Information and data is the modern day 'gold'. There's much more value to tying an account to something that with negligible doubt identifies them than just sel

Information and data is the modern day 'gold'. There's much more value to tying an account to something that with negligible doubt identifies them than just selling it to advertisers. It lets you create sophisticated models and track and model users' behavior across services, and even outside the digital domain. There are also extrinsic benefits outside advertising. Apple, for instance, is also a member of PRISM and one can only imagine how many other surveillance programs across the world that remain classified. Companies are undoubtedly 'compensated' for their involvement in these programs, and the more information they have and can gain - the more valuable their participation would be seen as. This conflict of interest is why I think we will never see any sort of significant guarantee of privacy at the federal level in the US. The more information companies obtain, the more information the government has access to.