People have different valuations. I turn on Location Timeline and allow Google to record my location 24x7, because I find it useful to be able to know where I was any arbitrary day or time.
A negative view, sure. But 'close-minded' implies it's an unexamined decision, and that's certainly not the case for me or many other HN users.
My essential stance on data-gathering (and especially location data or communication metadata) is that it represents an irreversible erosion of privacy, and in many cases compromises the privacy of other people who never consented to share their data.
I've used services that (effectively) traded my data for cash, but I think there's a compelling argument that ill-defined location monitoring is underestimated as a personal risk and acutely underestimated as a source of externalities. This is up for debate, certainly, but 'close-minded' seems to presume the answer and deny the possibility of those externalities.
The pros you get are a luxury, while the cons are an infringement on our privacy.
We're at the point where you sharing your data harms everyone else. For example, if there are 1000 people in a population and 999 willing share all data on themselves, the last holdout doesn't need to offer his data. They can already derive it from based on everyone else's.
You have to explain why I'm supposed to care that MoviePass knows where I am when I'm near a theater (i.e. why is this a con). You're acting like this is obvious, but it's not. All your work is ahead of you.
MoviePass knows where I am when I'm near a theater
That's not the risk -- Moviepass knows you are there at that time simply by your usage metrics.
The problem is that (1) other apps have Location access while you have Location services on if you have ever granted that privilege, including only at install time, and (2) few people have the presence of mind to turn Location on and back off promptly so that it's only on when the user is conscious of it.
Because they give that information to 3rd parties who have a larger database about you in which to add it. Privacy is a basic human right and everyone wants it. You wouldn't willingly offer all data about yourself and livestream a camera of yourself 24/7 for everyone to see. I also already gave you a reason on how this harms people who don't want to give up any data on themselves.
The degree is the difference and it's a big one. We all trade privacy for other benefits all the time. If the right to privacy is fundamental, then surely I can claim the right to trade that privacy for something else, too.
(Note: we all do this all the time in both explicit and implicit ways. We give away private data to obtain loans, we invite people into our homes and to view our bodies, we tell important secrets to build relationships. Privacy is valuable, and we use it like it's valuable. That's what's going on here, too.)
