diff --git a/Project.toml b/Project.toml
index a450612..cca3946 100755
--- a/Project.toml
+++ b/Project.toml
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 name = "GenieBuilder"
 uuid = "c9453c14-af8a-11ec-351d-c7c9a2035d70"
 authors = ["Adrian Salceanu"]
-version = "0.17.3"
+version = "0.17.4"
 
 [deps]
 Base64 = "2a0f44e3-6c83-55bd-87e4-b1978d98bd5f"
diff --git a/src/Actions.jl b/src/Actions.jl
index 9aad69d..dae500f 100644
--- a/src/Actions.jl
+++ b/src/Actions.jl
@@ -11,5 +11,6 @@ ACTION_START_REPL = "start_repl"        # start REPL
 ACTION_START_PKG_MNG = "start_pkg_mng"  # start package manager
 ACTION_STOP_PKG_MNG = "stop_pkg_mng"    # stop package manager
 ACTION_DOWNLOAD_APP = "download_app"    # download app
+ACTION_TELEMETRY_DISABLED = "telemetry_disabled"  # telemetry disabled
 
 end
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/GenieBuilder.jl b/src/GenieBuilder.jl
index eea7b01..2387c2f 100755
--- a/src/GenieBuilder.jl
+++ b/src/GenieBuilder.jl
@@ -5,13 +5,6 @@ using GenieCache, GenieCacheFileCache
 
 import Pkg
 
-include("Generators.jl")
-include("Licensing.jl")
-include("Actions.jl")
-using .Generators
-using .Licensing
-using .Actions
-
 const GBDIR = Ref{String}("")
 const DB_FOLDER = Ref{String}("")
 const DB_CONFIG_FILE = Ref{String}("")
@@ -19,6 +12,19 @@ const LOG_FOLDER = Ref{String}("")
 const RUN_STATUS = Ref{Symbol}() # :install or :update
 const WS_PORT = 10102
 const VERSION = "0.16.x"
+const GBFOLDER = joinpath(homedir(), ".geniebuilder")
+
+include("Generators.jl")
+using .Generators
+
+include("Settings.jl")
+using .Settings
+
+include("Licensing.jl")
+using .Licensing
+
+include("Actions.jl")
+using .Actions
 
 function __init__()
   GBDIR[] = joinpath(Base.DEPOT_PATH[1], "geniebuilder")
@@ -53,6 +59,14 @@ function go(; port = get!(ENV, "GB_PORT", -1))
   @info "Starting GenieBuilder v$(get_version())"
   @async set_starting_flag() |> errormonitor
 
+  try
+    if ! GenieBuilder.Settings.data("telemetry")
+      GenieBuilder.Licensing.log(type = GenieBuilder.Actions.ACTION_TELEMETRY_DISABLED, force = true)
+    end
+  catch ex
+    @error ex
+  end
+
   try
     if Genie.Configuration.isprod()
       @async withcache(; key="system_update_GB", expiration=60*60*24) do # 24 hours cache
@@ -155,7 +169,12 @@ function get_version()
 end
 
 function exit()
-  GenieBuilder.Licensing.log(type = Actions.ACTION_END_SESSION)
+  try
+    GenieBuilder.Licensing.log(type = Actions.ACTION_END_SESSION)
+  catch ex
+    @error ex
+  end
+
   Genie.Server.down!()
   Base.exit()
 end
diff --git a/src/Licensing.jl b/src/Licensing.jl
index 9763213..09386cb 100644
--- a/src/Licensing.jl
+++ b/src/Licensing.jl
@@ -4,14 +4,23 @@ Licensing integration for JuliaHub
 module Licensing
 
 using Base64, HTTP, JSON, Logging, Random
+import GenieBuilder, GenieBuilder.Settings
+import Base: log
 
 const LICENSE_API = get!(ENV, "GENIE_LICENSE_API", "https://genielicensing.hosting.genieframework.com/api/v1") # no trailing slash
 # const LICENSE_API = get!(ENV, "GENIE_LICENSE_API", "http://127.0.0.1:3333/api/v1") # no trailing slash #TODO: change this to the production URL
 
-const GBFOLDER = joinpath(homedir(), ".geniebuilder")
+const GBFOLDER = GenieBuilder.GBFOLDER
 const GBPASSFILE = joinpath(GBFOLDER, "pass")
 const GBSESSIONFILE = joinpath(GBFOLDER, "sessionid")
 
+const COMMERCIAL_LICENSE = Ref{Union{Bool,Nothing}}(nothing)
+function commercial_license()
+  isnothing(COMMERCIAL_LICENSE[]) && status()
+  # @show COMMERCIAL_LICENSE[]
+  COMMERCIAL_LICENSE[] == true
+end
+
 function isregistered() :: Bool
   isfile(GBPASSFILE)
 end
@@ -227,17 +236,17 @@ end
 function log(;
               type::Union{AbstractString,Symbol},
               metadata::AbstractDict = Dict(),
-              origin::AbstractString = ORIGIN)
+              origin::AbstractString = ORIGIN,
+              force::Bool = false)
+  # we check the telemetry settings only if the force flag is not set and the user has a commercial license
+  # otherwise we log the action regardless of the telemetry settings
+  ! force && commercial_license() && GenieBuilder.Settings.@check_telemetry
+
   if ! isloggedin()
     @warn("User not logged in, skipping logging")
     return
   end
 
