Deploy product analytics to gitlab-org/gitlab

Overview

This issue is about adding product analytics stack to the gitlab-org/gitlab project specific to the Product Analytics features. Ensure the tracking is only done for an explicit list of users that have opted-in to have this OR data is pseudonymized like the Service Ping data is (No IP address information)

• This list will primarily be members of groupproduct analytics but could be other GitLab team members that are willing to participate.
• This may require further legal review (legal review issue)

There are several benefits to this.

• Understand how real users interact with a project
• Rollout to a "real" project to understand how we can handle real-world load
• Get insights to feature usage within GitLab itself
• Increase analytics exposure to internal teams, who can start to see how their features are used and get excited about leveraging our capabilities

Proposal

• Add the tracking code to pages served under the gitlab-org/gitlab project. The tracking data should point to our deployed product analytics stack.
• Alternatively only track the Product Analytics pages (settings, dashboard, dashboard designer, visualization editor, etc.) but for all users without PII being collected.

Note: The tracking code should only record data for the individuals listed below who have checked their names and only for the activity they do in the gitlab-org group:

• Sam Kerr (@stkerr)
• Dennis Tang (@dennis)
• Robert Hunt (@rob.hunt)
• James Heimbuck (@jheimbuck_gl)
• Max Woolf (@mwoolf)
• Elwyn Bensen @elwyn-gitlab
• Halil Coban @halilcoban
• Allen Cook @acook.gitlab
• Kevin Comoli @kcomoli
• add others

How to opt-out / withdraw from tracking

If you were added into tracking above and wish to no longer have Product Analytics tracking enabled, please take the following steps:

1. Comment on this issue and tag the PM, EM, and Legal counterpart for groupproduct analytics that you would like to be removed.
   1. Listed on the handbook page.

Once pinged, the group will remove access by doing:

1. add steps here (feature flags?) (@dennis can you help with this section?)
2. Reply to the requestor's comment with confirmation that they were removed.

Open Questions

• Any concerns with visibility of confidential issues? No - the users that will be tracked will already be able to see confidential issues in gitlab-org/gitlab, so it is not new information to them if they see those issues in resulting analytics reports.
• Once added to the list above, how can someone opt-out and/or remove their consent? Who must they ping and what must then be done?
• Add questions organically over time

To-do

• Broadcast to engineering week-in-review to the group and section – @dennis