B) The developers could have said no. If my boss got a contract with a bank that said I had to track users against their will, I would turn it down.
The point is that the newspapers are bringing up a legitimate problem. It's not a "panic", it's a valid concern.
Tracking user input methods is not a shady business model. I was doing this for web forms back in 2003/4 to fight fraud, improve the user experience, and find problems.
> If my boss got a contract with a bank that said I had to track users against their will
But they aren't being tracked against their will, so you would have done this.
Just because you don't have a problem with this practice doesn't mean it is without problems.
It's not a business model. It's a security mechanism. Willing to bet that you track people.
> Just because you don't have a problem with this practice doesn't mean it is without problems.
Didn't say it was without problems. I just don't see any issue with using data people provide freely.