diff --git a/ChangeLog.md b/ChangeLog.md
index 0d3d104..464b4b4 100644
--- a/ChangeLog.md
+++ b/ChangeLog.md
@@ -11,6 +11,8 @@ Versioning](http://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0.html).
 ### Added
 - This ChangeLog!
 - Example code
+- Add better context to `DataApiException`s
+- Telemetry support
 
 ### Security fixes:
 - Bump requests to 2.21.0 (CVE-2018-18074)
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index c083503..cb5d6d6 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -47,11 +47,11 @@ dist: distclean
 		$(PYTHON) setup.py sdist; \
 		$(PYTHON) setup.py bdist_wheel --universal
 dist-upload: dist-check-version clean test dist-upload-twine
-dist-check-version: PKG_VER=v$(shell sed -n "s/^.*VERSION\s\+=\s\+'\([^']\+\)'.*$$/\1/p" setup.py)
+dist-check-version: PKG_VER=v$(shell sed -n "s/^.*__version__\s\+=\s\+'\([^']\+\)'.*$$/\1/p" learnosity_sdk/_version.py)
 dist-check-version: GIT_TAG=$(shell git describe --tags)
 dist-check-version:
 ifeq ('$(shell echo $(GIT_TAG) | grep -qw "$(PKG_VER)")', '')
-	$(error Version number $(PKG_VER) in setup.py does not match git tag $(GIT_TAG))
+	$(error Version number $(PKG_VER) in learnosity_sdk/_version.py does not match git tag $(GIT_TAG))
 endif
 dist-upload-twine: pip-requirements-dev dist # This target doesn't do any safety check!
 	$(call venv-activate); \
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 0695ce0..4818db4 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -246,10 +246,20 @@ Alternatively, if you only care about the version you're currently running, you
 
 # Deploying to PyPi
 
-1. Update the version number in `setup.py`
-2. Install the dev requirements `pip install -r requirements-dev.txt`
-3. Run `python setup.py sdist` to create the source distribution
-4. Run `python setup.py bdist_wheel --universal` to create the binary distribution
-5. Run `twine upload dist/*` to deploy the distributions to PyPi
+1. Install the dev requirements `pip install -r requirements-dev.txt`
+2. Run `python setup.py sdist` to create the source distribution
+3. Run `python setup.py bdist_wheel --universal` to create the binary distribution
+4. Run `twine upload dist/*` to deploy the distributions to PyPi
 
 You will need to be set up as a maintainer in order to do this.
+
+
+## Tracking
+In version v0.3.0 we introduced code to track the following information by adding it to the request being signed:
+- SDK version
+- SDK language
+- SDK language version
+- Host platform (OS)
+- Platform version
+
+We use this data to enable better support and feature planning. All subsequent versions of the SDK shall include this usage tracking.
diff --git a/learnosity_sdk/__init__.py b/learnosity_sdk/__init__.py
index 408195c..7e46375 100644
--- a/learnosity_sdk/__init__.py
+++ b/learnosity_sdk/__init__.py
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 import learnosity_sdk.request
 import learnosity_sdk.exceptions
 import learnosity_sdk.utils
+from learnosity_sdk._version import __version__
 
 __all__ = [
         "exceptions",
diff --git a/learnosity_sdk/_version.py b/learnosity_sdk/_version.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..614bae8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/learnosity_sdk/_version.py
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+__version__ = '0.2.1pre'
diff --git a/learnosity_sdk/request/dataapi.py b/learnosity_sdk/request/dataapi.py
index 8a3c6f4..ad66317 100644
--- a/learnosity_sdk/request/dataapi.py
+++ b/learnosity_sdk/request/dataapi.py
@@ -102,7 +102,9 @@ def request_iter(self, endpoint, security_packet,
                 action
             )
             if not res.ok:
-                raise DataApiException(res.text)
+                raise DataApiException(
+                    'server returned HTTP status ' + str(res.status_code)
+                    + ': ' + res.text)
             try:
                 data = res.json()
             except ValueError:
@@ -115,7 +117,8 @@ def request_iter(self, endpoint, security_packet,
                 data_end = True
 
