> I've heard it claimed that some funds have flown helicopters over oil storage fields to measure the shadows in the tanks to know how much oil is stored, or bought satellite photos to analyze the parking lot use of major retailers during the Christmas season.

That actually is public information. I know it's hard for your typical member of the public to obtain, but the key thing is that it didn't wasn't communicated directly by someone working at the company. That's legitimate and no parallel construction is needed (except to mislead your competitors – maybe that's the real motivation).