I don't know, to me that's a bit like running a torrent client and expecting the default setting to be "no seeding, download only". After all, the torrent client is _your_ tool, right? Why should it do anything except the bare minimum required to download the files you want? Why waste upload bandwidth on something that doesn't benefit the user?

Obviously that's ridiculous, right? If the default setting was to not seed, torrent clients would be much less useful for everyone involved. Browsers sending usage stats are much the same way. While no individual user benefits from _their machine_ sending those statistics, it's better for the user population as a whole if the default setting is to send them, since those stats help the browser vendor build a better browser. (And before you cry "privacy", remember that in this context we're talking about a situation where the statistics are being sent in a way that is "sufficiently anonymous" such that privacy isn't an issue. See the GP.)

So while I agree you certainly should have the right to disable sending usage statistics if you wish (just as many Torrent clients let you disable seeding), expecting that to be the default setting is a bit strange.