             if not data['meta']['status']:
-                raise DataApiException(res.text)
+                raise DataApiException(
+                    'server returned unsuccessful status: ' + res.text)
             else:
                 yield data
 
diff --git a/learnosity_sdk/request/init.py b/learnosity_sdk/request/init.py
index dd260c2..0c0a686 100644
--- a/learnosity_sdk/request/init.py
+++ b/learnosity_sdk/request/init.py
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@
 import datetime
 import hashlib
 import json
+import platform
+from learnosity_sdk._version import __version__
 
 from learnosity_sdk.exceptions import ValidationException
 
@@ -45,6 +47,12 @@ def __init__(
 
         self.security['signature'] = self.generate_signature()
 
+        """
+        We use telemetry to enable better support and feature planning. It is
+        however not advised to disable it, and it will not interfere with any usage.
+        """
+        self.__telemetry_enabled = True
+
     def generate(self, encode=True):
         """
         Generate the data necessary to make a request to one of the Learnosity
@@ -93,11 +101,28 @@ def generate(self, encode=True):
             if self.action is not None:
                 output['action'] = self.action
 
+        if self.__telemetry_enabled:
+            output['meta'] = self.get_meta()
+
         if encode:
             return json.dumps(output)
         else:
             return output
 
+    def get_meta(self):
+        return {
+            'sdk': {
+                'version': self.get_sdk_version(),
+                'lang': 'python',
+                'lang_version': platform.python_version(),
+                'platform': platform.system(),
+                'platform_version': platform.release()
+            }
+        }
+
+    def get_sdk_version(self):
+        return 'v' + __version__
+
     def generate_request_string(self):
         if self.request is None:
             return ""
@@ -220,3 +245,8 @@ def hash_list(self, l):
         "Hash a list by concatenating values with an underscore"
         return hashlib.sha256("_".join(l).encode('utf-8')).hexdigest()
 
+    def disable_telemetry(self):
+        self.__telemetry_enabled = False
+
+    def enable_telemetry(self):
+        self.__telemetry_enabled = True
diff --git a/release.sh b/release.sh
index 7815856..a6e9593 100755
--- a/release.sh
+++ b/release.sh
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 #!/bin/bash -e
 
-VERSION_FILE="setup.py"
+VERSION_FILE="learnosity_sdk/_version.py"
 CHANGELOG="ChangeLog.md"
 REQUIREMENTS="requirements.txt"
 
@@ -90,7 +90,7 @@ update_requirements() {
 update_version () {
 	# update and commit local version file used by tracking telemetry
 	echo -e "\\nWriting version file..."
-	sed -i "s/^VERSION *=.*/VERSION = '${new_version}'/" ${VERSION_FILE}
+	sed -i "s/^__version__ *=.*/__version__ = '${new_version}'/" ${VERSION_FILE}
 
 	echo -e "Updating ${CHANGELOG}..."
 	sed -i "s/^## \[Unreleased]$/&\n\n## [${new_version}] - $(date +%Y-%m-%d)/" "${CHANGELOG}"
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 1063f5b..f1b5bbb 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -4,7 +4,12 @@
        from pip.req import parse_requirements
 import setuptools
 
-VERSION = '0.2.1pre'
+# Loads __version__ using exec as setup.py can't import its own package
+version = {}
+version_file = 'learnosity_sdk/_version.py'
+exec(open(version_file).read(), { '__builtins__': None }, version)
+if '__version__' not in version:
+    raise Exception('__version__ not found in file %s' % version_file)
 
 def test_reqs():
     reqs = parse_requirements('requirements-dev.txt', session=False)
@@ -17,15 +22,15 @@ def test_reqs():
     author='Cera Davies',
     author_email='cera.davies@learnosity.com',
     url='https://github.com/Learnosity/learnosity-sdk-python',
-    version=VERSION,
+    version=version['__version__'],
     name='learnosity_sdk',
     description='Learnosity SDK for Python',
 
     packages=setuptools.find_packages(exclude=('tests')),
 
     install_requires=[
-        'requests>=2.20',
-        'urllib3>1.23',
+        'requests>=2.21.0',
+        'urllib3>=1.24.3',
     ],
     tests_require=test_reqs(),
 )