer base while safeguarding individual privacy.
Telemetry is the act of automatic data sending, used by companies like Google, Apple, and more to improve their services.
“To improve 1Password, we don’t need precise timestamps of actions, specific account information, IP addresses associated with 1Password apps, or other sensitive data points. Aggregated,” 1Password said in a blog post. “Actionable data is our goal.”
The goal of the system is to gain valuable insights into user behavior and improve the 1Password experience. Despite collecting data, the company emphasizes that sensitive information is encrypted and inaccessible to the telemetry system.
“The passwords, credit card numbers, URLs, and other data that you save in your 1Password vaults is end-to-end encrypted using secrets that only you know,” says 1Password.
1Password’s release states that the approach prioritizes user consent, ensuring that data collection is transparent and voluntary. Users can participate in the process through an in-app prompt, meaning you don’t have to send out your telemetry data unless you want to.
To maintain user privacy, the system follows strict de-identification procedures for the collected data. Timestamps and user UUIDs are cryptographically hashed, which offers more protection against identification risks.
“Once enriched and de-identified, the raw data is dropped, and only the de-identified events are moved forward in the pipeline.”
Afterward, the data will be streamed to an analytics platform. The product analytics team will use this data to fix vulnerabilities and enhance the 1Password service.
The telemetry system will operate entirely in the background, causing no disruptions to users’ daily interactions with the app. It will also periodically rotate its cryptographic secrets so that it remains inaccessible to hackers.
For any inquiries or thoughts regarding the upcoming system, 1Password encourages users to reach out and actively participate in shaping the future of their services.