Telemetry is the automated process of collecting, transmitting, and analyzing data from remote sources to monitor and improve system performance and user experience. These data include metrics collected from analysis software spanning categories such as product performance, user interactions, and application usage.
We understand that many customers work with sensitive data and may have restrictions on sharing any sample-derived information with third parties. To support these needs, our software does not collect sequence or any data that could be considered sensitive. Additionally, telemetry collection is completely optional and can be disabled at any time without affecting software functionality.
We provide detailed descriptions of all collected data, as well as the ability to inspect the information sent to us. This transparency is designed to give you confidence in making an informed choice about enabling telemetry collection.
To improve our products and services, we collect specific types of data. Here is an overview of the types of data we collect and examples of how we use each:
1) Usage Data:
Examples: Feature usage frequency, user interface interactions, duration of analysis.
Purpose: Our goal is to understand how users use our products, which features are most used, and identify areas needing improvement.
2) Performance Data:
Examples: Assay and software usage patterns and performance metrics.
Purpose: Our goal is to continuously improve our assay performance for our customers. To this end, we collect high-level cell, library, and mapping quality metrics that are present in the web summary. Importantly, we do not collect experimental results, such as gene expression levels.
3) Device Information:
Examples: Operating system versions, hardware specifications.
Purpose: Our goal is to optimize our software for different devices and operating systems.
4) Crash Reports:
Examples: Error codes, stack traces, conditions leading to a crash.
Purpose: To identify and fix bugs, improve application stability, and prevent crashes.
See the list of collected metric names or review the config JSON file to see all metrics collected in Cell Ranger 9.0.
When commands initiating a pipestance are run (e.g., cellranger count and cellranger multi), a copy of the data from that run is saved in the extras/ folder of that pipestance. An exception occurs with cellranger mkref or cellranger mkvdjref, where the default reference output is cleaned up to include only necessary reference files for data processing. As a result, the extras/ folder will not be present in this case. If you wish to review telemetry data in this context, please specify the output-dir location.
At 10x Genomics, we value your privacy and give you control over your data. You can manage telemetry collection and transmission in two ways: by using a command-line argument or setting an environment variable. If both options are used, the environment variable will take precedence. This setup is particularly useful for users on shared resources, allowing telemetry preferences to be set globally for all users of the pipeline installation.
For those who prefer the command line, telemetry collection can be disabled with the following option:
Disabling Telemetry Collection
cellranger telemetry disable
Enabling Telemetry Collection
cellranger telemetry enable
Check Telemetry Settings
cellranger telemetry check
Environment settings
Disabling Telemetry Collection
To disable telemetry collection, set the TENX_DISABLE_TELEMETRY variable. This ensures that no telemetry data is collected or processed for any pipelines using this version of the software installation.
export TENX_DISABLE_TELEMETRY=1
Enabling Telemetry Collection
Telemetry is enabled by default with each installation, so no action is needed unless it has been previously turned off. Unsetting the variable TENX_DISABLE_TELEMETRY will re-enable telemetry collection.
unset TENX_DISABLE_TELEMETRY
To disable telemetry uploads for all users on a machine, create the file /etc/tenx/telemetry/disable_upload.
To disable downloading and updating the telemetry configuration for all users on a machine, create the file /etc/tenx/telemetry/disable_update.
To re-enable telemetry uploads, remove the file.
Protecting collected data is a top priority. We implement multiple layers of security to keep telemetry information safe:
- Anonymization: We do not collect personally identifiable information, ensuring both your identity and that of human sample donors remain protected. To further safeguard privacy, we do not collect any user-entered free-text fields or genetic data, minimizing the chance of inadvertently gathering identifiable information.
- Access controls: We enforce strict access controls to ensure that only authorized personnel can view or handle telemetry data, limiting access to those with explicit permission.
- Data encryption: Data is encrypted both during transmission and storage to protect against unauthorized access and ensure data security at all times.
- Regular audits: We perform regular internal security audits and assessments to proactively identify and address potential vulnerabilities in our data collection and storage processes.
- Compliance: We routinely review our data handling practices to ensure compliance with relevant legal and regulatory requirements, including GDPR and other data protection laws.
If you have any questions or concerns about our telemetry practices, please feel free to contact our support team at support@10xgenomics.com. Your privacy and security are our top priorities, and we are here to assist you.