diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index abebb894a..14e45a155 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,3 +1,12 @@
+# 2018-09-07
+
+## Statistics-reporting support
+
+There's now a new `matrix_synapse_report_stats` playbook variable, which controls the `report_stats` configuration option for Matrix Synapse. It defaults to `false`, so no change is required to retain your privacy.
+
+If you'd like to start reporting statistics about your homeserver (things like number of users, number of messages sent, uptime, load, etc.) to matrix.org, you can turn on stats reporting.
+
+
 # 2018-08-29
 
 ## Changing the way SSL certificates are retrieved
diff --git a/roles/matrix-server/defaults/main.yml b/roles/matrix-server/defaults/main.yml
index 5584e7230..57a9ebb19 100644
--- a/roles/matrix-server/defaults/main.yml
+++ b/roles/matrix-server/defaults/main.yml
@@ -64,6 +64,10 @@ matrix_synapse_max_log_files_count: 10
 matrix_synapse_rc_messages_per_second: 0.2
 matrix_synapse_rc_message_burst_count: 10.0
 
+# Enable this to allow Synapse to report utilization statistics about your server to matrix.org
+# (things like number of users, number of messages sent, uptime, load, etc.)
+matrix_synapse_report_stats: false
+
 # A list of additional "volumes" to mount in the container.
 # This list gets populated dynamically based on Synapse extensions that have been enabled.
 # Contains definition objects like this: `{"src": "/outside", "dst": "/inside", "options": "rw|ro|slave|.."}
diff --git a/roles/matrix-server/templates/synapse/homeserver.yaml.j2 b/roles/matrix-server/templates/synapse/homeserver.yaml.j2
index 97b8a9941..5f100e7d8 100644
--- a/roles/matrix-server/templates/synapse/homeserver.yaml.j2
+++ b/roles/matrix-server/templates/synapse/homeserver.yaml.j2
@@ -447,7 +447,7 @@ trusted_third_party_id_servers:
 
 # Enable collection and rendering of performance metrics
 enable_metrics: False
-report_stats: False
+report_stats: {{ matrix_synapse_report_stats }}
 
 
 ## API Configuration ##