-  if ! TELEMETRY
-    @warn("Telemetry is disabled, skipping logging")
-    return
-  end
-
   payload = Dict(
     "origin" => origin,
     "type" => type,
@@ -262,16 +271,15 @@ function log(;
 end
 
 function quotas()
+  # TODO: review this, quotas should not be affected by telemetry settings
+  # but let's understand how much traffic this generates first
+  GenieBuilder.Settings.@check_telemetry
+
   if ! isloggedin()
     @warn("User not logged in, skipping quotas")
     return Dict()
   end
 
-  if ! TELEMETRY
-    @warn("Telemetry is disabled, skipping quotas")
-    return Dict()
-  end
-
   quotas_data = try
     HTTP.get(LICENSE_API * "/quotas";
               status_exception = true,
@@ -297,7 +305,7 @@ function quotas()
 end
 
 function status()
-  quotas_data = try
+  status_data = try
     HTTP.get(LICENSE_API * "/status";
               status_exception = true,
               headers = headers()
@@ -308,14 +316,17 @@ function status()
     return Dict()
   end
 
-  if quotas_data.status != 200
-    @warn("Failed to get status: $(quotas_data.status)")
+  if status_data.status != 200
+    @warn("Failed to get status: $(status_data.status)")
     return Dict()
   end
 
   try
-    (quotas_data.body |> String |> JSON.parse)
+    user_status = (status_data.body |> String |> JSON.parse)
+    COMMERCIAL_LICENSE[] = user_status["license"] != "trial" && user_status["license"] != "edu" && user_status["license_status"] != "expired"
+    return user_status
   catch ex
+    @error ex
     @warn("Failed to parse status data: $ex")
     return Dict()
   end
@@ -326,13 +337,11 @@ function __init__() #TODO: uncouple this
   ENV["GENIE_USER_FULL_NAME"] =  get(ENV, "JULIAHUB_USER_FULL_NAME", "")
   ENV["GENIE_ORIGIN"] = get(ENV, "JULIA_PKG_SERVER", "local")
   ENV["GENIE_METADATA"] = get(ENV, "JULIAHUB_APP_URL", "")
-  ENV["GENIE_TELEMETRY"] = get(ENV, "GENIE_TELEMETRY", "true")
 
   @eval const USER_EMAIL = ENV["GENIE_USER_EMAIL"]
   @eval const USER_FULL_NAME = ENV["GENIE_USER_FULL_NAME"]
   @eval const ORIGIN = ENV["GENIE_ORIGIN"]
   @eval const METADATA = ENV["GENIE_METADATA"]
-  @eval const TELEMETRY = lowercase(ENV["GENIE_TELEMETRY"]) == "true"
 end
 
 
diff --git a/src/Settings.jl b/src/Settings.jl
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f4075f8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/Settings.jl
@@ -0,0 +1,65 @@
+module Settings
+
+using JSON
+import GenieBuilder
+import Logging
+
+export @check_telemetry
+
+const SETTINGS = Ref{Dict{String, Any}}(Dict{String, Any}())
+const ENV_KEYS = Dict(
+  "telemetry" => "GENIE_TELEMETRY"
+)
+
+macro check_telemetry()
+  return quote
+    if ! data("telemetry")
+      # @show("Telemetry is disabled, skipping logging")
+      return
+    else
+      # @show("Telemetry is enabled")
+    end
+  end
+end
+
+function default_from_env(key::String, default) :: Bool
+  haskey(ENV, key) || (ENV[key] = "") # default to empty string
+  (isempty(ENV[key]) || ENV[key] == string(default)) && return default # ENV vars are strings
+end
+
+function load_settings()
+  if isfile(joinpath(GenieBuilder.GBFOLDER, "settings.json"))
+    SETTINGS[] = try
+      JSON.parsefile(joinpath(GenieBuilder.GBFOLDER, "settings.json"))
+    catch ex
+      @error ex
+      Dict{String, Any}()
+    end
+  end
+
+  # @show SETTINGS[]
+
+  haskey(SETTINGS[], "settings") || (SETTINGS[] = Dict{String, Any}("settings" => Dict{String, Any}()))
+  haskey(SETTINGS[]["settings"], "telemetry") || (SETTINGS[]["settings"]["telemetry"] = default_from_env(ENV_KEYS["telemetry"], true))
+
+  # env overrides settings
+  haskey(ENV, ENV_KEYS["telemetry"]) && ! isempty(ENV[ENV_KEYS["telemetry"]]) && (SETTINGS[]["settings"]["telemetry"] = ENV[ENV_KEYS["telemetry"]])
+
+  nothing
+end
+
+function data()
+  haskey(SETTINGS[], "settings") || load_settings()
+  @show SETTINGS[]
+  return SETTINGS[]["settings"]
+end
+
+function data(key::String)
+  return data()[key]
+end
+
+function __init__()
+  load_settings()
+end
+
+end
\ No newline at end of file