> _anonymous_ telemetry

There is no such thing. The mere act of making a network connection reveals things like your IP address (reveals your hosting provider or even your geolocation for residential/mobile IPs), days and times you use the software, your OS via TCP/IP stack fingerprinting, etc.

The network path between you and the telemetry endpoint is always listening, too: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Room_641A