Usage Tracking - is it configurable?

BK

In the file C:\ProgramData\Quicken\Log\installer[dated folder]\setup.htm
I saw the following at the very bottom about Usage tracking:

• Post install cleanup.
• . . .
• Updating usage tracking setting.
• User has opted for Usagetracking.
• Log Closed

What is being tracked? I could not find anything about this in Quicken's Terms of Use. The text above implies that one can opt out of this Usagetracking, and if so where & how? Thank you.

Quicken Kristina

Thank you for your reply,

The answer I received from our team is that it is an old log that is no longer relevant and was used to send data to one of our servers.

Thank you!

nmestanas

I see this in mine as well. I went through the preferences and even my online account and could not see any option on "usage tracking", or some other variant like "help Quicken fix problems", "crash notifications", etc. I broad web search using different search engines using "Quicken usage tracking" only returned your post. It may be a leftover from earlier versions. I'd suggest you contact Support directly and ask them.

BK

Hoping one of the moderators would follow up on this - please? Thank you.

Boatnmaniac

In mine it says:

Mon May 08 14:48:29.976 2023 : Updating usage tracking setting.
Mon May 08 14:48:29.992 2023 : User has opted for Usagetracking.

It seems is related to a User selected option. The only 2 optional settings for tracking usage that I can think of. (1) Showing the number of transactions that there are for each category (in Category List) and (2) showing the number of transactions for each Account (in Account List). Maybe there is something else but I just can't think of anything else right now.

Rocket J Squirrel

There exists a folder %APPDATA%\Quicken\Data\UsageSummary\ActiveUserTracking which contains a file with "status sent" and a time stamp. I have no idea whether this is related to "usage tracking" but it looks plausible. It could be that QWin is reporting back to HQ that a user has run the application. I found nothing obvious in any config file that would enable or disable such reporting.

BK

Thank you all. To build on @Rocket J Squirrel 's comment, the program periodically checks for release updates upon launch, determine by how many times it was opened or when was the last date it was launched, for it to send the request to check again. That is one form of usage I guess.

Note that the file is created during the installation, prior to launch and sign in - so no opportunity to determine who the user is yet.

I am going to mark the comments as not answered since we are speculating at this point, hoping that the moderators may investigate and get back to us.

Moderators: It would be good to know what is being tracked, when/how did we opt in (based on the verbiage) and if one can opt out. Thank you again.

Quicken Kristina

Hello @BK,

The Quicken Privacy Statement provides information on what usage data we collect and how it's used.

Here is a general summary: On an ongoing basis, we collect basic information about computer configuration, such as computer type or monitor resolution; application use, such as the features, summaries of data that you use, or time spent on parts of our site; and other information that relates to usage patterns and third-party products and services that our users access through Quicken.

For more specific information, I recommend reading the Quicken privacy statement (scroll down to the Your Usage Data section):

https://www.quicken.com/privacy/us

For the "User has opted for Usagetracking." you're seeing in the installer log, I wasn't able to find information on that. Since the installer runs before you log into the Quicken program, it wouldn't be seeing any preferences associated with your Quicken ID, nor would it be seeing your preferences under Edit>Preferences>Alerts & Messages.

I forwarded the question to our teams to see if they can provide a better answer.

I hope this helps!

BK

Thank you @Quicken Kristina . I really appreciate your time and information provided and look forward to receive further info from the teams regarding the User has opted for Usagetracking. Cheers.

Quicken Kristina

Thank you for your reply,

The answer I received from our team is that it is an old log that is no longer relevant and was used to send data to one of our servers.

Thank you!

BK

https://community.quicken.com/discussion/comment/20459451#Comment_20459451

@Quicken Kristina

This is what I and perhaps others suspected as well. Good to know and THANK YOU again.

nmestanas

@Quicken Kristina Thank you for clearing this up!!