> Everyone using Google Maps is constantly uploading position information which makes it possible for Google to infer traffic jams, among other things. That's

> Everyone using Google Maps is constantly uploading position information which makes it possible for Google to infer traffic jams, among other things. That's the kind of data collection I can get behind, because it actually provides direct value to the users providing the data that can only be had through aggregation (though I would hope that we'll someday have a regulatory framework that requires it be thoroughly anonymized). Targeted advertising and retail foot-traffic analytics for hedge funds, not so much.