Telemetry
Core8Bit consoles and emulators send a few anonymous usage numbers to core8bit.com. They tell us how many consoles have been built, which games people play and where people get stuck while building, so we know what to improve. This page lists exactly what is sent. You can turn it off at any time.
What is sent
Nothing is sent while the console has no internet connection. Every message carries an install id and the kind of device: console, desktop emulator or web emulator.
| When | What |
|---|---|
| The console boots, or the emulator starts | Install id, the firmware versions (BIOS and Wi-Fi module) or the emulator version, and for the desktop emulator the operating system (macOS, Windows or Linux) |
| Every few minutes while online | "Still here", so we can count how many consoles are online right now |
| After you finish playing a game | The game's id, when you started and how long you played |
| After an internet game (P2P) | When it started, how long it lasted and how many players took part |
| After a local wireless game between consoles (ESP-NOW) | The same: start, length and number of players. These are stored on the SD card and sent the next time the console is online, up to 30 days later |
| While you flash the firmware on the Flash page | Which chip, whether flashing started, succeeded or failed, and the firmware version |
The site also counts how often each build file (case STL files and archives) is downloaded, as a plain number per file.
What is not sent
- No names, e-mail addresses, account details or locations.
- No IP addresses are stored with telemetry.
- No game saves, screenshots, chat or anything you type.
- Nothing about other devices on your network.
The install id
The install id only lets us count one console as one console. It cannot be turned back into your console's serial number.
- Console: a one-way fingerprint of the processor's built-in serial number. The Flash page computes the same fingerprint, which lets us see how many flashed consoles went on to boot (it measures how hard the build is, not who built it).
- Desktop emulator: a random number created the first time the emulator runs.
- Web emulator: all browsers share the same id, "web". Each visit has a random session number, so we can count visits.
If you pair your console with your account, the console's install id is linked to that pairing so we can count how many paired consoles are in use. Unpair the console and the link no longer counts.
Turning it off
- Console: Settings → Privacy → Send usage statistics, switch it off. The console then sends nothing, and statistics stored on the SD card that were not sent yet are deleted.
- Desktop emulator: Settings → Send usage statistics.
- Web emulator and Flash page: they follow your browser's Do Not Track and Global Privacy Control settings.
Turning telemetry off changes nothing else: games, pairing, the store and internet play work the same.